King Harald V of Norway is due to be admitted to hospital back home in Norway after falling ill whilst on holiday in Malaysia.
The royal, 87, had been hospitalised in Malaysia while on a private trip in the resort island of Langkawi. On Saturday, the palace said in a statement that King Harald had been fitted with a “temporary” pacemaker due to “a low heart rate”.
He was discharged on Sunday and is flying home on a medical evacuation plane. He is expected to continue his recovery in a Norwegian hospital alongside Queen Sonja who was travelling with the King.
“His Majesty will be on sick leave for two weeks,” the royal palace said. “The crown prince will in that period be regent and take over the King’s constitutional duties.”
King Harald was hospitalised in Malaysia earlier this week. At the time, the royal court said: “His Majesty the King has fallen ill during his holiday in Malaysia and is hospitalised there with an infection. The king receives good care from both Malaysian and Norwegian medical personnel.”
It comes just weeks after it was announced on 31 January that King Harald was on “sick leave” until 2 February due to a respiratory infection.
He was hospitalised for infections in May and December last year, and treated for a fever last August.
In October 2020, he had an operation to replace a heart valve and back in 2003, he underwent surgery for bladder cancer.
Harald’s son, Crown Prince Haakon, has been acting as regent while his father has been unable to carry out his duties.
Despite his recent health woes, King Harald, who is Europe’s oldest living monarch, has ruled out the possibility of an abdication akin to Queen Margrethe of Denmark.
Musing on his role as monarch, he said during a visit to Faktisk.no: “I stand by what I have said all along. I have taken an oath to the Storting, [parliament] and it lasts for life,” referring to the promise he made to the Norwegian Parliament when he acceded the throne in 1991.
The 87-year-old monarch succeeded to the Norwegian throne in January 1991 on the death of his father King Olav V. Like his father and grandfather before him, he adopted the motto, “We give our all for Norway.”
