King Harald V of Norway died at 06:35 local time on 28 August 2026 at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet. He was 89. The Royal House announced it two hours later. His son took the throne at once as King Haakon VIII. That is the Associated Press lead, and the palace’s.

Crowds put flowers and flags at the palace in Oslo. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the country was in mourning and grateful for a long life in Norway’s service. Harald had been on the throne for 35 years, Europe’s oldest monarch, and had refused the abdications that other ageing houses chose. He had been in hospital since 17 August for a rare blood condition. Those are the wires. They are not a eulogy.

What the new king actually did on Friday

Haakon, 53, held an extraordinary Council of State the same day, took the motto “All for Norway,” and named himself Haakon VIII. His wife is Queen Mette-Marit. Their daughter Ingrid Alexandra, 22, is crown princess — the 1990 succession change that lets a firstborn woman inherit. The BBC reported he is to swear the oath before the Storting; the state funeral is set for 9 September at Oslo Cathedral, then a private burial at Akershus Fortress.

The record, not the hymn

Harald went into exile in the United States as a child during the Nazi occupation. He married Sonja, a commoner, against the old list of suitable brides. He reigned through an oil-and-gas boom. File those as biography, not as a moral. Read the AP obituary and the BBC from Oslo. Then wait for Tuesday’s oath — not for a story that pretends the country changed overnight.