Norway's King Harald V dies at 89; son Haakon assumes throne as King Haakon VIII

King Harald V of Norway, who spent part of his childhood in exile in the United States during the Nazi occupation and who waited nine years to marry his school sweetheart, died on Friday at the National Hospital in Oslo. He was 89. The palace announced his death at 6:35 a.m.

Harald was Europe's oldest reigning monarch. During his reign, he modernised the Norwegian royal house, but he chose not to follow other aging European monarchs who abdicated in recent years. His son automatically became King Haakon VIII upon his father's death.

Like other European royal families, Norway's monarchs hold a largely ceremonial role in the constitutional democracy of 5.5 million people. Real political power rests with the elected parliament. Harald became king in January 1991, following the death of his British-born father, King Olav V. His reign coincided with an economic boom driven by Norway's oil and gas resources.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre expressed the nation's grief, saying, "A whole nation is in mourning and the people of Norway are left with a deep sense of gratitude for a long life in the service of Norway. For more than three decades as monarch, Harald V demonstrated an unwavering faith in the Norwegian people. He helped us to see the best in ourselves — and in one another."

Harald was born in 1937 in Asker, near Oslo, the first Norwegian prince born in the country since King Olav IV in 1370. Norway had no king of its own for centuries until Harald's grandfather, Haakon VII, was elected king in 1905 after the dissolution of the union with Sweden.

Harald was three years old when Nazi Germany occupied Norway in April 1940. To avoid capture, his mother fled with him and his two sisters, first to Sweden and then by boat to the United States. His father and grandfather went into exile in Britain with Norway's government. In the U.S., the royal family were frequent guests at the White House. At age six, Harald carried out his first official duty, christening warplanes at a Norwegian air base in Canada.

The family returned to Norway in June 1945, shortly after the end of the war. Harald attended public schools, the Norwegian military college, and Oxford University.

Like his father, an Olympic champion sailor in 1928, Harald loved the sea. He represented Norway at several Olympic Games and won a gold medal at the World Championships as a skipper in 1987.

As a young man, Harald was urged to marry a European princess. For nine years, he resisted such pressure, waiting until his father finally agreed to let him marry Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a successful businessman. King Olav had worried the marriage might weaken the still-young monarchy. Instead, Norwegians greeted the wedding on August 29, 1968, with joy, and later embraced Sonja as their queen. The couple had two children: Haakon and his older sister, Märtha Louise.

In 1990, the Norwegian Constitution was changed to allow the firstborn child, regardless of gender, to succeed to the throne. However, the change was not applied retroactively, so Prince Haakon remained first in line ahead of his sister.

When Harald became king on January 21, 1991, he adopted the same motto as his father and grandfather: "All for Norway." He spent his reign working to modernise the monarchy. "It is my experience that the monarchy stands strong," he once said. "This is not least because my father and grandfather did most things right. That puts me under pressure, but I take it as a challenge."