CROWN IN CRISIS

King in ‘Very Serious’ Condition in Hospital

The monarch is Europe’s oldest.

Norway’s King Harald, 89, is in “very serious” condition after his health deteriorated while being treated in a hospital, the royal court said Thursday. Harald, Europe’s oldest living monarch and Norway’s ceremonial head of state since 1991, was admitted on Aug. 17 with a bacterial infection in his bloodstream. The palace said Crown Prince Haakon and Queen Sonja had dropped out of all planned engagements as the king’s condition worsened. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Thursday canceled a trip to Germany over the king’s condition, saying the nation was sending “warm thoughts” to Harald and the royal family. Norway’s Parliament president, Masud Gharahkhani, is also cutting short a visit to Iceland, while the Lutheran Church of Norway’s bishops are returning to Oslo from Rome, where they had been visiting Pope Leo XIV. Harald said in 2024 that he would scale back official duties because of his age, but ruled out abdication, saying his oath as king was for life.