General News & Information for King Harald V and Queen Sonja: 2006 -

[Prinsara]

There's a new book out, apparently with several Harald interviews. What a guy! https://translate.google.com/transla...len-1.15198869

[tdarlene]

They just might be my favourtite royal family, so caring and loving and supporting for each other and have no afraid of showing their feelings to the people.

[eya]

Good news for the King:


"His Majesty the King has recovered

His Majesty the King has been released from 1 November."


https://www.kongehuset.no/artikkel.h...657&sek=112472

[iceflower]

King Harald and Queen Sonja have received the coronavirus vaccine, the Palace has announced today, January 13:

His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen have today been vaccinated against the coronavirus.


The royal couple will receive the next vaccine in three weeks.

** kongehuset: Vaksinering av Kongeparet **

[eya]

And Princess Aastrid too.


"Princess Astrid (88) has been vaccinated today, the Palace informs."


https://www.nrk.no/nyheter/kongepare...dag-1.15325738

[iceflower]

The Palace announced today, January 28, that King Harald is having a pain in the leg and therefore is on sick leave for the next days:

His Majesty the King is on sick leave for the rest of the week

His Majesty the King is on sick leave until Sunday 31 January due to pain in his leg.


His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Regent will chair the cabinet on 29 January.

** kongehuset: Hans Majestet Kongen er sykmeldt ut uken **

[iceflower]

An update from the Palace today: King Harald will undergo a knee/leg surgery tomorrow and has therefore been admitted to hospital today, January 29:

His Majesty the King was today admitted to Rikshospitalet for surgery on Saturday morning. The king will be operated on for an injured tendon over his right knee.


The king will be on sick leave until 14 February. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Regent carries out the King's constitutional duties during the period.

** kongehuset: Hans Majestet Kongen opereres i benet **

[Somebody]

I truly wish they would consider abdication in Norway. The poor man is going from one medical treatment to another; I would wish for him to fully concentrate on himself without the pressure of 'when can I get back to my duties as head of state'.

[REAL COUNTESS]

I wish the King a speedy recovery. He really can't retire there are not enough people or better said members of the family to take his place. CP Haakon MM? depending on her health and I A isn't she at School? so this only leaves the CP and the Queen.

[JR76]

Originally Posted by REAL COUNTESS

I wish the King a speedy recovery. He really can't retire there are not enough people or better said members of the family to take his place. CP Haakon MM? depending on her health and I A isn't she at School? so this only leaves the CP and the Queen.

Needs must. If the King had to abdicate and neither MM nor IA could take on work the institution would adapt to that. For more than 10 years in the 50s and 60s the Royal family consisted of three working members and it worked out just fine.

[Alisa]

Agreed.

This is the 2nd surgery in less than 6 months on an old man (sorry your Majesty)- it makes me nervous.

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by REAL COUNTESS

I wish the King a speedy recovery. He really can't retire there are not enough people or better said members of the family to take his place. CP Haakon MM? depending on her health and I A isn't she at School? so this only leaves the CP and the Queen.

Abdication doesn't mean that he cannot continue to support his son in his role as king (princess Beatrix and grand duke Jean are examples of how it can work if the relationships are good; unfortunately, that isn't the case in Belgium and Spain); just that he can be much more selective and no longer has the weight of being the head of state.

Originally Posted by JR76

Needs must. If the King had to abdicate and neither MM nor IA could take on work the institution would adapt to that. For more than 10 years in the 50s and 60s the Royal family consisted of three working members and it worked out just fine.

If one of them would pass away they would have to manage as well. So, I agree with JR76, while it isn't ideal, having a king who is struggling with his health isn't either.

[Prinsara]

He's not going to abdicate, though. Barring some sudden drastic change in view or circumstance, he's just not. He's spent his whole life looking at his father and grandfather. If he becomes incapacited or incapable Haakon will continue being the regent, but I think it's a bit late to expect Harald to have a new point of view.

This is what he wants and this is the tradition he's following. Doesn't matter what we think.

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Somebody

Abdication doesn't mean that he cannot continue to support his son in his role as king (princess Beatrix and grand duke Jean are examples of how it can work if the relationships are good; unfortunately, that isn't the case in Belgium and Spain); just that he can be much more selective and no longer has the weight of being the head of state.

And not abdicating does not mean his son cannot support his father if his health requires him to be more selective. King Harald V is a cherished monarch who still has a great deal to offer his people (his recent New Year's Speech was deeply moving as usual), and I expect the public won't begrudge him a reduced schedule as his health requires. Crown Princess Mette-Marit's announcement of her illness and reduced workload was received with sympathy, and the King's popularity outstrips hers.

[iceflower]

The operation today was successful the Palace has already announced:

His Majesty the King's operation at Rikshospitalet was successful, and the King is in great shape.

** kongehuset: Hans Majestet Kongens operasjon vellykket **

[tommy100]

If the King wants to abdicate I hope he feels able to but I really have never had the impression that Harald is one of those sovereigns who wants to and is more likely to believe its his life's duty to reign until his last day.

As others have said while there wouldn't be a lots of royals to fall back on the monarchy would simply adapt to that.

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by REAL COUNTESS

I wish the King a speedy recovery. He really can't retire there are not enough people or better said members of the family to take his place. CP Haakon MM? depending on her health and I A isn't she at School? so this only leaves the CP and the Queen.

Princess Astrid seems to always be forgotten in these discussions, but even in recent years she has taken on more engagements than Princess Märtha Louise, and I am sure she will support the King for as long as her health permits.

And if her work for the monarchy is indeed forgettable, that would support the concept that it is pointless to have "spares" working for the monarchy.

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by Tatiana Maria

And not abdicating does not mean his son cannot support his father if his health requires him to be more selective. King Harald V is a cherished monarch who still has a great deal to offer his people (his recent New Year's Speech was deeply moving as usual), and I expect the public won't begrudge him a reduced schedule as his health requires. Crown Princess Mette-Marit's announcement of her illness and reduced workload was received with sympathy, and the King's popularity outstrips hers.

Of course Haakon can continue to support his father.

However, Harald's health doesn't just require him to be more selective, his health requires him to regularly completely take a complete break from his position as head of state and make Haakon acting head of state. That's not about being 'selective', that is about not being able to fulfill his core duties. I did a quick search on Kongehuset:
Haakon had 64 activities as 'Kronprinsregenten' in 2020 with stints as regent in January (9-23), February-March (24 F-2 M) and in September-October (25 S-30 O); and started off another stint as regent this week.
He had 36 activities as 'Kronprinsregenten' in 2019; mostly shorter stints - in January, February, March-April, June, September, October, November (2x) and December.

If they and the people are fine with a head of state that has to call in his son as a regent at times or even permanently at some point (which might be the right decision if that would be beneficial to his health and abdication is of the table), that's up to them; but that is about much more than being a bit more selective in which additional activities he takes on.

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by Tatiana Maria

Princess Astrid seems to always be forgotten in these discussions, but even in recent years she has taken on more engagements than Princess Märtha Louise, and I am sure she will support the King for as long as her health permits.

And if her work for the monarchy is indeed forgettable, that would support the concept that it is pointless to have "spares" working for the monarchy.

Princess Astrid took on 4 official engagements in total in 2020; 2 were related to 'Kronprinsesse Märthas Minnefond', which must have a personal meaning to her as it's about her mother. One was a skiing contst and the first one was the funeral of Ari Behn that the whole family attended.

So, probably also due to the pandemic, she slowed down quite a bit from 2019 when she had 12 days of activities; so about one each month.

For comparison:
Märtha Louise had 6 days of official activities in 2019 and 3 in 2020 (including two family events).

[HereditaryPrincess]

I hope Harald recovers from his surgery well. He hasn't been in the best of shape these days.