Pacemaker inserted
King Harald returns to Norway after heart surgery
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In Malaysia, King Harald V actually wants to celebrate his 87th birthday, but things turn out differently. He contracts an infection and has to go to the hospital. A pacemaker will be inserted into him there. After a less than relaxing break, he is on his way back home.
A plane believed to be carrying Norway's King Harald V has left Malaysia. According to the royal family, a pacemaker had been inserted in a hospital the day before.
The Scandinavian Airlines plane took off from Oslo on Thursday and arrived on the holiday island of Langkawi on Friday. The Boeing 737-700 aircraft has previously been used as a flying ambulance. After his return, he should be admitted to the National Hospital, which is part of the Oslo University Hospital, and remain on sick leave for two weeks.
Europe's oldest reigning monarch was admitted to a Malaysian hospital due to an infection while vacationing in Langkawi, the royal family announced on Tuesday. The pacemaker will make Harald V.'s return home safer, his personal physician Björn Bendz was quoted as saying in a statement. According to Norwegian media, Harald traveled to Malaysia with his wife, Queen Sonja, to celebrate his 87th birthday.
The monarch has repeatedly had health problems in recent years. In October 2020, he underwent surgery to replace a heart valve after complaining of breathing problems. He uses crutches and has been hospitalized repeatedly since August. He last called in sick in January due to a respiratory infection.
Nevertheless, he has always emphasized that he does not want to resign – unlike his cousin Margaret II of Denmark, who retired as queen in mid-January. Harald assured in mid-January that he would stick to his oath when he took office in 1991, as he always said: “I stick to what I always said, that I swore an oath to the Storting (the Norwegian Parliament) and this is up Lifetime is.”
