Norway’s King Harald dies leaving stormy succession over crown princess’s Epstein links

Monarch’s death comes at turbulent time for royal family over association of crown princess with Jeffrey Epstein

King Harald V of Norway, Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, has died aged 89, the royal palace in Oslo has announced. He will be succeeded by his son King Haakon VIII.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce that His Majesty King Harald passed away today. King Harald passed away peacefully at Oslo University hospital on Friday 28 August 28 at 6.35am,” the palace said in a statement.

The new king, whose wife, Mette-Marit, has come under heavy recent scrutiny for her much-criticised association with the late US child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, will formally inform the government of his father’s death later on Friday.

Flags around the country were lowered to half-mast and church bells were to ring out at midday. The palace had announced on Thursday that Harald’s health had deteriorated and that he was in an “extremely serious” condition.

Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, said he had received the news of Harald’s death “with deep sadness … A whole nation is in mourning, and ⁠the people of Norway are left with a ​deep sense of ‌gratitude for a ‌long life in the service of Norway.”

The prime minister added: “For ‌more than three decades as monarch, Harald V demonstrated an unwavering faith in the Norwegian people. He helped us to see the best in ourselves – and in one another.”

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden said: “Throughout the years, King Harald has been a good friend to me, my family, and to Sweden … I ​wish ​my dear godson Haakon, ​who now succeeds his father as head ​of state, ‌success and ​good ​fortune.”

Britain’s King Charles mourned the loss of his “dear cousin”, paying tribute to a “towering figure” who guided his country with “warmth and humility” and served it with “unwavering dedication”.

Norway’s ceremonial head of state since 1991, Harald was being treated in Oslo’s University hospital since 17 August for haemolytic anaemia, a condition caused by an abnormally rapid destruction of the body’s red blood cells.

The king had numerous recent health problems– he had an operation for bladder cancer in 2003 and a pacemaker fitted in 2024 – but always ruled out abdicating, saying he had taken a lifelong oath before the Norwegian parliament.

His death comes amid a turbulent period for Norway’s royal family. Documents published in the US in January showed that Mette-Marit corresponded with Epstein between 2011 and 2014, long after he was convicted.

The files appeared to contain almost 1,000 mentions of Mette-Marit, including intimate exchanges. They drew fierce public criticism, with Støre accusing her in unprecedented comments of “poor judgment”.

Mette-Marit subsequently released a statement via the royal household expressing her “deepest regret for my friendship with Jeffrey Epstein” and apologising for “the situation that I have put the royal family in, especially the king and queen”.

Marius Borg Høiby, 29, Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship, has also been in the spotlight after being sentenced in June to four years in prison for two rapes and 32 other charges, including violence against a former partner. He has appealed.

Mette-Marit, 53, who has a serious lung disease and had a transplant in July, was a single mother to Høiby, who was four years old when her engagement to Norway’s crown prince was announced in late 2000.

The marriage, which marked the first time in modern European history that a direct heir to a throne had brought a stepson into a royal family, caused huge controversy in Norway but was strongly backed by King Harald and Queen Sonja.

Mette-Marit openly acknowledged having what she described as a rebellious youth and prior drug use, holding an emotional press conference a week before the wedding in which she expressed regret for her choices and strongly condemned drug use.

Public backing for Norway’s monarchy has suffered after the crown princess’s latest scandals, with a February poll finding support down to 54% from 72% in 2024. Several polls found nearly half of the population felt Mette-Marit could not become queen.

Harald is seen as the Norwegian monarchy’s great moderniser, revamping the crown estates and changing the way the court is run. He married Sonja, a commoner, in 1968 and welcomed two others, Mette-Marit and Ari Behn, as the spouses of his children.

A great-great-grandchild ‌of Britain’s Queen Victoria, he succeeded his father, Olav V, aged 54 after studying at Oxford and representing his country in sailing events at the Tokyo, Mexico City and Munich Olympics, and was appreciated in Norway for his unassuming lifestyle and efforts for national unity.

In an emotional speech in 2011 after the far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 in two terror attacks, he told his subjects that “freedom is stronger than fear” and as “a father, grandfather and spouse, I can only begin to sense some of the pain you feel. As king of the nation, I feel for every one of you.”

In 2016, he lauded diversity, tolerance and LGBTQ+ rights, saying Norwegians came from Afghanistan and Pakistan, believed “in God, in Allah and in nothing”, and included “girls who love girls, boys who love boys and girls and boys who love each other”.

In February he was admitted to hospital with an infection and dehydration in Tenerife, where he was on a private trip with the queen. Sonja, 89, was herself briefly treated for heart problems in hospital in Norway three months later.