After pacemaker surgery
King Harald V wants to significantly reduce royal activities
King Harald V of Norway will significantly reduce his workload in the future.
© imago/PPE
After a break of around two months due to illness, King Harald of Norway is now returning to work, but will be taking a shorter time.
After a long illness and two operations to insert cardiac pacemakers, the Norwegian King Harald V (87) resumed his work today, April 22nd. This comes from one official announcement published by the Norwegian royal family on its website. At the same time, it was announced that the elderly royal would significantly reduce his official duties and appointments in the future.
“Permanent reduction” in royal activities
The statement reads: “With the King’s return to work today, he will resume his constitutional duties as head of state, holding meetings and audiences at the Royal Palace and conducting official visits to Norway.” However, due to his old age, the monarch will “adjust his program in the future”. This means, among other things, a “permanent reduction in the number and scope” of its activities, for which “practical precautions” will now be taken.
As can be seen on the Norwegian royal family’s website, King Harald held several audiences with high-ranking Norwegian military officials on the first day after his sick leave. At one of the appointments, his son, Crown Prince Haakon (50), was apparently there to support him.
King Harald fell ill in February while on a private vacation with his wife, Queen Sonja (86), in Malaysia. Because his heart rate was too low, he was initially fitted with a temporary pacemaker in a hospital. After returning home to Norway, he received another operation to install a permanent cardiac pacemaker.