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The Saudi Press Agency reported that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman sent separate cables expressing their deepest condolences and sincere sympathy to King Haakon VIII, the family of the deceased and the people of Norway. In those messages the Saudi leaders wished the new monarch continued health and well-being as the Scandinavian country entered a period of national mourning. The cables were issued one day after the palace announced the passing of the 89-year-old sovereign who had reigned since 1991.
Norway’s royal palace announced that King Harald V died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet on August 28 at 06:35 local time after treatment for a rare blood condition that had led to his admission 11 days earlier. The palace stated that Crown Prince Haakon immediately succeeded his father and took the title King Haakon VIII at the age of 53. Crowds began gathering at the royal palace in Oslo within hours, leaving flowers, flags and cards along the streets while the royal standard flew at half-mast.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre addressed the nation in a televised speech carried on the government website, declaring that an era had ended and a new one was beginning. “An era has ended. A new era is beginning. The King is dead. Long live The King,” Støre said. He spoke of the late king’s warmth, sense of humour and unwavering faith in the Norwegian people, adding that the country stood united in both grief and gratitude for his decades of service.
The Saudi Press Agency noted that King Haakon VIII is scheduled to take the oath of allegiance to the Norwegian constitution before parliament on September 1. The new king had already convened an extraordinary council of state with ministers on the day of his father’s death, where he reaffirmed the royal family’s longstanding motto of “All for Norway,” BBC News reported. This formal transition follows a 35-year reign during which Harald V worked to modernise the monarchy while preserving its symbolic role in the country’s parliamentary democracy.
Britain’s King Charles issued a statement carried by Reuters in which he recalled Harald as a much-loved kinsman and friend who served his people with dedication, warmth and humility through times of change. Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf remembered the late monarch as a good friend to himself, his family and Sweden, extending wishes of success to his godson now on the throne. Similar messages of condolence arrived from other European royal houses and heads of state, underscoring the regard in which Harald V was held internationally.
The Associated Press noted that Harald V was the first king born in Norway since the 14th century and presided over an oil-and-gas-driven economic expansion while breaking with tradition by marrying a commoner, Queen Sonja. He is survived by the queen, to whom he had been married nearly 58 years, their daughter, their son the new king and six grandchildren. Norwegian officials have said preparations for a state funeral will proceed in the coming days as the nation continues its mourning.
