Norway was thrust into a form of national paralysis on Thursday, after the Royal Palace issued an ominous message that King Harald’s health had taken a turn for the worse. Both the queen and the crown prince cancelled their programs, and so did many others in the government, the parliament and various public institutions.
The Norwegians’ ailing, 89-year-old monarch’s health was suddenly described as “extremely serious” and royal family members quickly started assembling by his bedside at the national hospital in Oslo (Rikshospitalet). He’d been hospitalized once again early last week, suffering this time from anemia along with a bacterial infection in his blood.
King Harald had seemed to respond to treatment with antibiotics but then came news that his condition had worsened over the weekend. It was then said to have stabilized earlier this week, but declined again, and family members who had been visiting him separately turned up in force.
They included his wife of nearly 58 years, Queen Sonja, also age 89, and their son and heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, who turned 53 last month. The king and queen should have been celebrating their wedding anniversary on Saturday, August 29, but like many other events in recent months, any party had been postponed.
Also at his bedside was Crown Prince Haakon’s wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who underwent a lung transplant earlier this summer, and both of their two children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. The first-born Ingrid Alexandra is the next heir to the throne after her father Haakon.
The king’s daughter Princess Martha Louise was also at his bedside on Thursday. Her American husband has recently undergone a kidney transplant in Oslo and remains in hospital himself. The king’s older sister, the 94-year-old Princess Astrid, also gathered with the family. She served as Norway’s first lady for King Harald’s widowed father, the late King Olav V, until Sonja Haraldsen married King Harald in 1968. Princess Astrid has also recently been in the hospital herself after heart trouble and a pacemaker operation in May.
It’s thus a hard-pressed royal family gathered around the monarch who by all accounts has done his best to keep them and the nation together. Their presence at his bedside and news reports of how dire the situation had become also set off a long string of events that revealed how Norwegian officials were expecting the worst.
The royal family’s entire official program was cancelled, the president of the Norwegian Parliament cut short a visit to Iceland and was traveling home to Norway, and the country’s bishops who were visiting the Vatican in Rome also cancelled the rest of their stay after meeting Pope Leo on Wednesday. They felt a need to get back to Norway.
So did members of the Parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee, who were on a trip to South Korea and Japan. They also cut their program short to travel home to Norway, while the president of the Sami Parliament cancelled meetings while sending a message that “our thoughts go to the king and his entire family.”
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was leading his government’s state budget conference, with all his ministers gathered at the new government headquarters in Oslo, when the news came of the king’s worsening condition. “I have with me the entire country in sending our warmest thoughts to the king and the rest of the royal family,” Støre stated shortly after 10am on Thursday, adding that he was “certain the king was well-taken care of” at the national hospital. Støre later cancelled a planned trip to Germany for a working dinner meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz Thursday evening.
Also by the king’s bedside was Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s son Marius Borg Høiby, who’s been convicted of a long list of crimes and remains officially in police custody but has been allowed to be at home on the crown couple’s royal estate wearing an ankle cuff that restricts his movements. Newspaper Vårt Land reported Thursday morning that he, too, was with the royal family at the national hospital. He was four years old when his mother married Crown Prince Haakon but has never had a royal title. His defense attorney declined comment on his presence with the rest of the royal family, calling that “a private matter.”
Blomster bouquets from well-wishers began appearing on the grounds of the royal palace Thursday morning, which later in the day became a gathering spot for Norwegians and visitors alike. Among them was Erik Birkemo, who told state broadcaster NRK that he simply wanted “to show respect for our dear king, our head of state. I look up to him, and then I thought I could give something back by laying down flowers.”
The Swedish royal couple also sent greetings to King Harald and his family. “The Swedish royal court is following King Harald’s condition,” it wrote in a message to TV2 in Norway. “Our royal family has close contact with the Norwegian royal family, and sends its full support.”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
