Europe’s oldest monarch, King Harald V of Norway, returned to duty on Monday after a long medical leave, but the royal household said he will reduce his official activities.
According to the Norwegian royal calendar, 87-year-old Harald’s first scheduled engagements will be to receive Norwegian military personnel at the royal palace in Oslo. The royal household said in a statement:
The king will make adjustments to his programme in the future, due to his age. This will entail a permanent reduction in the number and scope of activities in which the king participates. Practical arrangements will also be made in the implementation of his official activity.
Harald has previously said he has no plans to abdicate, unlike his cousin Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who stepped down earlier this year.
Harald fell ill in late February while on a private holiday with his wife, Queen Sonja, on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi. There he was fitted with a temporary pacemaker due to a low heart rhythm on 2 March.
Harald returned to Norway aboard a medical aircraft and was immediately transferred to hospital. Ten days later, he underwent a second operation at Oslo University Hospital to install a permanent pacemaker.
He was initially expected to be on sick leave for a fortnight, but this was extended several times. In the meantime, his 50-year-old son, Crown Prince Haakan, is fulfilling the duties of the king.
Harald’s duties as head of Norway are ceremonial and he has no political power. He ascended the throne after the death of his father, King Olaf, in 1991.
