Norway's royal family gathers at King Harald's bedside as his condition worsens

King Harald V of Norway is in an "extremely serious" condition in hospital, the country's royal household has remarked.

Key points

• Crown Princess Mette-Marit received a lung transplant in June after she had been diagnosed with a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis in 2018.
• Having been on the throne since 1991, King Harald is Europe's oldest head of state.
• Members of the royal family were seen arriving at the hospital on Thursday morning, including Haakon's wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
• Crown Prince Haakon, 53, the successor to the Norwegian throne, has been serving as regent while his father is on leave.
• The Norwegian royal family has already faced a challenging year in 2026.

His wife, Queen Sonja, and his son, Crown Prince Haakon, have cancelled all royal engagements and they have gathered at his bedside at Oslo University Hospital with other members of the royal family.

Notably, the 89-year-old has been in hospital for over a week receiving treatment for a rare blood condition, haemolytic anaemia.

King Harald has been treated in recent weeks with cortisone for haemolytic anaemia, a condition that causes the number of red blood cells in the body to be reduced, and leads to fatigue and shortness of breath.

As reports indicate in Norwegian media, king Harald's sister, Princess Astrid is additionally at the hospital.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre remarked in an official note to the media: "The whole nation is with us as we send warm thoughts to the king and the rest of the royal family."

Meanwhile, the king has had multiple health challenges over recent years which have forced him to scale back his royal duties.

He was fitted with a pacemaker in 2024 after falling ill on holiday in Malaysia.

Notably, the Norwegian royal family has already faced a challenging year in 2026.

In practice, the transplant came two days after Mette-Marit's son Marius Borg Høiby was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of two counts of rape. He had denied the most serious charges and is to appeal the sentence.

Høiby, 29, was four when his mother married Crown Prince Haakon and is not himself a royal figure.

Additionally earlier in the year, documents were issued revealing Mette-Marit's frequent contact with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

She afterwards apologised to Norway's king and queen for her three-year friendship with Epstein and admitted to "poor judgement", adding in a national TV interview that she wished she had never met him.

In short, norway' s royal family gathers at King Harald' s bedside as his condition worsens is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.