Norway’s King Harald V Dies at 89 After 35 Years on the Throne.

Norway’s King Harald V Dies at 89 After 35 Years on the Throne.

Norway’s King Harald V has died at the age of 89, ending a 35-year reign in which he became one of the country’s most recognisable and widely respected figures. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, has succeeded him as king.

King Harald V of Norway has died at the age of 89, the Norwegian Royal Palace announced earlier today.

The palace said Harald died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital at 6:35 a.m. on August 28, following a period of declining health. He had been receiving treatment in hospital after developing a bacterial infection in his blood.

His death brings to an end a reign that began in 1991, when he succeeded his father, King Olav V. For more than three decades, Harald served as Norway's ceremonial head of state while gradually giving the country's monarchy a more modern and personal character.

He was also, until his death, Europe's oldest reigning monarch,

Born in 1937, the young Harald spent part of his childhood in exile in the United States after Nazi Germany invaded Norway during the Second World War. He later became an accomplished sailor and represented Norway at three Olympic Games before taking on the responsibilities of the crown.

His approach to monarchy was notably less formal than the image traditionally associated with European royalty.

Harald married Sonja Haraldsen, a commoner, in 1968 after a nine-year courtship. The marriage was initially controversial because of the conventions surrounding royal families, but Sonja eventually became Queen Sonja and the couple remained together throughout his reign.

Harald's popularity was built not only around the institution he represented but also around the way he spoke to the country.

During national tragedies, he often used his position to offer reassurance and unity. After the 2011 terrorist attacks that killed 77 people in Norway, his speeches became particularly remembered for their emphasis on tolerance and openness.

Over the years, he also became associated with a more inclusive vision of Norwegian society, helping move the monarchy further away from some of its older traditions while retaining its symbolic role as a national institution.

His death now brings an immediate change at the top of the Norwegian monarchy.

Crown Prince Haakon automatically became king at the moment Harald died. He is expected to reign as King Haakon VIII, although the formal transition will include a Council of State at which the new monarch will confirm his name and motto. Norway does not require a coronation.

Haakon, 53, has already performed many of the responsibilities of the crown in recent years as his father's health declined. His daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, becomes the new heir apparent under Norway's gender-neutral succession system.

Norway has begun mourning its former king.

The royal flag has been lowered to half-mast at the palace in Oslo, while people have gathered outside to lay flowers and pay their respects. Several days of national mourning are expected before Harald's funeral, after which he will be buried in the royal mausoleum at Akershus Fortress in Oslo.

Harald's death comes at a difficult moment for Norway's royal family, which has faced a series of controversies in recent years and declining public support for the monarchy. But for much of his reign, Harald remained a steady figure above the country's political divisions.

He inherited a crown shaped by his father and spent 35 years making it his own.

Now, Norway has a new king - Hakoon; who inherits the throne, but Harald leaves behind a monarchy that changed considerably during his time on it.