Norwegian King Harald V, Europe's oldest reigning monarch, dies at 89

Norwegian King Harald V died on Friday at 89 after 35 years on the throne, with his son Haakon VIII becoming king.

Harald was a figure of stability in a time of tremendous change and challenges in Norway, including drastic demographic change, an oil boom, and the 2011 terrorist attacks by Anders Breivik. At the time of his death, he was the oldest reigning monarch in Europe, a title he inherited after Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022 at 96. Harald was Norway’s oldest monarch in a line of monarchs stretching back over 1,150 years.