Norway’s King Harald remains in ‘very serious’ condition | Today’s news
(Bloomberg) — Norway’s King Harald V remains in a “very serious” condition in hospital after his health suddenly deteriorated Thursday.
The 89-year-old king was hospitalized on August 17 after suffering a build-up of fluid in his body as a result of cortisone treatment for hemolytic anemia. It took a turn for the worse on Thursday morning, according to the royal palace.
On Thursday afternoon, the court said the king’s condition had not changed after Harald’s immediate family visited the University Hospital in Oslo.
Crown Prince Haakon and Queen Sonja have canceled their official events, including planned trips, the palace said. Haakon serves as regent during the king’s illness, according to the palace.
The parliament’s foreign and defense committee cut short a trip to South Korea and the parliament speaker returned home from Iceland, local media reported. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre canceled his trip to Germany on Thursday evening.
The king is very popular in Norway, gaining respect for his inclusive style and willingness to discuss topics that might have been controversial for a monarch. In a 2026 NRK poll, Norwegians gave Harald a score of 9.2 out of 10 as the monarchy’s popularity declined.
In a much-quoted speech in 2016, he embraced every Norwegian and said: “Norwegians are girls who like girls, boys who like boys and girls and boys who like each other,” reminding listeners that he himself was once an immigrant and that his grandparents “emigrated from Denmark and England 110 years ago.”
The king had a pacemaker surgically implanted in 2024.
(Update on the Royal Palace’s statement from the second paragraph.)
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