On the picture: Norway`s King Harald during a press conference on the Royal Yacht Norge in Aarhus, Denmark, 16 June 2023.
Norway's ailing King Harald V has been fitted with a pacemaker in a Malaysian hospital after contracting an infection while on holiday, the palace said. Harald, 87, was admitted with an infection on Tuesday at the Sultanah Maliha Hospital on the island of Langkawi, where he was on holiday. "The decision was made this morning and the operation was carried out successfully," the hospital said of the pacemaker placement.
"The king is feeling well, but he needs rest. The operation will make his return home safer," explained his personal physician, Björn Bendz.
The pacemaker is "temporary", according to those close to the king, who is Europe's oldest reigning monarch. A medical plane from Scandinavian airline SAS landed in Langkawi on Friday, but authorities have not confirmed whether it was intended for the king, whose return home is being arranged by the Norwegian government. Langkawi air traffic control told AFP the SAS plane was not a scheduled flight and was due to take off on Sunday.
Harald needs crutches and has suffered from a number of health problems in recent years. He had undergone heart surgery and had breathing problems. In January, he caught a respiratory infection just days after dismissing speculation that he might abdicate, following in the footsteps of distant cousin Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. In his absence, 50-year-old Crown Prince Haakon became regent. /BGNES, AFP
