Photo: © The Royal Court (screenshot of the official website of the royal house 28 August 2026).
King Harald of Norway died at Oslo University Hospital, dep. The National Hospital (Oslo universitetssykehus, avd. Rikshospitalet) on Friday 28 August 2026 at 6.35 a.m.
His death was announced on the official website of the royal house around two hours later:
It is with deep sorrow that we announce that His Majesty King Harald has passed away. King Harald died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet Friday 28 August at 6:35 AM.
King Harald was succeeded by his son Haakon.
A crowd had already gathered at the Palace Square when the death was announced, and the crowd – and the number of flowers and cards (teddybears, flags, football shirts etc increased.) – only got larger and larger throughout the day and weekend. The nation is mourning. A beloved man and king has left us. The grief is profound. The gratitude is even greater.
For the record
This has never meant to be a personal blog. I write about events and topics that I care about and often I will give my own opinion or perspective. But work and other obligations make it some times hard to publish my articles soon after an event has taken place. But I always like to record some of the events and news that have taken place even if some time has passed.
When the news of King Harald's death reached me I was at work. I was asked to write a small article on various aspects of the succession to the throne for my employer's website before I had to focus on other tasks. The Norwegian Law Gazette, of which I am the editor, never sits still – new regulations have to be published. After work I went up to the Place Square again (I was also there on Thursday). In the evening I watched TV and on Saturday I was out of town for most of the day. So I will try to write a few lines today instead. I will write about some of the events, but it will be impossible to comment on all the aspects.
Lowered royal banner
I can see the Royal Palace from my office window. I was too occupied to see everything with my own eyes, but when the king's death was announced, Kongeflagget (the King's banner) flying from the roof of the palace was lowered to half staff. After the extraordinary Council of State had taken place the royal banner was raised, while another royal banner, with the so-called mourning flora, was flying on half staff from the palace balcony.
The Government of Norway has decided that the Norwegian flag will be flying on half staff from all state buildings from Friday 28 August until the day of the funeral. Once the funeral has taken place, the flags will be hoisted to full staff again. The Government has also declared a period of national mourning to last until the day of the funeral.
Extraordinary Council of State
The new king presided over the extraordinary Council of State at 11.30 a.m. Friday. Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra was also present. In the Council of State the king declared that he would reign under the name Haakon VIII and that his personal motto (called "valgspråk" in Norwegian would be "Alt for Norge" ("All for Norway"), the same motto also used by his father, King Harald V, his grandfather, KIng Olav V, and his great-grandfather, King Haakon VII.
Statsministerens kontor
Hans Majestet meddelte følgende:
Statsminister og statsråder,
Det er min plikt å meddele Statsrådet at min kjære far, Hans Majestet Kong Harald V, døde i dag den 28. august 2026, kl. 06.35, og at jeg i tråd med Grunnlovens bestemmelser har tiltrådt regjeringen som Norges Konge.
Jeg vil ta navnet Haakon VIII og vil videreføre det samme valgspråket som min far, bestefar og oldefar valgte: «Alt for Norge».
H.M. Kongen takket regjeringens medlemmer og det norske folk for støtte og medfølelse til Kongefamilien i denne tiden.
Statsministeren meddelte følgende:
Deres Majestet, Deres kongelige høyhet,
På vegne av regjeringen og det norske folk vil jeg uttrykke vår medfølelse ved Hans Majestet Kong Haralds død. Kong Harald var et menneske vi alle ble glad i. Vi vet at Kong Haralds bortgang er et stort tap for vår nye konge og hele kongefamilien.
Vi vil takke Kong Harald for livslang innsats for Norge og det norske folk. En hel nasjon er i sorg og står igjen i dyp takknemlighet.
Vi er trygge på at kongehusets tradisjoner vil føres videre under Deres Majestets ledelse, til det beste for folket og landet vårt.
In English:
Office of the Prime Minister
His Majesty made the following announcement:
Prime Minister and Ministers,
It is my duty to inform the Council of State that my dear father, His Majesty King Harald V, passed away today, 28 August 2026, at 06:35, and that, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, I have acceded to the throne as King of Norway.
I shall take the name Haakon VIII and will continue to use the same motto chosen by my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather: "All for Norway."
H.M. The King thanked the members of the Government and the Norwegian people for their support and sympathy shown to the Royal Family during this time.
The Prime Minister made the following announcement:
Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness,
On behalf of the Government and the Norwegian people, I wish to express our condolences upon the death of His Majesty King Harald. King Harald was a person we all loved. We know that King Harald’s passing is a great loss for our new King and the entire Royal Family.
We wish to thank King Harald for his lifelong service to Norway and the Norwegian people. An entire nation is in mourning and remains filled with deep gratitude.
We are confident that the traditions of the Royal House will be carried forward under Your Majesty’s leadership, for the good of the people and our country.
In connection with the Council of State photos of the new King and Crown Prince were taken with the members of the government, and afterwards they signed the condolence protocol. A government conference took place at 10 at the Prime Minister's office prior to the Council of State.
Salute and church bells ringing
At noon there was a mourning salute (21 shots with 30 seconds between) from the nine salute stations in Norway, including from Akershus Fortress, and the church bells were ringing for an hour, to mark the death of King Harald.
Members of the royal house and titles
When the death of King Harald was announced all the subpages of the royal website were taken down for some time to get the most relevant pages updated. When all the pages were up agai, we learnt among others the titles of the members of the royal house.
Det norske kongehuset består av Deres Majesteter Kong Haakon og Dronning Mette-Marit, Hennes Kongelige Høyhet Kronprinsesse Ingrid Alexandra og Dronning Sonja.
In English:
The Norwegian Royal House consists of Their Majesties King Haakon and Queen Mette-Marit, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and Queen Sonja.
There were in other words no surprises other than that Queen Sonja has "lost" her style Majesty. I didn't expect that, and most other in the know where equally surprised. The reference to Queen Sonja without the style was also repeated in later press statements, so there is no doubt that this was not just a mistake. Although we haven't had a Queen Dowager for quite some time, it has not uncommon to have two queens (or more) in a monarchy, just look at the United Kingdom (Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) and Belgium to take two examples. There all are or were Majesties. A Queen is always styled Majesty. Even though it is a conscious decision which should not be taken as a personal rebuff, I simply cannot understand the reasoning behind it. Considering all the work and effort Queen Sonja has done for Norway I find such a "downgrading" totally unacceptable.
Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra
The title of Crown Prince or Crown Princess is not automatic when a new monarch has succeeded to the throne, as too many seem to believe. Article 34 of the Constitution of Norway said, before the changes in 1990 when female succession (full primogeniture) was introduced:
The nearest heir to the Throne, if he is the son of the reigning King, shall bear the title of Crown Prince. The other persons entitled to succeed to the Throne shall be called Princes, and the daughters of the Royal House, Princesses.
From 29 May 1990 Article 34 says (English edition at Lovdata.no):
The King shall make provisions concerning titles for those who are entitled to succeed to the Crown.
In other words, the king has to make a formal decision on the title of the nearest heir to the throne. Everyone expected that Ingrid Alexandra would become Crown Princess, and so she did. Because of the need for for verifiability/traceability I would have preferred that the decision came in form of a press statement instead of at an undated general subpage on the members of the royal house. For other members of the royal family (Prince Sverre Magnus, Princess Märtha Louise and Princess Astrid Mrs. Ferner) there are no changes.
Speeches
The President of the Storting, the Chief Justice of the Supremie Court and the Prime Minister of the Storting all held speeches after the king's death:
- The President of the Storting, Masud Gharahkhani
- The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Toril Øie (I couldn't find a televised version at the moment, so the links go to NRK Radio)
- The Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre
Condolences
The royal house has naturally received many messages of condolences from royal and presidential heads of state and other dignitaries. The website Gert's Royals has made a collection of condolence messages from foreign monarchs, so please go to his supbage to read them.
The public is invited to sign the condolence protocol either digitally at the official website of the Norwegian royal house or at the Norwegian embassies (please check out their websites). In Norway most churches and/or city halls will have condolence protocols available. For people living in Oslo see information from the Municipality of Oslo here.
Coffin
The coffin (the bire) of King Harald was taken by car from Rikshospitalet (The National Hospital) to the Royal Palace on Friday night, 28 August.
King Haakon, Queen Mette_Marit, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Queen Sonja, Prince Sverre Magnus and Princess Märtha Louise followed the coffin in cars behind the hearse. The transport can be viewed at NRK TV.
Memorial service
Churches all over the country held a memorial service on Sunday. Members of the Storting and Government attended the service in Oslo domkirke (Oslo Cathedral), while King Haakon, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus and Queen Sonja attended the service in Asker kirke (Asker Church) close to the Skaugum estate. See photos from the latter service at Kirken.no.
Viewing of the bier
After being transported from the National Hospital to the Royal Palace, the bier of King Harald was placed in The Red Salon. King Haakon and Crown Princess Alexandra received Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Sunday 30 August for the viewing of King Harald's bier. The Presiding Bishop of the Church of Norway, Olav Fykse Tveit, was also present at the viewing.
Filing past the coffin
The bier (coffin) will be carried from The Red Salon to the Palace Chapel on Monday 31 August 2026. The public will be able to file past the coffin from Tuesday 1 September 2026 at 2.pm. until Tuesday 8 September 2026 at 6 p.m.
King Haakon VII to take the oath
King Haakon VIII will take the Oath of Allegiance to the Constitution in the Storting on Tuesday 1 September at 1 p.m. The oath is worded, cf. the Constitution article 9:
I promise and swear that I will govern the Kingdom of Norway in accordance with its Constitution and Laws; so help me God, the Almighty and Omniscient.
See more details at the Storting's website.
Funeral service
The funeral service will take place in Oslo domkirke (Oslo Cathedral) on Wednesday 9 September 2026 at 1 p.m. The funeral service will be officiated by the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Norway, Olav Fykse Tveit. The Bishop of Oslo, Sunniva Gylver, Cathedral Cantor Marcus André Berg, the Oslo Cathedral Choir, and others will also participate.
The cathedral has 930 seats, but the number of foreign royals and other dignitaries as well as representatives of the official Norway will be so high that I doubt that any from the public will be able to attend. We can expect that representatives of all the European royal and princely houses will be in attendance. So far the king and queen of Denmark and the king and queen of the Belgians have confirmed their presence. I will give more details about the people attending the funeral service when we get closer to the actual date.
Line of succession
The updated line of succession to the throne of Norway:
- HRH Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra (b. 2004)
- Prince Sverre Magnus (b. 2005)
- Princess Märtha Louise (b. 1971)
- Maud Angelica Behn (b. 2003)
- Leah Isadora Behn (b. 2005)
- Emma Tallulah Behn (b. 2008)
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