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King Harald V dies; succession spotlights crown princess’s Epstein links

newsAug 28, 20261023,671

King Harald V of Norway died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital on 28 August at 6.35am, aged 89, the royal palace said. Crown Prince Haakon immediately succeeds as King Haakon VIII and will formally notify the government later on Friday; flags were lowered to half-mast and church bells rang at midday. Harald, Norway’s ceremonial head of state since 1991, had been treated at the hospital since 17 August for haemolytic anaemia and had a pacemaker fitted in 2024; he underwent bladder cancer surgery in 2003. The succession comes amid a turbulent period for the royal family after documents published in the United States showed Crown Princess Mette-Marit corresponded with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein between 2011 and 2014, material that reportedly contains almost 1,000 mentions of her including intimate exchanges. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre publicly accused Mette-Marit of "poor judgment"; the crown princess issued a statement via the royal household expressing her "deepest regret for my friendship with Jeffrey Epstein" and apologising for the situation she created for the royal family. Mette-Marit, 53, who has a serious lung disease and received a transplant in July, is also the mother of Marius Borg Høiby, 29, who was in June sentenced to four years in prison for two rapes and 32 other charges and has appealed.

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