This is King Haakon’s address to the Norwegian people on Saturday, 29 August 2026, reproduced in full.
Dear everyone,
Yesterday morning at 06.35, His Majesty King Harald V, my father whom I loved so dearly, died.
We are grieving. At the same time, it gives us comfort and strength that so many are grieving with us.
It has been a powerful and touching experience to see the Palace Square filled with people, flowers, messages and candles. Thank you so much.
My dear father, thank you for being such a good dad to Märtha and me. Warm and reassuring. And you were also a gentle and funny grandfather. A loving and caring husband. A generous father-in-law. A brother and uncle whom everyone so enjoyed being with. You were the head of the family, who together with my mother embraced and brought us all together with a natural authority that perhaps you were not entirely aware of yourself. Above all, you were a person who always stood firm by your values and commitments. You supported and took care of us all. It makes me proud to think of everything you both endured – and stood up for.
I am going to miss him. I will miss his laughter. His gentle way of meeting people and situations. My father always made the people around him relax.
He was a good listener. Especially when meeting children and young people – for whom he had a special place in his heart.
The great, warm royal hand would gently close around the hands of young and old alike who needed an extra handshake. He met everyone with respect and generosity – and never treated people differently.
He travelled to comfort those affected by a hurricane – dressed in a puffer jacket and wellington boots.
He apologised to the Sami for the injustices committed against them – on behalf of us all.
He wept with us after we had lost so many on Utøya and in the Government Quarter.
He brought us together by putting into words who we Norwegians are.
I picture him in the sailing boat – wearing a cap and sunglasses, with his booming laughter. There he could simply be himself, gain energy and immense joy – competing with other passionate sailors.
And the image of his broad smile in the hammock in the Amazon – where he finally fulfilled his boyhood dream of spending a few days living with the Yanomami people.
A dream that arose from his commitment to protecting the world’s animals and nature.
I know that many of you will miss much of this too.
Across the country – and out in the world – there are thousands of people today who particularly cherish the memories they have of meeting him.
Memories that will live on in people’s hearts and family histories.
As King, my father represented Norway and Norwegians with pride and joy.
Through visits around the country, at events here at the Palace, and working for Norway out in the world.
In driving snow at the cross-country skiing stadium.
On the Palace Balcony on 17 May.
On a state visit to Nelson Mandela.
It was also a great source of strength to him to have my mother, Queen Sonja, as a life partner with whom to share his calling. She helped make them a strong royal couple who complemented each other well. I know how much she meant in enabling King Harald to stand so firmly in his life’s work. In the life’s work they shared. Today it is 58 years since they married. Happy wedding anniversary, dear Mum.
King Harald accompanied our country through a period of great change. From the time when, as an eight-year-old, he set foot on Rådhuskaia upon returning home after the Second World War – until today – Norway has undergone tremendous positive development. Today we are a welfare society – where people from different backgrounds live together and find ways of getting along with one another.
At the same time, the world is once again more insecure and unpredictable than it was throughout most of King Harald’s reign. Something that also affects us here at home and has brought a new seriousness upon us.
Now that my father has passed away, a great task awaits me.
He constantly reminded us in the family that each person must do things in their own way. Find their own form. Be themselves. He succeeded his father, King Olav – who in turn succeeded his father, King Haakon.
Now it is my turn.
I am deeply grateful to have my family around me, and for the tremendous support that Queen Mette-Marit and our children give me.
I would also like to thank my mother and my sister for the strength they share while they themselves are in the midst of grieving the loss of a beloved husband and father.
Our family has experienced the importance of standing together in order to stand firm – both within ourselves and for one another. Also in difficult times.
Our unity is a great source of strength for the work we are to do for Norway.
After King Harald’s long and eventful service as King, it is now we who will accompany one another into a new era. Queen Mette-Marit and I wish to be present and attentive. The Queen, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and I will always seek to understand the circumstances of different people’s lives.
No one today knows what we who live in this country will face together.
But what we do know is that we will accompany one another through both good and difficult days.
We believe in a Norway where we stand firmly rooted in our history, in that which has shaped us over time.
We believe in our system of government by the people – and in democracy.
We believe in a society built on law and justice – and where everyone is of equal worth.
A society where we see and recognise one another’s resources – so that together we can create a Norway where everyone is able to contribute and feel at home.
We believe in a Norway where there is room for everyone.
We shall feel the strength of our community – and know within ourselves that we are one people.
Dear everyone,
Today I feel a profound gratitude towards those who came before me. All were kings for their time. They were loved, respected and meant a great deal to many. I have learnt much from them all.
Like King Haakon, King Olav and King Harald, I take the motto – “All for Norway”.
“All for Norway” means fighting to ensure that everyone in Norway has the opportunity to live free lives. It also entails a responsibility for us as a nation to make a positive contribution in the world.
And it means – in the final reckoning – being willing to risk everything, even life itself, for Norway’s freedom and independence.
For its peace stands guard.
Today we are a family in mourning, and a people in mourning.
We thank King Harald for all that he was and all that he did – for Norway, – for everyone in our country.
With God’s help and the support of the people, I look forward to the great task that lies ahead of me. I ask that we all unite around the old wish:
May God preserve our country.
