Norway’s King Harald V has died at 89 on Friday, ending a 35-year reign and putting Crown Prince Haakon on the throne at a turbulent moment for the country’s royal family. Harald “passed away peacefully” at 6:35 a.m., local time, the Norwegian royal household announced.
Harald’s health deteriorated sharply in his final days. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Thursday canceled a trip to Germany, including a planned working dinner with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, to visit the king.
Harald had reigned since 1991 and resisted calls to abdicate despite mounting health problems, repeatedly insisting that the oath he took as king was for life. He is survived by his wife, Queen Sonja.
Haakon, 53, succeeds his father as king automatically under Norway’s constitutional monarchy. His wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, becomes queen consort — while facing intense scrutiny over her past relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The crown princess apologized, calling the relationship “simply embarrassing” and saying she had shown “poor judgment.” Her son and Haakon’s stepson Marius Borg Høiby, 29, was found guilty of two counts rape in June. Høiby, who is not an official member of the royal family, has appealed the verdict and is under house arrest.
Harald remained a popular figure in the country despite plummeting support for the broader royal family. A February poll for public broadcaster NRK showed that although support for the monarchy had dropped to a record low of 60 percent, the public had given him an average “grade” of 9.2 out of 10. Haakon was given a grade of 7.9 and Mette-Marit, the new queen consort, 3.7.