Norway’s King Harald V, 89, has been admitted to Rikshospitalet in Oslo and signed off sick for two weeks. It is the second time this year the palace has confirmed a hospital stay.
The Norwegian royal court announced the admission on Monday, August 17, 2026. Avisen Danmark reports that the monarch was hospitalized following a medical examination, and that he will be on sick leave for two weeks.
According to the royal court’s press release, the king was admitted on the afternoon of August 17. The statement says he has been treated with cortisone in recent weeks for the blood disease hemolytic anemia. That treatment led to fluid accumulation in his body, which must now be treated in hospital.
SVT adds that Crown Prince Haakon takes over as regent while his father is signed off. The Swedish broadcaster also notes that the king had a planned hospital check earlier in August. Euronews describes hemolytic anemia as a disorder involving premature destruction of red blood cells.
Hemolytic anemia is, per the Danish health portal sundhed.dk, a condition in which red blood cells have a shortened lifespan. If the body cannot compensate for the loss, it can lead to anemia.
Earlier hospital stays
The king’s first hospitalization of 2026 came on February 24, three days after his 89th birthday. He was admitted on the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife during a private stay with Queen Sonja. He was treated there for an infection and dehydration, and his personal physician, Bjørn Bentz, traveled to the island.
In February 2024, the monarch was hospitalized with an infection while on holiday in Malaysia with Queen Sonja. He received a temporary pacemaker to make the journey home safer, and the royal couple was flown back to Norway in an air ambulance. A permanent pacemaker was implanted after his return.
When the king resumed official duties after two months of sick leave in 2024, the palace announced a lasting reduction in the number and scope of his activities, citing his age. He had previously been admitted to Rikshospitalet in Oslo with an infection in May 2023, and was ready for Norway’s national day on May 17 that year.
Further back, the king was hospitalized in December 2022 and August 2022 for infections treated with intravenous antibiotics. In October 2020 he received a new heart valve, replacing the artificial valve implanted in 2005. In September 2020, breathing difficulties meant Crown Prince Haakon opened the Storting on October 2.
Avisen Danmark’s overview, based on NTB and Ritzau, also lists a week-long admission for dizziness in January 2020, an infection in November 2017, and surgery for bladder cancer in December 2003.
