Recommended
Thousands of people gathered in front of the Royal Palace of Norway to pay tribute to King Harald V, until now the dean of European monarchs, who passed away on Friday at the age of 89 after a reign of three and a half decades.
"It is with deep sadness that we announce that His Majesty King Harald has left us today. King Harald passed away peacefully at the national hospital (Rikshospitalet) on Friday, August 28, at 6:35 a.m. (04:35 GMT)," the Palace wrote in a statement.
His son automatically becomes the new monarch and will reign under the name King Haakon VIII.
Haakon, 53, takes command of a monarchy that has long been praised for its modernity and modesty, but which in recent years has been shaken by a series of scandals.
The new king arrived at the palace accompanied by his daughter Ingrid Alexandra, 22—the new crown princess—to officially inform the Government of his father's passing.
In a statement, he thanked "the Government and the Norwegian people for their support and condolences towards the royal family during these times."
For his part, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store stated in a speech shortly after meeting with the new monarch that Norway will remember "King Harald for his love for his people, for his sense of humor and warmth, and for his unwavering faith in us."
Harald had been hospitalized since August 17 and suffered from hemolytic anemia, a blood disease that manifests in an abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells.
His coffin will be moved from the hospital to the Royal Palace at 18:30 (16:30 GMT), the palace announced, and will be accompanied by King Haakon and his wife Queen Mette-Marit, as well as Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Queen Sonja, Prince Sverre Magnus, and Princess Märtha Louise.
The palace indicated that, at that time, the public will be able to visit and view the king in the chapel.
Despite the rain, thousands of Norwegians gathered in front of the Oslo palace, where they left piles of flowers, cards, stuffed animals, and Norwegian flags.
"He was the people's king," Kristoffer Hamre, one of those present, told AFP.
"Of course it's sad. He is a symbol of our country," Maja Otvik, 36, told AFP.
The government declared national mourning until the day of the funeral, the date of which is still unknown.
Madre e hija sobreviven a accidente, pero ICE las detiene en el hospital: “¿Por qué las tratan así?”
- An Open Norway -
Harald, who acceded to the throne in 1991, embodied an open and tolerant Norway.
"Norwegians are girls who love girls, boys who love boys, and girls and boys who love each other," he said in 2016 in a speech on the occasion of his 25 years as monarch. "Norwegians believe in God, Allah, the Universe, and in nothing," he added.
Many of the people AFP spoke to particularly highlighted his speech after the attacks carried out by neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik in 2011, which left 77 dead.
"He was someone who always seemed to find the words that united us," Caroline Vagle, a journalist for Se og Hør magazine, told AFP.
European royal houses were also quick to pay tribute to the late monarch, who was related to the reigning families of England and Spain.
Charles III praised the "warmth and humility" of his "dear cousin" Harald, while the Spanish Royal House praised his "tireless dedication to the service of Norway and its people, before and during his 35-year reign."
There were also messages of condolence and tribute from the monarchs of the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, and Denmark.
Despite Harald's good image, in recent years the royal family has faced numerous scandals, two of which are related to Mette-Marit.
This January, the publication of a set of files from the American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein uncovered an until-then unknown friendship with Mette-Marit.
Among the messages were some phrased in an intimate tone, between 2011 and 2014, when the American financier had already been convicted in his country for soliciting the sexual services of a minor.
The now-queen, already affected by an incurable lung disease that forced her to receive a lung transplant in June, has had to face the legal troubles of her son Marius Borg Høiby, born in 2001 from a relationship prior to her marriage to Haakon.
The 29-year-old was sentenced in June to four years in prison for two rapes—one of them committed in 2018 at the official residence of his mother and the crown prince—and 32 other charges.
Marius Borg Høiby appealed his conviction, and while awaiting that new trial, he is under house arrest with an electronic tag.
[Publicidad]