Norway’s King Harald V Dead at 89 After 10 Days in Hospital With Blood Infection

Norway’s King Harald V died on Friday, August 28. He was 89.

The Norwegian monarch died at 6:35 a.m. local time at the Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, the royal court said.

Harald had been hospitalized on August 17 with a bacterial blood infection.

His death comes just one day after the palace said that “His Majesty the King’s health has deteriorated” and “His Majesty the King’s health condition is very serious.”

Harald is survived by his wife, Queen Sonja, 89, daughter Princess Märtha Louise, 54, and son Crown Prince Haakon, 53, who was automatically crowned king upon Harald’s death.

Harald ruled for 35 years after succeeding his father, King Olav V, in 1991.

“It is with the most profound sadness that my wife and I have learned of the death of my dear cousin, King Harald V of Norway,” the U.K.’s King Charles III said in a statement on Friday.

The British monarch continued, “For 35 years, King Harald served his people with unwavering dedication, guiding Norway through times of great change with warmth and humility. As Norway mourns the loss of so towering a figure, my whole family join in remembering a much-loved kinsman and friend whose kindness, compassion and deep sense of duty echoed from across the sea and across the decades.”

“The United Kingdom and Norway share particularly close historical and family ties, with Britain one of the first countries to recognize Norwegian independence and establish diplomatic relations in 1905,” Charles said. “These special bonds were even further strengthened during the dreadful trials of the Second World War and helped to bind our two countries together.”

“Queen [Camilla] and I extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Queen Sonja and all her family, as Britain shares in Norway’s grief at this time of such heartbreaking loss,” he concluded.