After Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, might Norway’s King Harald V also retire from office? He has a clear opinion on this.
After the abdication of the Danish Queen Margrethe II, Norway’s King Harald V is not considering leaving office early either. “I stick to what I have said all along: that I have sworn an oath to the Storting and that it lasts for life,” the 86-year-old monarch said on Tuesday at the press house in Oslo in response to a question from a news agency reporter NTB, whether he had given it any new thought after Margrethe’s decision. The Storting is the parliament of Norway.
Queen Margrethe surprisingly announced her abdication in her New Year’s speech and handed over the throne on January 14th after a 52-year reign to her son Frederik, who has since become Denmark’s new head of state as King Frederik X. The 83-year-old justified this step with extensive back surgery, which made her think about the future. Harald has also had repeated health problems in recent years.
Abdications are extremely unusual
Unlike in the Netherlands, for example, abdications like Margrethe’s are extremely unusual in Scandinavia: monarchs in Denmark, Norway and Sweden normally fulfill their duties until their death. However, as they get older, they are increasingly supported by their children when it comes to public tasks – Harald, for example, can count on the support of his son Crown Prince Haakon (50), who also regularly takes on appointments for him. Harald has been Norwegian head of state for 33 years.
Source: Stern
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