King Harald of Norway Dies at 89 After Health Battle

TERJE PEDERSEN / NTB/AFP via Getty Images King Harald V of Norway has died at age 89 following a fight with a rare blood disorder, leaving a scandal-plagued crown to his son.

The king, the country’s first native-born monarch since the 14th century, died peacefully at 6:35 a.m. local time on Friday at Oslo’s national hospital.

He was Europe’s oldest living monarch.

His son, now King Haakon VIII, takes over as monarch after serving as regent.

Harald also leaves behind his wife of nearly 58 years, Queen Sonja, daughter Princess Märtha Louise, and six grandchildren.

Harald’s death caps years of mounting health scares.

Hospitalized on Aug.

17, he received cortisone for hemolytic anemia, a rare condition that destroys red blood cells.

That followed a 2003 bladder cancer surgery, a 2024 pacemaker fitting, and a Canary Islands hospitalization for an infection earlier that year.

“A whole nation is in mourning and the people of Norway are left with a deep sense of gratitude for a long life in the service of Norway,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.

“For more than three decades as monarch, Harald V demonstrated an unwavering faith in the Norwegian people.

He helped us to see the best in ourselves — and in one another.” Harald, at the age of 3, fled to the U.S. with his mother and sisters to escape the Nazi occupation of Norway, while his father and grandfather went into exile in the U.K.

After returning to Norway following the end of the war, he developed a love for sailing, representing his nation at the Olympics and winning world championship gold.

Harald was urged to marry a European noblewoman or princess, but refused—threatening to remain single forever unless his father allowed him to wed his school sweetheart, commoner Sonja Haraldsen.