The Kingdom of Norway mourns its king

OSLO: The Kingdom of Norway is in mourning; flags are flying at half-mast in Oslo and throughout the country. The wealthy Nordic nation of 5.6 million people, Europe’s leading exporter of natural gas and oil, lost its beloved king on August 28. Harald V of Norway was the grandson of the first king of independent Norway, Haakon VII. For Norwegians, the loss of the 89-year-old monarch, who served as the country’s head of state for nearly 36 years, is a shock. “He was an extraordinary man, every Norwegian’s grandfather,” says Amelie, a psychology student from a small town north of Oslo. “He was a role model. He respected everyone and believed in equality.” Getting close to the royal palace, the Kongelige Slott, is anything but easy. Ever since news spread last week that the king was in the hospital, residents of the capital have spontaneously begun leaving flowers, notes, and candles around the palace. After his death, people from every corner of the country—including families with their children and women wearing the bunad, the traditional dress—have come to express their affection and grief for a monarch who was “kind, good, and enlightened,” says Anne, a retiree from northern Norway, as she wipes away her tears. Benedicte is a professional living in Bergen, the country’s second-largest city on the Atlantic coast; she explains that the news of the king’s death saddened her deeply because she grew up always looking to him as a role model. “In such complex times, the loss of a leader who sets a good example and is a model of honesty is even more deeply felt.”In every corner of Oslo, there are screens displaying photos of the king, often accompanied by the words “Alt for Norge,” “Everything for Norway”—the official motto of the Norwegian monarchy. But signs of mourning are everywhere across the country. In the main square of Fredrikstad, a small town an hour by train from Oslo, a screen shows the king reviewing the troops; in Lillestrøm, ten minutes from the capital, in the large supermarket just a short walk from the station, there is a small table with two candles, a bouquet of white and red roses, and a photo of the king.Harald V’s successor is his son, Haakon VIII, born in 1973, and a distant descendant of Queen Victoria of England. “I am so blessed that Crown Prince Haakon is the one who will carry this forward,” King Harald wrote of him in his biography, The King Tells. Per, a retiree from Oslo, says, “I’m happy that Haakon is the new king. We need a capable and generous leader in these difficult times.”Contributed by: Valentina C.S. Saini