Royaltyspeaking

🇳🇴 The Royal Court of Norway has announced the death of His Majesty King Harald V. The late King died while under care at Oslo’s Rikshospitalet University Hospital this morning at the age of 89. King Harald reigned as the third King of a fully independent Norway — the 64th Sovereign since unification in 872. He was a steady & modernising figure who bridged tradition & a contemporary Norway. Prince Harald was born on 21 February 1937 at Skaugum, as the third child & only son of Crown Prince Olav (later King Olav V) & Crown Princess Märtha (née Princess of Sweden), & a grandson of King Haakon VII. He was the first Prince born on Norwegian soil in more than five centuries. After the German invasion in April 1940, he fled with his mother & two sisters first to Sweden & then to the United States, where the family lived in near Washington, D.C., under the protection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Harald was present at the President’s second Inauguration. He returned to a liberated Norway in June 1945. Educated at Smestad School & Oslo Cathedral School, he trained at the Norwegian Cavalry Officers’ School as well as the Military Academy (graduating in 1959), later studying social sciences, history & economics at Balliol College, Oxford. He also held senior ranks across the Armed Forces. In 1968, after an almost decade long courtship & public debate over marrying a commoner, Harald married Sonja Haraldsen; the couple had two children, Princess Märtha Louise (b. 1971) & Prince Haakon (b. 1973). Harald became Crown Prince in 1957 upon his grandfather’s death & served as Regent during his father’s illnesses. He ascended to the Throne as King of Norway on 17 January 1991, taking the oath in the Storting & Consecrated in Nidaros Cathedral. His motto was “Alt for Norge” / “Everything for Norway”. A lifelong sportsman, he represented Norway in sailing at the 1964, 1968 & 1972 Olympic Games (flag-bearer in Tokyo), won the One-Ton World Championship (Gold Medal) in 1987 & a European title in 2005, remaining active in competitive sailing. As Crown Prince he helped found & led the Norwegian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature. During his reign, he modernised the Monarchy’s public role, opened royal residences more widely, supported greater openness, & provided calm leadership through crises including natural disasters, the 2011 terrorist attacks & the COVID-19 Pandemic. King Harald was Europe’s oldest reigning monarch & had declined to abdicate, citing his lifelong oath. A King who sailed through storms — both on the seas & in service to his people — he carried the weight of the Crown with humility. His love for Norway was deeply woven into every gesture, every word. King Harald V is survived by his wife, Queen Sonja, their children & grandchildren. King Haakon VIII has Ascended to the Norwegian Throne alongside Queen Mette-Marit. Their eldest child, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, is the new Crown Princess of Norway. Further announcements will be made by the Royal Court in due course.

🇩🇰 Queen Margrethe has been admitted to Rigshospitalet this afternoon due to heart attack. Queen Margrethe will be hospitalised over the weekend for observation & further examinations. Her Majesty is tired, but in good spirits. The Royal House will announce when there is news.