Norway's King Harald, 89, in 'Extremely Serious' Condition as Royal Family Gathers at Hospital

Norway's royal palace announced Thursday that King Harald V's health has taken a serious turn for the worse. The 89-year-old monarch's condition is now "extremely serious," the palace said in a statement, without elaborating further.

Harald has been at Oslo University Hospital since August 17. He'd been on sick leave for weeks before that, being treated with cortisone for haemolytic anaemia, a rare blood condition where red blood cells get destroyed faster than the body can replace them. That treatment led to fluid retention, which is what put him in the hospital in the first place, according to the palace.

There's some discrepancy in how outlets described his diagnosis. The BBC, Al Jazeera and Euronews all reported he's being treated for complications from haemolytic anaemia. The New York Post and Independent described it as a bacterial blood infection requiring antibiotics. Both may be true at different points in his treatment. Either way, every source agrees the underlying condition is serious and his health has deteriorated since admission.

Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon, 53, have canceled all royal engagements. Haakon has been serving as regent while his father is hospitalized, a role he's stepped into numerous times over the years during his father's medical episodes.

Norwegian media reported that family members gathered at the hospital Thursday morning, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit, her son Marius Borg Høiby, and King Harald's sister, Princess Astrid. The BBC reported members of the public have started laying flowers at Palace Square in Oslo.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre canceled a planned trip to Germany, where he'd been expected to meet Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday. "The whole nation is with us as we send warm thoughts to the king and the rest of the royal family," Støre said in a statement carried by AP News and Euronews. He told AFP he was "deeply affected" by the news and said he's "confident that the king is being well taken care of."

Harald has reigned since 1991, making him Europe's oldest reigning monarch. He's had a rough few years health-wise. In 2024 he was fitted with a pacemaker after falling ill on vacation in Malaysia, first getting a temporary one overseas before returning to Norway on a medical flight for a permanent device. In February he was hospitalized in Spain's Canary Islands for a skin infection. He's scaled back official duties because of his age but has repeatedly refused to abdicate, saying the oath he swore before Norway's parliament is for life.

The royal family has had a difficult year beyond the king's health. Crown Princess Mette-Marit received a lung transplant in June after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis back in 2018, according to the BBC. That transplant came just two days after her son, Marius Borg Høiby, was sentenced to four years in prison on two counts of rape, a verdict he denies and is appealing. Høiby, 29, isn't a royal himself. He was four years old when his mother married Crown Prince Haakon.

Separately, documents released earlier this year revealed Mette-Marit had frequent contact with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. She later apologized to the king and queen for the three-year friendship and told Norwegian TV she wished she'd never met him, calling it a case of poor judgment.

These family circumstances form the recent context for this health crisis, though none are directly tied to Harald's current hospitalization.

As of Thursday, the palace has released no further details on Harald's prognosis or expected treatment path. Haakon remains regent, meaning Norway's head-of-state functions continue uninterrupted regardless of what happens next. The immediate open question is simply whether the king's condition stabilizes. Oslo University Hospital and the palace are the only sources with answers, and neither has said when the next update will come.