Norway’s King Harald fitted with permanent pacemaker

OSLO (AFP): Norway’s 87-year-old King Harald had a permanent pacemaker implanted on Tuesday (March 12) in Oslo in a procedure the royal palace termed “successful”.

Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, King Harald had to be repatriated to Norway on a medical transport flight on March 3 after contracting an infection while on holiday in Pulau Langkawi.

Upon his return, he was hospitalised at Oslo University Hospital and the palace said at the time he would receive a permanent pacemaker to replace the temporary one he received while in Malaysia.

“His Majesty The King received this morning a permanent pacemaker,” the palace said on Tuesday.

“The procedure was successful, and His Majesty is doing well,” it said, adding that he would “remain in hospital for a few more days.”

King Harald needs crutches to get around and has suffered a series of health issues in recent years, but has dismissed speculation that he would follow the lead of his 83-year-old distant cousin Queen Margrethe II in Denmark and abdicate.

Crown Prince Haakon, 50, has stepped in as regent in the king’s absence. – AFP