On Sunday, King Harald of Norway was sent home on a medical evacuation jet from a Malaysian hospital where he had been treated for an infection and fitted with a temporary pacemaker.
Norwegian King Harald Evacuated from Malaysian Hospital on Medical Jet
The 87-year-old was admitted to the hospital while visiting the resort island of Langkawi on a private excursion.
At 1:05 p.m. Malaysia time (0505 GMT), the aircraft, an SAS (SAS.ST) opened a new tab carrier retrofitted to transport patients and took off from Langkawi airport.
According to a statement from the royal palace, Queen Sonja was traveling with the monarch, who will be admitted to the hospital upon his return to Norway. “The king will be on sick leave for two weeks,” it said. “The crown prince will in that period be regent and take over the King’s constitutional duties.”
In the absence of his father, the crown prince had already taken over. The monarch may take a flight home in a few days, the royal household had stated on Saturday. It stated that the government had requested assistance with the trip from Norway’s armed forces. As of 1991, King Harald has served as Norway’s ceremonial head of state and is the oldest living monarch in Europe. In recent years, he has experienced many hospitalizations due to infections and has had heart surgery.
