Norway's King Harald V. was admitted to hospital on Tenerife during his winter vacation due to an infection and dehydration. The 89-year-old monarch is traveling with Queen Sonja and is doing as well as can be expected. His personal physician will visit the island to support the medical team.
King Harald V., Europe's oldest reigning monarch, has led the Norwegian royal house since 1991. He recently celebrated his 89th birthday and is spending a private winter vacation on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, with Queen Sonja, who is 88. On the evening in question, he was treated there for an unspecified infection and dehydration, as announced by the Norwegian court. The news agency dpa reports, citing the court, that the king is doing as well as can be expected. His personal physician will arrive shortly to support the local medical staff. A new assessment of his health condition is to be published on Wednesday following an examination.
This is not the first time King Harald has required medical attention during a vacation. In 2024, he was admitted to a clinic in Malaysia, where a temporary pacemaker was inserted.
The year 2025 has started turbulently for the Norwegian royal family. A court case is ongoing against the king's step-grandson, Marius Borg Høib, involving allegations of serious violence and sexual offenses. Additionally, connections of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Harald's daughter-in-law, to the US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who died in custody in 2019, have caused uproar. Epstein operated an abuse ring over years involving an unknown high number of partly underage victims.
