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


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Princess_Eleanor said:
So you don't think it would be preferable for ML to get to a point where it would be acceptable to the Norwegian public to have her doing royal engagements again and for her to actually want to do engagements? Considering Mette-Marit's and Harald's health and Ingrid's youth, they would be in dire need for someone to step in, Märtha being the obvious person to do it should she wish to (which right now she does not). She certainly has the ability to "princess" when she wishes to, so it's not as though she is incapable.

They support her because they love her and want her to be happy. Yet, I haven't heard of any of them defending the shaman, much as they have and will always defend Märtha - again, because they love her, not necessarily because she has chosen the most advisable path.
But the things the shaman says - people cause their own cancer, there is no such thing as depression or mental illness etc are indefensible, so they can't exactly defend him nor the business ventures he and ML engage in together. ML the person they will always defend, yes, of course.
And it's not as though that is always difficult to do - ultimately, I do think she's a lovely person, very friendly, enthusiastic and empathic but she doesn't wish to "royal" and hasn't for a long time, leaving them with a rather dire situation in which Harald has to do more than his health perhaps sometimes allows, Haakon has and will continue to have a lonely and exhausting job and Ingrid will have to start royal work very young. All doable but not ideal when Märtha is there and could help.
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Convenient as it might be for M-L to support her brother, it does not appear to be "the plan". M-L is not part of the working royal house, and I would be surprised if she was reintroduced at this stage. In time, I think the royal roles will evolve, and Hakon will end up having to run a very efficient "shop" with focussed and regular public engagements for himself, without running ragged. Where possible, he will end up being supported, to the extent practicable, by MM, Harald and Sonja till they all can.
 
Great to hear Harald was released - better to be safe than sorry and admit him to hospital especially in the current climate. I wish him a speedy recovery.
 
Alisa said:
Princess Martha Louise is romantically involved with a very highly controversial individual. In addition, her business ventures and using her title to endorse them has in recent years come under fire.
So yes she would have to "dump" Derek and "clean up" her professional life so as not to draw any unnecessary attention or criticism.
It is not unreasonable to ask the Princess to step up assist for say 3-5 years because help is quite needed. However, that would clearly require self-sacrifice on the Princess' part.
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Before her wedding in 2002 Märtha Louise suffered enormously mentally from the life in the royal fishbowl. She has said repeatedly herself that the constant pressure of public royal engagements made her depressed and gave her a lot anxiety and nervous breakdowns because she really wanted out but didn’t knew how...

Luckily for her, she has 2 very tolerant and accepting parents who listened to her and took her seriously... It comes from the terrible way King Olav treated themselves for 9 years... Queen Sonja has said that being treated that way for so many years gives you negative psychological effects for the rest of your life. All your self-confidence and self esteem is taken away from you. Both Harald and Sonja has said that they don’t think it had happened had Crown Princess Märtha still been alive (and by then Queen). She was totally different than King Olav in that way.... Thus her father and mother supported Märtha Louise fully in stopping being a regular working royal from her wedding in 2002. And her marriage to Ari was in no way less controversial than her current relationship. The only difference is that Ari has passed away and many people have started to glorify him after his death and totally forgot how much they hated him for so many years.

Harald and Sonja also fully accept her being a ”Clairvoyant” regardless if they belive in it or not. Now when she is 49 and happier than she has ever been, it would come off as inhumane to ”demand” her back into the fishbowl... I don’t think many norwegians would support that.

The plan has alway been that the Norwegian Royal Family should be strictly centered around The King, The Queen, The Crown Prince, The Crown Princess and Princess Ingrid Alexandra... Sverre Magnus was not even made an H.R.H with the aim that he should be able to enjoy the same freedom as Märtha Louise, should he wish.

What happens in the future remains to see. But the Norwegian people are used to having a small royal family. Not a big one.
 
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:previous: I hope Harald is okay and they are just extending his sick leave as a precaution.
 
"The King will be further examined, as the reason for the shortness of breath which led to his short hospitalization is still unknown." - RoyalArjan on Twitter.
 
:previous:

The English version of the announcement:

His Majesty The King is being admitted today to Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, for surgery to replace a heart valve. The surgery is scheduled to take place on Friday, 9 October.
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"His Majesty the King was today admitted to Rikshospitalet to undergo an operation to change a heart valve. The operation is scheduled to take place on Friday 9 October.

In 2005, the King underwent an operation on the heart valve between the heart and the main artery, the so-called aortic valve. The king's aortic valve was then replaced by an artificial heart valve, made of biological material. Such artificial biological heart valves have a lifespan of between 10 and 15 years. It is therefore not uncommon for such interventions to have to be repeated after some time.

The operation this time will not be an open heart operation. The king will be awake, and the operation will be performed via the groin with local anesthesia.

A medical team led by the King's physician, chief physician Bjørn Bendz at the Cardiovascular and Lung Clinic at Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, will carry out the operation.

- His Majesty the King has gone for regular check-ups, and the report we have made recently has shown that this intervention is necessary to improve the King's breathing. This type of operation is performed several hundred times a year at Rikshospitalet, and the Norwegian operators are very experienced, says the King's physician Bjørn Bendz.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Regent is scheduled to pay a visit to Trondheim, to attend the festive service in Nidaros Cathedral. Her Majesty the Queen cancels the planned trip to Trondheim."


Here's hoping all will go well, wishing him all the best!! :flowers::flowers:
 
Improved health and a speedy recovery to His Majesty. ❤️
 
Wishing the king well and a healthy recovery.
 
This is the same surgery undergone by Harald's first cousin, the late Baudouin of the Belgians.

I pray for a more successful recovery than Baudouin.:ermm:
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
This is the same surgery undergone by Harald's first cousin, the late Baudouin of the Belgians.

I pray for a more successful recovery than Baudouin.:ermm:
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Actually, not at all. This is to replace (not repair) Harald's valve that was already replaced in 2005. I'm not certain they were even able to do this in 1993. They also specified it's not open-heart, which is very, very good. It's done with local anesthesia (and he's going to be awake :ohmy:...which someone with more medical knowledge will have to explain). And he doesn't have to go anywhere because of politics.

Leve Kongen. ❤️
 
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He was just discharged from hospital, and now this...! Although he will not read this, I still wish HM a speedy recovery!
 
Prinsara said:
Actually, not at all. This is to replace (not repair) Harald's valve that was already replaced in 2005. I'm not certain they were even able to do this in 1993. They also specified it's not open-heart, which is very, very good. It's done with local anesthesia (and he's going to be awake :ohmy:...which someone with more medical knowledge will have to explain). And he doesn't have to go anywhere because of politics.

Leve Kongen. ❤️
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Thank you for that information. At any age heart surgery is very serious. I hope Harald will come through ok.
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
Thank you for that information. At any age heart surgery is very serious. I hope Harald will come through ok.
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I think and hope so as well, but Harald has not looked good for some time because he needs to have this done. My earnest wish is that this lets him regain some health and vigor.

I'm sure they would not be sending Haakon to Trondheim if the prognosis was anything other than good. Harald is tough, and has a lot of love, and excellent doctors. :flowers: Again I think, and I hope, he'll be okay after this.
 
Prinsara said:
Actually, not at all. This is to replace (not repair) Harald's valve that was already replaced in 2005. I'm not certain they were even able to do this in 1993. They also specified it's not open-heart, which is very, very good. It's done with local anesthesia (and he's going to be awake :ohmy:...which someone with more medical knowledge will have to explain). And he doesn't have to go anywhere because of politics.

Leve Kongen. ❤️
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The surgery is called a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) a minimally invasive heart procedure to replace King Harald's existing biological tissue valve that isn't working well anymore. The concept of minimally invasive heart surgery began around 2002 but has taken a number of years to perfect to replace open heart surgical procedures. I attended a "Trends in Cardiovascular Surgery" symposium in 2004 regarding minimally invasive heart surgery including robotics using lateral approach and what is now the TAVR approach replacing the aortic valve, considered "cutting edge" medicine at the time.

The Mayo Clinic has an excellent website explaining the procedure. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-pr...r-aortic-valve-replacement/about/pac-20384698

Best wishes to King Harald and to a full and speedy recovery.
 
Lady Daly said:
The surgery is called a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) a minimally invasive heart procedure to replace King Harald's existing biological tissue valve that isn't working well anymore. The concept of minimally invasive heart surgery began around 2002 but has taken a number of years to perfect to replace open heart surgical procedures. I attended a "Trends in Cardiovascular Surgery" symposium in 2004 regarding minimally invasive heart surgery including robotics using lateral approach and what is now the TAVR approach replacing the aortic valve, considered "cutting edge" medicine at the time.

The Mayo Clinic has an excellent website explaining the procedure. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-pr...r-aortic-valve-replacement/about/pac-20384698

Best wishes to King Harald and to a full and speedy recovery.
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-I think I see how they put the new valve in, but I'm confused what happens with the old one. Does the bio-valve integrate into your heart?
-Is there a reason why you're awake, other than it's better not to have a general if you don't need it?
-Wouldn't this be the sort of thing that puts you on anti-rejection drugs?
 
Wishing King Harald a successful surgery and speedy recovery!
 
Prinsara said:
-I think I see how they put the new valve in, but I'm confused what happens with the old one. Does the bio-valve integrate into your heart?
-Is there a reason why you're awake, other than it's better not to have a general if you don't need it?
-Wouldn't this be the sort of thing that puts you on anti-rejection drugs?
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Hopefully this gives you an idea.

What is a TAVR? (Also called TAVI)
During this minimally invasive procedure a new valve is inserted without removing the old, damaged valve. The new valve is placed inside the diseased valve. The surgery may be called a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).
Valve-within-valve — How does it work?
Somewhat similar to placing a stent in an artery, the TAVR approach delivers a fully collapsible replacement valve to the valve site through a catheter.
Once the new valve is expanded, it pushes the old valve leaflets out of the way and the tissue in the replacement valve takes over the job of regulating blood flow.
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https://www.heart.org/en/health-top...ur-heart-valve-treatment-options/what-is-tavr


And no, while a patient does take medication following the procedure, anti-rejection drugs are not part of it. The valves treated before inserting, so they don't require the same anti-rejection medication that you would need with a transplant.



Hoping a good procedure and a swift recovery for the king.
 
Prinsara said:
-I think I see how they put the new valve in, but I'm confused what happens with the old one. Does the bio-valve integrate into your heart?
-Is there a reason why you're awake, other than it's better not to have a general if you don't need it?
-Wouldn't this be the sort of thing that puts you on anti-rejection drugs?
Click to expand...

In regard to general anesthesia vs sedation. Even though they say awake a short acting dose related sedative is given so the patient is essentially sleeping but once the sedation has been withdrawn the patient wakes up usually within several minutes. General anesthesia for this procedure is not contraindicated but yes, it adds further risks; intubation and the drugs used for anesthesia can stay in the system much longer therefore requiring a longer recovery time.
 
I wish him all the best!

King Harald reminds me on my late father. Everytime I see Harald I think my father is here.
 
The King's surgery this morning was successful and his condition is good, the Royal Court has announced. ???

That's a relief. I hope he will continue to improve and have fewer troubles with his health than he did before the surgery. :flowers:
 
:previous: Excellent news to hear King Harald's valve replacement went well. The court web page shared a good amount of detail regarding his surgical procedure. I see they inserted a temporary pacemaker, routinely placed as a precautionary to any potential heart rate or rhythm problems during or right after surgery. They mention he was awake yet most likely an infusion of short acting sedation was available and in use for comfort. Best wishes to King Harald. I hope we see him out and about in the near future.
 
Good to hear it went well. I hope he recovers soon.
 
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