Norway's King Harald has passed away at age 89

Norway's King Harald has died.

The 89-year-old king - who was the oldest reigning monarch in Europe - was hospitalised on 17 August with a bacterial blood infection and on Friday (28.08.26), the royal palace in Oslo announced he had passed away peacefully at 6.35am local time at the city's national hospital.

The royal flag on the roof of the palace has been lowered to half-mast.

Harald's condition was said to have worsened this week and on Thursday (27.08.26), it was announced things were "extremely serious".

Harald's wife, Queen Sonja and their son Crown Prince Haakon - who had been acting as regent amid his father's medical woes and is now king - cancelled all official engagements to gather at the king's bedside at Oslo University Hospital, joining other members of the royal family, including Haakon's wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and her son Marius Borg Hoiby, and the king's sister, Princess Astrid.

Haakon, 53, will hold an extraordinary council of state with the government later on Friday.