The Royal Palace in Oslo announced that the monarch peacefully died on Friday at 6:35 a.m. local time (7:35 a.m. Lithuanian time) at the national Oslo hospital.
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In the last day before his death, the king was visited by members of the royal family, and people gathered outside the palace laid flowers.
Harald V was the first king born in Norway since the 14th century. The throne will be succeeded by his son Haakon.
After 35 years of reign, he will be remembered as a popular and reformist leader who modernized the monarchy, broke traditions by marrying a commoner, and became a unifying figure during Norway’s toughest moments, reports the BBC.
Royal family observers say he was humble, respected, and loved, calling him the nation’s “grandfather” and “people’s king” – a title previously given to his father, King Olav V.
After the 2011 bombings and shootings in Oslo and on Utøya island, Harald V urged Norwegians to support each other and not let “fear win.”
Recently, Harald and his family faced health challenges and scandals, especially concerning his daughter-in-law Mette-Marit’s connections with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and her son Marius Borg Høiby’s conviction for rape.
Flags lowered
At the Royal Palace in Oslo, the flag was lowered to half-mast, reported AFP reporter at the scene.
Harald V had been treated at Oslo hospital since August 17, admitted for hemolytic anemia – a condition caused by unusually rapid destruction of red blood cells, leading to fatigue and shortness of breath.
The royal family rushed to his bedside on Thursday when the palace announced Harald’s condition was critical.
His wife Queen Sonja, Haakon and his wife Mette-Marit, and their adult children spent most of Thursday by his bedside, and media reported Haakon stayed overnight.
On Friday, the public flocked to the palace in central Oslo for the second consecutive day.
Son automatically becomes King Haakon VIII
The popular king modernized the royal palace but refused to follow the example of other aging monarchs who recently abdicated. His son now automatically becomes King Haakon VIII.
As in other European royal palaces, Norwegian monarchs mainly play a symbolic role and enjoy star status, while real power in the democratic country of 5.5 million belongs to the elected parliament.
Harald V was crowned after his UK-born father King Olav V died in January 1991, ruling the country during an economic boom driven by oil and gas.
King Harald V was born in 1937 in Asker, near Oslo, becoming the first Norwegian-born prince since King Olav IV in 1370. In later centuries, Norway had no king of its own until after the 1905 dissolution of the Sweden-Norway union, when Harald V’s grandfather Haakon VII was elected king.
Harald V had to flee the Nazis as a child
King Harald V was three years old when the Nazis occupied Norway at the start of World War II. To avoid captivity, his mother fled with Harald and his sisters Ragnhild and Astrid first to Sweden, then by ship to the USA, while his father and grandfather went into exile in the UK with the Norwegian government.
Haakon VII’s refusal to comply with German demands earned him the people’s respect.
During their stay in the USA, members of the Norwegian royal family often visited the White House. King Harald V was six when he performed his first official duty – christening new warplanes at a Norwegian Air Force base in Canada.
The family reunited in Norway in June 1945, shortly after the war ended. King Harald V attended public schools, the Norwegian Military Academy, and Oxford University.
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“All for Norway”
Like his father – the 1928 Olympic sailing champion – King Harald V loved the sea and sailing ships. He represented Norway in several Olympic Games and won gold in the 1987 World Championship with his yacht.
In his youth, King Harald V was urged to find a bride among European princesses. For nine years, he avoided many noblewomen until finally receiving his father’s permission to marry his school-time love Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a successful businessman.
King Olav feared this marriage would weaken the still young Norwegian monarchy. However, Norwegians welcomed the wedding on August 29, 1968, with joy and later accepted Sonja as their queen. The couple had two children – Märtha Louise and Haakon.
In 1990, the Norwegian constitution was amended to allow the firstborn, regardless of gender, to have precedence in the line of succession. However, this rule was not applied retroactively, meaning Haakon still had precedence over his older sister.
When King Harald V ascended the throne on January 21, 1991, he chose the same motto used by his father and grandfather: “All for Norway.” He dedicated the following year to modernizing the monarchy.
“My experience shows that the monarchy remains strong,” he once said. “This is no less because my father and grandfather did most things right. It puts pressure on me, but I accept it as a challenge.”
King Harald V earned the nation’s praise with a heartfelt speech during memorial services after right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in bombings and shootings in Norway in 2011.
“I remain convinced that faith in freedom is stronger than fear. I remain convinced in faith in an open Norwegian democracy and society. I remain convinced in faith in our ability to live freely and safely in our country,” the king said.
Supported LGBT people
In 2016, King Harald V gave an unexpected and passionate speech supporting LGBTIQ equality, refugees, and religious tolerance, saying that “Norwegians are girls who love girls, boys who love boys, and girls and boys who love each other.”
He added that many Norwegians have immigrated from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Poland, and other countries, and they “believe in God, Allah, the universe, and nothing.”
This public speech, praising the Scandinavian country’s diversity, was viewed millions of times on social media.
Not immune to scandals
During his reign, the royal family experienced relatively few scandals compared to their counterparts in the Swedish and UK royal families, although King Harald V’s daughter Märtha Louise gave up royal duties, surprising many by claiming she could communicate with angels and becoming engaged to an American who claims to be a shaman.
The Norwegian royal family faced unfavorable attention earlier this year when King Harald V’s daughter-in-law, heir to the throne Mette-Marit, again had to explain her connections with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This raised questions about her decisions, although she is not accused of any wrongdoing.
Mette-Marit apologized for the situation that involved the royal family, as part of a broader apology to all those she disappointed.
Around the same time, her eldest son Marius Borg Høiby was found guilty of rape in a high-profile court case and sentenced to four years in prison. M. B. Høiby, Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship before she met Haakon, holds no royal titles or official duties.
In January 2024, after Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II – his second cousin – abdicated, King Harald V stated he would uphold the oath he took upon ascending the throne: “It applies for life.”
However, he was hospitalized twice during foreign trips afterward, including during 2024 holidays in Malaysia when he had a pacemaker implanted, and while treating a skin infection during February holidays on Tenerife, Spain.
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