Thousands of people gathered outside Norway’s royal palace Friday to pay their respects to King Harald, who died aged 89 after a reign of three-and-a-half decades.
His son, 53, immediately succeeded him on the throne and said he would govern under the name King Haakon VIII, AFP reports.
Haakon inherits a monarchy long praised for its modernism and modesty but plagued in recent years by a number of scandals.
The new king arrived at the palace with his 22-year-old daughter Ingrid Alexandra, the new crown princess, to officially inform the government of his father’s death.
Haakon said in a statement: “I would like to thank the government and the Norwegian people for the support and sympathy for the Royal Family in this time”.
“Era’s over. A new one starts. The king is dead. “Long live the king,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a speech shortly after meeting the new monarch.
“We will remember King Harald for his love of his people, for his humour and warmth and for his unfailing faith in us,” he added.
King Harald, Europe’s longest-serving monarch, had been in hospital in Oslo since August 17 suffering from haemolytic anaemia, a disorder caused by an abnormally rapid loss of red blood cells that can lead to exhaustion and shortness of breath.
Harald, who became king in 1991, was “a king of his time and for his time,” Store said. The monarch had accompanied Norway through decades of great transformation during which the country “grew richer, we became more numerous, and we became more diverse,” he said. Investing in Music Royalties
Thousands of Norwegians gathered outside the palace in Oslo, leaving mountains of flowers, cards, cuddly toys and Norwegian flags. Many hugged and held each other.
He was the people’s king,” mourner Kristoffer Hamre told our correspondent.
“King Harald has been such a good king and I think most Norwegians really feel that they know him very well,” said another, Andreas Engesvik.
The government declared a period of national mourning until the king’s funeral, the date of which will be revealed.
The flag was lowered to half-mast at the palace in the morning after the announcement of Harald’s death, but was raised again after Haakon arrived for the meeting with the government.
A second flag will fly at half-mast on the royal balcony and at other official buildings until after Harald’s burial.
The appropriate thing to say
Like many mourners, 65-year-old Vigdis Haug said she appreciated Harald’s ability to bring people together.
“I think he has been such a down to earth king who has cared about all of us and the words he always uses when he gives a speech are so wise and so valuable,” she said our correspondent.
Harald was viewed as the embodiment of an open and accepting Norway.
Many of those our correspondent spoke to specifically mentioned his statement following the twin attacks on July 22, 2011, when neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people, Norway’s greatest atrocity since World War II. Interactive Geographic Maps Download
“He was someone who always seemed to find the words that brought us together and gave us a sense of security,” Caroline Vagle, a reporter for Se og Hor magazine, told our correspondent.
World leaders paid tribute, including those of France, Germany, India, Italy, Jordan and Ukraine, as well as the royal houses of Europe.
Britain’s King Charles III said in a statement he was “so sad” to lose his “dear cousin.”
Harald was king during the negotiation of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1990s. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was “deeply saddened” by Harald’s departure.
Year of turmoil
However, Harald suffered increasingly poor health in his later years, which limited his official timetable.
But he ruled out abdication saying he had taken a life-long oath before the Norwegian parliament.
It’s been a tumultuous year for the Norwegian royal family.
His wife, Queen Sonja, also 89, was sent to hospital in May with heart difficulties, in addition to his own health problems.
Haakon’s wife Mette-Marit is being investigated over her links to the late US sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
Mette-Marit’s son by a previous partner, Marius Borg Hoiby, was sentenced in June to four years in prison for two counts of rape. Investments in Music Royalties
Mette-Marit, 53, has a significant lung illness herself and underwent a lung transplant in July.
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