Norway's King Harald, 86, rules out abdication

Norway’s frail 86-year-old monarch King Harald says he will not stand down

Norway’s frail 86-year-old King Harald has no plans to abdicate, he reiterated Tuesday in his first public remarks since the surprise decision by Denmark’s Queen Margrethe to stand down.

“I stick by what I’ve always said, that I swore an oath to the Storting (parliament) and it is for life,” said Harald, Europe’s oldest monarch, quoted by Norwegian media.

He was speaking at a visit to a Norwegian press centre in Oslo, accompanied by his son Crown Prince Haakon.

The king, who has been on the throne for 33 years, will turn 87 on February 21.

His mounting health issues and advanced age have led commentators to speculate about the possibility that Harald may follow in the footsteps of his 83-year-old distant cousin Margrethe.

After repeatedly insisting that she would never step down, Margrethe stunned Danes when she announced in her New Year’s Eve address that she would abdicate in favour of her eldest son Frederik.

Harald, who walks with crutches, has in recent years undergone heart surgery and been hospitalised for respiratory issues and infections.

phy/po/tw