King Harald of Norway Remains Hospitalised as Crown Prince Haakon Steps In as Regent
King Harald of Norway, 89, remains at the National Hospital in Oslo for treatment, the Norwegian Royal Court confirmed on Friday. Crown Prince Haakon has again assumed the role of Regent, carrying out the King's constitutional duties while his father receives care at Rikshospitalet, Oslo's main national hospital.
The King was unexpectedly admitted the previous week following a medical test. He had been receiving treatment for haemolytic anaemia, a condition in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than the body can replace them. His doctors grew concerned about side effects from the cortisone used in that treatment, including fluid retention, which led to the hospital admission. The Royal Court initially announced two weeks' sick leave for the King, with Crown Prince Haakon stepping in as Regent from the outset.
Queen Sonja will carry out a planned visit to Trøndelag in the King's absence, including a stop at Rindal municipality, according to the court's official programme page. After visits earlier this year to Siljan and Nissedal, the royal tours have now covered every one of Norway's municipalities with a visit from the King, the Queen, or the couple together — a milestone quietly reached while the monarch was already unwell.
The immediate royal calendar reflects the rearranged duties. Crown Prince Regent Haakon and Queen Sonja are scheduled to attend the King's Guard drill display on 25 August at 13:00, a fixture that would ordinarily have included the King. The Royal Court has said a further health update will come within the next week.
This is not the first time the Norwegian succession machinery has clicked into place. King Harald has been monarch since 1991, when he succeeded his father, King Olav V, and his health has been closely watched for years. He received a pacemaker in March 2024, in a scheduled operation to compensate for a low heart rate. In February 2026, he was hospitalised on the Spanish island of Tenerife with an infection and dehydration, and was discharged two days later after responding well to treatment for a skin infection on his leg. An earlier infection landed him in hospital for several days in August 2022.
The broader royal household has faced its own health challenges. Crown Princess Mette-Marit has undergone treatment for pulmonary fibrosis — a scarring of the lung tissue — and a lung transplant. Princess Ingrid Alexandra, the couple's elder child and second in line to the throne, recently returned to Norway from Australia, where she had been studying, to be closer to her family.
What gives this particular hospital stay its weight is the combination of the King's age and the specific treatment complication. Haemolytic anaemia is manageable but, at 89, the cortisone side effects prompted doctors to act quickly. The regency arrangement — in which the heir assumes the sovereign's duties under Norway's constitution — has become a familiar mechanism rather than an emergency measure. Each time it is invoked, it runs smoothly, and the Court Circular of engagements carries on with the Regent's name where the King's would normally stand.
The next update, promised within days, will determine whether the two-week sick leave holds or the King's absence extends further.
