Hospital Admission and Sick Leave
Norway's King Harald V has been admitted to hospital and is on sick leave for two weeks, the country's royal household announced on Monday. The 89-year-old monarch, one of Europe's longest-serving reigning monarchs, has been treated in recent weeks with cortisone for the rare blood condition haemolytic anaemia. The condition reduces the number of red blood cells and leads to fatigue and shortness of breath.
The palace cited "fluid retention in the body that requires treatment in hospital" as the reason for the admission. A statement from the Royal Family read: "The King has been treated with cortisone for the blood disease hemolytic anaemia in recent weeks. This has led to fluid accumulation in the body that requires treatment in hospital."
The announcement also noted: "The King is on sick leave for two weeks. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is Regent during this period. We will return to the consequences this will have for the Royal House's official program." Crown Prince Haakon, aged 53, will serve as regent while his father is on sick leave.
Family Visits and Recent Health History
Members of the Norwegian Royal Family visited King Harald at the National University Hospital in Oslo on Tuesday, with his daughter Crown Princess Mette-Marit, son Crown Prince Haakon, older sister Princess Astrid, and granddaughter Maud Angelica Behn pictured arriving.
According to one report, the king had visited the hospital just 10 days earlier for a "planned checkup and follow-up with a doctor, and he was driven in his own car."
King Harald's recent health challenges have included a hospitalization in February while on holiday with Queen Sonja in Tenerife, where he was treated for an infection and dehydration and kept for two days before returning to Norway. In 2024, during a visit to Malaysia, he was admitted to hospital after his heart rate dropped dangerously low and was fitted with a temporary pacemaker; he later received a permanent one in Norway.
Queen Sonja was also admitted to hospital in May this year for examinations and observation due to heart problems, the palace said.
The King's Reign and Longevity
King Harald ascended the Norwegian throne in January 1991, following the death of his father, King Olav. He had become Crown Prince in 1957 after his grandfather, King Haakon VII, died. He married Sonja in 1968.
At 89, he is the oldest reigning monarch in Europe and the third-longest-reigning, behind King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, having been on the throne for over 35 years. He has openly ruled out abdicating.
Background: Royal Family's Turbulent Period
The king and queen's health problems come after a turbulent time for the Norwegian royals. The crown princess, Mette-Marit, exchanged hundreds of emails with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein between 2011 and 2014 and stayed in his Florida house when he was not there. "It is incredibly important for me to take responsibility for not checking his background more carefully," she said.