Norway’s King Harald has had a “successful operation” following surgery to receive a permanent pacemaker today.

The royal court has said King Harald V will stay in Oslo’s University hospital, Rikshospitalet, for a few more days following the procedure.

The 87-year-old was hospitalised late last month for an infection while on holiday in Malaysia, which is where he was given a temporary device, but he was later transferred to Norway for further treatment.

He had fallen ill while holidaying with his wife, Queen Sonja, on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi.

King Harald has been Norway’s ceremonial head of state since 1991 and is currently Europe’s oldest living monarch. He has unfortunately been in hospital with infections over the past few years, according to Reuters. 

In a previous update shared on social media platform X, by Majesty Magazine, the King’s personal physician Bjorn Bendz said the temporary pacemaker was fitted “due to low heart rate”.

From both Malaysian and Norwegian medical personnel, the King received “good follow-up care”. It was said to have made the return to Norway safer, where King Harald received his operation today. 

Because of his father’s absence, Crown Prince Haakon, 50, has been carrying out his father’s royal duties. Harald’s duties as Norway’s head of state are ceremonial and he holds no political power.

Harald repeatedly has said he has no plans to abdicate, unlike his second cousin Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who stepped down earlier this year.

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