Aug. 27, 2026

King Harald in “Extremely Serious” Condition as Norway’s Royal Family Gathers at Hospital- with Mark Francis

Show Notes
Transcript

King Harald V of Norway is in an “extremely serious” condition at Oslo University Hospital, with Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and other members of the Norwegian Royal Family gathering at his bedside. Crown Prince Haakon is serving as regent, while Norway’s prime minister has cancelled foreign travel as concern grows over the eighty-nine-year-old monarch.

We look at the latest on King Harald’s health, his fifty-eight-year marriage to Queen Sonja, his thirty-five-year reign, Haakon’s role as regent and what the eventual succession would mean for the Norwegian monarchy. We also examine the extraordinary challenges facing Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit as Norway confronts the possibility of its first change of monarch since 1991.

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WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome to Crown and Controversy Norway. I'm your host,

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Mark Francis. For our Palace Intrigue listeners, Norway Royal News

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normally appears on our other show called Crown and Controversy Norway.

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Please search for that and become a subscriber and you

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can get all these updates automatically. But for now, this

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is a special bonus episode just for Palace Intrigue listeners

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on a very important Norwegian royal news update. King Harald

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of Norway is in what the Norwegian royal court is

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describing as an extremely serious condition, with members of the

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royal family now gathering at Oslo University Hospital and public

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engagements being cleared from the calendar. The 89-year-old king has

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been hospitalized for more than a week after complications connected

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to hemolytic anemia, a blood disorder in which red blood

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cells are destroyed faster than the body can replace them.

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Earlier updates had offered some reassurance, with the palace saying

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Harold was responding to treatment, but on Thursday the language

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changed significantly. The royal court said simply, the king's health

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condition is extremely serious. Queen Sonia and Crown Prince Harkin

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have cancelled their official engagements, while other members of the

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family have also been seen arriving at the hospital. Crown

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Princess Metamorit was there alongside Hagen, and their children, Princess

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Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Svea Magnus, have also visited. Harald's sister,

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Princess Astrid, has joined the family as well. The seriousness

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of the situation can also be measured beyond the palace walls.

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Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stora cancelled a planned trip

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to Germany after the latest announcement, and flowers and candles

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have begun appearing outside the royal palace in Oslo. Norwegian

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royal correspondent Yngve Kvistad told VG, they are likely facing

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a situation where the illness has taken such a negative

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turn that it is by no means certain the king

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will survive. Of course, we don't know for sure, but

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the situation is becoming critical. The timing is particularly poignant

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because Harald and Sonja are just days away from their

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58th wedding anniversary. Their marriage is one of the defining

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stories of Harald's life and in some ways tells you

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Almost everything you need to know about the man who

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has occupied the Norwegian throne since 1991. Harald met Sonja

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Haraldsson in the 1950s. The problem was that she was

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a commoner, and at the time the idea of the

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future king of Norway marrying someone without royal or aristocratic

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blood was considered deeply controversial. They remained together for nine

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years while the issue dragged on. Eventually Harald presented his father,

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King Olav, with an extraordinary choice. He said that if

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he could not marry Sonja, he would not marry anyone.

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Harald was the only male heir capable of continuing the dynasty.

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If he refused to marry and have children, the future

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of the Norwegian monarchy itself would become uncertain. King Olav

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eventually relented, and Harald and Sonja married at Oslo Cathedral

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on August 29, 1968. Sonja wore a silk wedding dress

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made by a Norwegian department store, Molstad, and rather than

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appearing beneath one of the grand royal tiaras we now

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associate with European royal weddings, she wore flowers in her hair.

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the woman once considered unsuitable to marry the Ea, would

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eventually become Queen of Norway, and nearly six decades later,

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she is now at her husband's bedside. Harald's health has

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been a concern for several years. In 2024, after a

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series of medical problems, the Norwegian royal household announced that

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he would permanently reduce his public workload because of his age.

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That followed a particularly serious episode when Harald became ill

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while on holiday in Malaysia. He was hospitalized there, fitted

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with a temporary catheter, pacemaker and eventually transported home, where

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doctors implanted a permanent device. There have been further health

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issues since then, including another hospitalization earlier this year while

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he was traveling in Tenerife. Each episode has naturally raised

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the question of abdication, particularly after Queen Marguerite of Denmark

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surprised Europe by stepping down in 2024 and allowing her

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son Frederick to become king. Harold has consistently rejected that idea.

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His position has been that he took an oath when

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he became king and intends to fulfill it for life.

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His reign has lasted 35 years, but the story of

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Harald and the Norwegian monarchy goes much further back. Harald

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was born in 1937 and was only three years old

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when Nazi Germany invaded Norway in 1940. His family fled Oslo,

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eventually Harald, his mother, Crown Princess Martha, and sisters traveled

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to the U.S. where his father, Crown Prince Olav, and grandfather,

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King Harkin, The seventh became central symbols of Norwegian resistance.

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That history gave the modern Norwegian monarchy an unusual emotional

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connection with the country. The royal family was not simply

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ceremonial during the Second World War. It became intertwined with

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Norway's national identity and resistance to occupation. Harald grew up

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inside that tradition, but his own reign has been defined

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less by war and more by an ability to speak

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to a modern Norway that changed dramatically around him. One

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of the most important moments came after the July 22nd

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attacks in 2011, when 77 people were killed in Oslo

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and on the island of Utoya. Harald became one of

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the central voices of national mourning. The political response belonged

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to the elected government, but the emotional response was something different.

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The king could speak for a country that had been

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shocked and wounded without becoming part of the political arguments

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surrounding what had happened. That is one of the functions

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of a constitutional monarchy that is difficult to measure until

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the moment arrives when it is needed. And that is

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now the institution Crown Prince Haken may be preparing to inherit.

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Haken has already taken over as regent while his father

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is hospitalized. He assumed those responsibilities on August 17th. And

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in recent days, Norwegians have had a glimpse of what

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the monarchy looks like with Haken temporarily at its center.

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He appeared at the royal palace for a military ceremony

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involving the king's guard. standing on the balcony and carrying

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out a duty that would ordinarily have involved his parents.

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It was an ordinary constitutional substitution, but given his father's condition,

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it was impossible not to see the symbolism. Harkin has

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spent his entire adult life preparing for this role. He

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has served as regent during Harald's previous illnesses and has

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steadily taken on more responsibility as his father's workload declined.

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More palace in just a moment. If Harald dies, Harkin

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becomes king immediately. There is no coronation ceremony required for

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the transfer of authority. The throne passes automatically. That would

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create another interesting chapter in Norway's monarchy because Harkon represents

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a significantly different generation from his father. Harald was born

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before the Second World War. Harkon was born in 1973.

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Harald's marriage to a commoner once threatened to create a

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constitutional problem. Harkon eventually did something very similar himself. When

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Harkon began a relationship with Metamorit Jesum Hoiby, She was

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a single mother with a complicated personal history that was

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examined intensely by the Norwegian media. Metamorit eventually addressed her

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past publicly before the wedding, and the couple married in 2001.

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This week, they quietly marked their 25th wedding anniversary, while

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Harald remained in hospital. Rather than holding a major public celebration,

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Haken and Metamorit released photographs showing them dancing together in

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the palace gardens. Under normal circumstances, that anniversary might have

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been the royal story in Norway, Metamorite was diagnosed with

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pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, a chronic condition that causes scarring

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of the lungs. Her health deteriorated over time, and earlier

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this summer she underwent a lung transplant. She was discharged

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from hospital in July, with doctors saying her recovery was

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progressing as well as could reasonably be expected, but she

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remains in rehabilitation. So if Harkin becomes king in the

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near future, Norway could potentially begin a new reign, while

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the new queen is herself recovering from major surgeries. But

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the Norwegian royal family has another problem waiting for Haken.

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His stepson, Marius Boig Hoibi, has created the most serious

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reputational crisis involving the Norwegian royal family in years. Marius

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has met Amrit's son from a relationship before her marriage

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to Haken. He is not a member of the royal

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house and holds no royal title, but he grew up

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very publicly within the crown prince's family. His legal troubles

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have therefore become impossible for the monarchy to avoid, and

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we thoroughly covered that in previous episodes. Harkin may inherit

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a monarchy dealing simultaneously with questions about his wife's health,

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his stepson's legal problems, changing public attitudes towards monarchy, and

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the complicated public role of his sister, Princess Martha Louise.

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Martha Louise stepped away from official royal duties after years

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of controversy surrounding the commercial use of her title and

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her relationship with Durek Verrett, which we covered in Season

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1 of this feed. Go back and take a listen.

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Verrett describes himself as a shaman and has repeatedly generated

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headlines through claims and statements that have attracted criticism in Norway.

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He has also been dealing with significant health problems and

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recently underwent a kidney transplant after requiring dialysis several times

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a week. Reports indicate that he has also been receiving

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treatment at the same Oslo hospital where Harold is now

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being treated. Unlike some European monarchies, Norway's royal family generally

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operates without the enormous palaces, court culture, and visible extravagance

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associated with some of its counterparts. But the transition from

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Harald to Haken would still remove the one figure who

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has defined Norwegian monarchy for most of the country's current population.

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What cannot be transferred quite so neatly is Harald's personal

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relationship with the Norwegian public. And there you have it.

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If you'd like to email us, our address is thepalaceintrigue

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at gmail.com And we'll continue to cover this story with

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breaking news alerts as they happen. So please hit follow subscribe.

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and turn your notifications on so you get the latest

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show alerts. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott.

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This is Palace Intrigue, Norway.

King Harald in “Extremely Serious” Condition as Norway’s Royal Family Gathers at Hospital- with Mark Francis

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