Norway's King Harald dies aged 89

When Crown Prince Haakon married Mette-Marit in 2001, the king and queen welcomed her four-year-old son from a previous relationship. Marius Borg Høiby was treated as one of the family, but the royal house later stressed he was never a royal.The king's daughter Princess Märtha Louise initially married a Norwegian writer before controversially remarrying in 2024 to an American self-styled shaman. The couple's business activities eventually led to her halting her royal duties.While some Norwegians may have felt Harald was too lenient with his family's controversial life decisions, Vagle believes he had "shown himself to be someone who puts talking things through ahead of issuing harsh instructions".As the king's health declined, he permanently reduced his public engagements in April 2024. More recently he was treated with cortisone for a rare blood condition, haemolytic anaemia, which causes the number of red blood cells in the body to be reduced. He entered hospital on 17 August and his son became regent, taking over his activities.This year alone the Norwegian royal family has faced compounded personal health challenges and scandals that have left them under almost constant public ...