King Harald V of Norway dies at 89; Crown Prince Haakon becomes King Haakon VIII

King Harald V of Norway died on Friday, August 28, 2026, at 06:35 local time, aged 89, after being treated for a rare blood condition, according to BBC News. He had reigned for 35 years. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, 53, has become King Haakon VIII.

The succession marks a transition for Norway's monarchy at a moment of declining public confidence in the institution. A poll conducted for newspaper Aftenposten earlier this year found support for the monarchy had dropped to 54%, down from 72% in 2024, per BBC reporting.

The new king held an extraordinary council of state meeting with government ministers on Friday, invoking the royal family's motto, "All for Norway," according to BBC News. He is scheduled to take an oath before Norwegian parliament on Tuesday and will participate in a consecration service, a stripped-down version of a coronation, which Norway no longer holds, the outlet reported. His daughter, Ingrid Alexandra, 22, is next in line to the throne as crown princess under succession rules changed in 1990 to allow firstborn women to inherit the crown.

Harald's death came after weeks of health concerns. An estimated 10,000 people lined the streets in the capital for a public procession honoring the late king, per BBC reporting. The Norwegian Armed Forces honored Harald with a funeral salute of 21 shots from Akershus Fortress in central Oslo at noon. The date of his funeral has not been officially announced; until then, he will lie in state in the palace chapel for public viewing.

Norway has declared a national mourning period during which flags will fly at half-mast, portraits of Harald will be displayed, candles lit, and moments of silence held at professional events, according to BBC News. All non-work-related social events will be cancelled or postponed. Oslo Mayor Anne Lindboe, who was scheduled to marry on Friday, postponed her wedding.

Harald was survived by his wife of almost 58 years, Queen Sonja, their daughter Princess Martha Louise, their son the new king, and six grandchildren. He was Norway's first king born in the country since the 14th century. Born on February 21, 1937, on the Skaugum estate near Oslo, he was three years old when Nazi Germany invaded Norway in World War Two. His mother fled with her children to Sweden and later traveled to the United States on the invitation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He became crown prince in 1957 and studied social science, history and economics at Balliol College in Oxford from 1960 to 1962.

Harald broke with tradition by marrying Sonja Haraldsen, a commoner, whom he met at a party, but he had to wait nine years before being allowed to marry her. The couple wed in Oslo Cathedral on August 29, 1968. When his father became ill in 1990, the then-crown prince became regent; Harald ascended to the throne when his father died on January 17, 1991.

During his reign, Harald was one of the initiators of the Norwegian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature, serving as president of the Norwegian chapter for 20 years. He was an accomplished sailor who represented Norway three times at the Olympics. In 2016, he gave a speech supporting diversity of religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation. In July 2011, Norway faced a national tragedy when neo-Nazi Anders Breivik murdered eight people with a car bomb in Oslo and then shot dead 69 others, most of them teenagers, on the island of Utoya.

King Charles III sent his "most heartfelt condolences" at the death of his "dear cousin," per BBC reporting, while King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden remembered Harald as "a good friend to me, my family and to Sweden" and wished his godson Haakon "success and good fortune." Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the country was "united in grief and gratitude."

The new king faces immediate family challenges. His wife, now Queen Mette-Marit, received a lung transplant after suffering from pulmonary fibrosis since 2018, and doctors will not declare her stable until next year, according to BBC reporting. Queen Mette-Marit had a three-year friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, for which she has publicly apologized, the outlet reported. Her son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby, was convicted in June of rape and other offences and sentenced to four years in prison; he is appealing. Høiby is not a member of the royal family but was raised with them since he was four years old, when now-King Haakon married his mother.

Norwegian royal experts told BBC News that despite questions about the turbulence surrounding his family, King Haakon was respected, hard-working and believed able to move forward despite the challenges.