King Harald V of Norway has died, the Norwegian royal house announces. The sovereign passed away at 6:35 this morning at the age of 89. The oldest monarch in Europe had been admitted to Rikshospitalet, the national hospital in Oslo, on August 17 for a blood disease following a routine hospital check-up.
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The situation then worsened due to a bacterial blood infection. Prince Haakon, 53, and his wife Mette-Marit will be the new rulers in Oslo. Already since yesterday before the official announcement a few minutes ago, many in Oslo had approached the royal palace to lay flowers.
The monarch suffered from hemolytic anemia, a blood disease that causes abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells. Together with his wife, Queen Sonja, the royal couple had planned to visit several municipalities around Norway during the autumn. Despite his age, with the help of a cane, the King of Norway had managed to maintain many of his official duties, including the meeting with the National football team upon their return home after qualifying for the World Cup quarter-finals.
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The sailor king with a human face who married a commoner
Harald V was the first monarch born in the country in over 500 years (from 1380 to 1905 the country did not have a fully independent monarchy); he ascended the throne on January 17, 1991 following the death of his father Olav V; in his over 35 years of reign he was greatly loved by Norwegians, both as a leader and for his human qualities.
At the ceremony commemorating the 77 victims of the 2011 Utoya terrorist attack, King Harald broke down in tears publicly and has often shown his emotional side, in addition to his institutional one.
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