Image source, Cornelius Poppe / NTB / AFP via Getty Images) / Norway OUTByMallory MoenchUpdated 3 hours agoNorwegians are grieving the death of the beloved King Harald V, as a period of national mourning begins and his son Haakon VIII assumes the throne. After Harald's death was announced early on Friday, crowds amassed at the royal palace in Oslo, laying flowers and flags, some mourners visibly in tears.
Harald - who was on the throne for 35 years - died in hospital at 06:35 local time (04:35 GMT) aged 89, after being treated there for a rare blood condition. His coffin was later taken to the palace in a public procession.
Image source, Odd ANDERSEN / AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption, Memorials outside the palace included a candle with the word "thanks" written on itAn estimated 10,000 people lined the streets in the capital to see the late king go past, Norway's public broadcaster reported. The late monarch has been described as an inclusive, transparent and empathetic "people's king" who modernised the Norwegian monarchy.
European royals, including King Charles III - whose mother Queen Elizabeth II was Harald's second cousin - as well as political leaders and ordinary citizens, paid tribute to his service and the stability he brought to the country. Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who laid flowers outside the palace and signed a book of condolences after greeting the new king, said the country was "united in grief and gratitude".
In a televised memorial address - one of multiple eulogies by ministers - he said the late king's "legacy lives on" and offered condolences to the royal family and Queen Sonja, who would have celebrated her 58th wedding anniversary with Harald on Saturday. Image source, REUTERS/Dylan MartinezImage caption, Støre was joined by ministers and a crowd of citizens grieving outside the palaceNorway's superstar footballer Erling Haal and thanked Harald for "everything you meant to Norway" in a post on Instagram, adding that it had been an honour to meet him earlier in the summer at the palace following the Fifa World Cup.
In the country's capital, Norwegians shared their grief and affection for the late king." I personally will say he was everything for us, especially being an immigrant," Biteya Terfassa, an Oslo resident who was born in Ethiopia, told news agency Reuters outside the palace.
" He made us feel at home and he made us feel loved. So he was like a grandfather that I never had."
