"No Abdication in My Vocabulary": Europe’s Oldest Monarch, Norway’s King Harald V, Dies

Passed Away While Receiving Treatment for Blood Infection
Reigned for 35 Years Since 1991

King Harald V of Norway, known as the oldest reigning monarch in Europe, has died at the age of 89.

King Harald V of Norway (left) and Queen Sonja. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

The Norwegian Royal Family announced that Harald V passed away peacefully at Oslo University Hospital at 6:35 a.m. local time on August 28, stating, "The King has passed away peacefully."

King Harald V had been hospitalized and receiving treatment since August 17 due to a bacterial infection in his blood. Over the past weekend, his condition deteriorated rapidly. The Royal Family reported the day before that Harald V was in critical condition, and as a result, Crown Prince Haakon, who is first in the line of succession, Queen Sonja, and other members of the royal family canceled all official schedules to stay by the King's side.

Harald V ascended to the throne in 1991 and reigned for 35 years. In recent years, he struggled with various health issues and reduced his official engagements. However, as he had pledged a "reign for life" before parliament, he did not abdicate the throne to the Crown Prince. Although Harald V had no political power, he played a vital unifying role for the nation by directly meeting and comforting the people during national periods of mourning such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

Born in 1937 in Akershus near Oslo, he was forced to flee to countries such as Sweden and the United States after Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany during World War II in 1940. After the war ended, he entered the University of Oslo in 1955 and, the following year, enrolled in the Norwegian Military Academy, graduating in 1959. In 1957, after his father King Olav V ascended the throne, he was appointed Crown Prince.

In 1960, he left to study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, where he studied history, economics, and political science. During this period, he displayed his talent as a rowing athlete and went on to represent Norway in yachting at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, Mexico City in 1968, and Munich in 1972.

In 1968, after a nine-year relationship, Harald V married Sonja Haraldsen, who was a commoner. At the time, the Royal Family, including his father, opposed the marriage, but Harald V famously declared, "If I cannot marry Sonja, I will remain single for life." It is said his father, fearing the end of the monarchy, permitted the marriage.

When King Olav V died in 1991, Harald V became King and led efforts to modernize the Royal Family. He opened Oslo Palace and other royal venues entirely to the public, bolstering the image of an approachable monarchy. He emphasized national unity during times of crisis such as the storm disaster in 1992, the 2011 series of terrorist attacks, the Jarðrum landslide in 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In his speech commemorating the 25th anniversary of his accession in 2016, he delivered a strong message of social unity, stating, "Immigrants and sexual minorities are also Norwegians."

After heart surgery in 2020, his son Crown Prince Haakon served as Regent, but Harald V maintained that the throne was a "lifetime reign," insisting, "There is no abdication in my vocabulary." In 2022, following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, he became Europe's oldest monarch.

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