King Harald V of Norway, the longest-reigning monarch in Europe, was admitted 10 days ago to the Oslo University Hospital due to anemia, which a few days later developed into a blood infection. And, according to the royal house of that Nordic country reported this Thursday, the health of the 89-year-old monarch, who has been on the throne since 1991, has worsened again and is “very serious.” “The health condition of His Majesty the King is very serious. His Royal Highness the Regent Prince and Her Majesty the Queen are suspending all their programs,” the institution stated in a communiqué. Queen Sonja and the crown princes Haakon and Mette-Marit have been at the hospital since around 9:15, according to the NTB agency. Later, the princes Ingrid Alexandra and Sverre Magnus — children of the heirs — as well as Princess Astrid, the king’s sister, joined them, according to public television NRK. According to the same source, Marius Borg Høiby, the eldest son of Princess Mette-Marit, who is currently under house arrest after being sentenced last June to four years in prison for two cases of rape and for mistreatment of one of his ex-girlfriends, also arrived at the hospital.
“I am very affected that the king’s health has worsened and that his condition is very serious. I have the whole country behind me when I say that I send my best wishes to the king and the rest of the royal family. I am confident that he will be well cared for and receive good treatment at the University Hospital,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in a message sent by email to NTB following the news. The Prime Minister’s office has reported that there are no changes in Støre’s schedule, who is traveling this Thursday to Berlin to meet with his German counterpart, Friedrich Merz. The President of the country’s Parliament, Masud Gharahkhani, has canceled his visit to Iceland to return to Norway, according to NRK. Additionally, it has been announced that members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will return home from South Korea. The College of Bishops of the Church of Norway, who are in Rome for a visit with the Pope, have also announced they will return as soon as possible, according to media reports.
Six days ago, the royal house announced the monarch’s hospital admission at Rikshospitalet in the Norwegian capital, after being treated with cortisone for anemia, which caused fluid to accumulate in his body. Harald V had already been on sick leave for several weeks in February and March due to an infection in a leg that required hospitalization in Tenerife (Spain), where he was on vacation.
On Sunday, in another royal house statement, it was reported that his condition had “worsened” over the past weekend due to a bacterial blood infection. At that time, they said he remained “stable.” “The king has received antibiotics for a bacterial blood infection and has responded well to that treatment. The situation is stable. The king will remain at the University Hospital (Oslo) and, for now, is on sick leave until further notice,” the brief note from the institution stated. Last Monday afternoon, they again reported on the situation: “There is no substantial change in the king’s health and the situation remains stable,” it was assured.
Since his admission, the king has been visited several times by his wife as well as his two children, Haakon — who has since acted as regent — and Märtha Louise of Norway. Precisely, the two spouses of the Norwegian royal children are also convalescing. Princess Mette-Marit underwent a lung transplant last June due to the worsening of pulmonary fibrosis diagnosed in 2018. And this Wednesday it was reported that Durek Verrett, the American shaman who married Märtha Louise in August 2024, underwent a kidney transplant due to kidney problems he had been suffering from for years.
In recent years, Harald V’s health ailments have been more continuous. At the beginning of 2024, he was operated on in a hospital in the Langkawi Islands (Malaysia), where he was on vacation, to implant a temporary pacemaker. After being transferred to Norway on a medical plane, he was operated on again to place a permanent pacemaker. COVID took him to the hospital in March 2022. In 2023, he was hospitalized again due to an infection. He was last operated on in 2021 for a ligament in the knee, and a year earlier, the heart valve implanted in 2005 was replaced, two years after a tumor was removed from his bladder.
The monarch, who considers his role a lifelong commitment — and has publicly expressed this on more than one occasion — announced in April 2024 that he would permanently reduce his activities so as not to compromise the visibility of the monarchy.
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