Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera
· collected 2026-08-28 · by Al Jazeera Staff
King Harald V of Norway has died at the age of 89 due to a rare blood condition called haemolytic anaemia, which he had been hospitalized for since August 17. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, will automatically succeed him as King Haakon VIII. The death comes at a time of controversy for the monarchy, with recent revelations about Crown Princess Mette-Marit's correspondence with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and her son's conviction on multiple rape charges. King Harald had been in poor health for several years, but had ruled out abdicating due to a lifelong oath taken before the Norwegian parliament.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-28,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
King Harald V of Norway has died at the age of 89 after a brief stay in hospital. He was being treated for haemolytic anaemia, a rare blood disorder, at Oslo University Hospital. The royal palace announced his death on Friday morning, stating that he had passed away peacefully at 6:35 am.
Harald was Europe's oldest monarch and had been on the throne since January 17, 1991. He modernized the Norwegian royal house but refused to abdicate despite his advanced age. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, automatically becomes King Haakon VIII following his father's death.
The Norwegian Royal Family rushed to Harald's bedside on Thursday as his health deteriorated after contracting an infection. Members of the public gathered outside the Royal Palace in Oslo to pay their respects and mourn the loss of the popular king.
King Charles III of Britain paid tribute to his cousin, stating that he was "profoundly sad" to hear of Harald's passing and extending his deepest condolences to the Norwegian royal family.
Harald was born in 1937 in Asker, near Oslo, and went into exile in the United States as a child during World War II. He married his school sweetheart and refused several European noblewomen who proposed to him. After his father's death in 1991, Harald reigned for over three decades, modernizing the royal house and serving as a largely symbolic figurehead.
With his passing, Norway enters a period of mourning, with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre paying tribute to the king's "unwavering faith" in the Norwegian people.
Written for “Death of Norwegian Monarch” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 8 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 3061 · logged 2026-08-28
Norway’s King Harald V has died at the age of 89, after being hospitalised with a rare blood condition.
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V → die → condition
The death of Europe’s oldest reigning monarch was announced on Friday by the Royal Palace of Norway.
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death → reign → Norway
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“King Harald passed away peacefully at Oslo University Hospital on Friday, Aug 28 at 6:35 a.m,” the palace said in a statement.
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palace → deny → statement
His son, Crown Prince Haakon, automatically succeeds him and is expected to reign as King Haakon VIII.
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son → succeed → VIII
Royal family members had visited the king on Thursday, and crowds gathered outside the palace and laid flowers for the king after officials warned that his condition had turned “extremely serious”.
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condition → visit → king
Harald was hospitalised on August 17, suffering from haemolytic anaemia, a condition caused by an abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells which leads to fatigue and shortness of breath.
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which → hospitalise → breath
Harald, who ascended the Norwegian throne 35 years ago, has had multiple health problems in recent years, forcing him to have a pacemaker fitted and to scale back his official schedule.
But he had always ruled out abdicating, arguing that he took a lifelong oath before the Norwegian parliament.
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he → ascend → parliament
Harald was Norway’s first king born on Norwegian soil since the 14th century.
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Harald → bear → century
Taking the throne in January 1991, after the death of his father, Olav V, he presided over decades of oil-fuelled prosperity.
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he → take → prosperity
He was born in February 1937, near Oslo.
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He → bear → Oslo
When the Nazis invaded Norway his mother fled with him and his sisters to Sweden and then the United States, while his father and grandfather, Haakon VII, sat out the war in Britain.
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father → invade → Britain
Harald won lasting public affection for his speech in 2011 after Anders Behring Breivik‘s bomb attacks which killed 77 people, telling mourners: “I remain convinced that the belief in freedom is stronger than fear.”
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belief → win → fear
His death, however, comes at a fraught time for the monarchy, after documents published in January showed Crown Princess Mette-Marit corresponding with notorious US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, years after his conviction.
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Marit → come → conviction
Her 29-year-old son, Marius Borg Høiby, the new King Haakon’s stepson, was sentenced in June to four years in prison on two counts of rape and 32 other charges, including domestic violence.
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son → sentence → violence
