Three Danes who met Norway’s King Harald V have described their encounters with him to DR, hours after the palace announced his death on Friday morning.
The Norwegian monarch died early on Friday, August 28, 2026. Later the same day, DR published accounts from three Danes who had met him. All three described him in similar terms, as present, curious and relaxed.
According to The Guardian, the Norwegian palace said the king died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital at 06:35. As reported by TU.no, he had spent 11 days at Rikshospitalet in Oslo before his death. Norwegian outlet inyheter.no notes he was 89 and had been monarch since January 17, 1991.
The borrowed office
The first Dane DR spoke with is Lars Sandahl Sørensen, chief executive of Dansk Industri. He lent his office in Industriens Hus to King Harald and Queen Sonja during their visit to Denmark three years ago. He told DR he had first found the king formal, but was struck by his presence and curiosity across a full day together.
Sandahl Sørensen said the king asked about technology, the green transition and the Danish economy. He recalled one moment from the June 2023 visit in particular, when the king stumbled on a staircase before greeting Denmark’s then regent, Queen Margrethe. According to him, the memorable part was the remarks the two monarchs exchanged afterwards, which he said reflected the relationship between Norway and Denmark.
The second Dane is Jacob Bundsgaard, the former Social Democratic mayor of Aarhus. He was seated next to King Harald at an official lunch at Aarhus City Hall during the same June 2023 visit. Bundsgaard told DR the king was easy to talk to, interested in Aarhus, and spoke vividly about his annual fishing trip in northern Norway.
Bundsgaard said it was the only time he met the king. He described the day as historic, and noted it was already clear then that further visits to Aarhus were unlikely because of the king’s age.
The third is DR journalist Torben Schou, who interviewed King Harald and Queen Sonja at the palace in Oslo in 2006. Schou recalled that the royal couple arrived late and apologized without haste. Per Schou, the interview was arranged because the Norwegian royal house wanted greater openness toward the foreign press.
Schou has interviewed several other Nordic royals, and said King Harald ranked highest for being relaxed. He described the king as warm and grandfatherly, and said he appeared genuinely interested in the reporters and their assignment. King Harald’s June 2023 trip to Denmark, which included a press conference at Aarhus Havn on June 16, was his last visit to the country.
