Copenhagen, Denmark –
Europe’s longest-serving monarch, King Harald V of Norway, returned to work on Monday after a long sick leave following two surgeries to implant pacemakers, as the royal household said it would reduce official activities from now on.
The first scheduled task for Harald, 87, is to receive Norwegian military officials at the royal palace in Oslo, according to the Norwegian royal calendar.
“The king will make adjustments to his program in the future due to his age. “This will involve a permanent reduction in the number and scope of activities in which the king participates,” the royal household said in a statement. “Practical arrangements will also be made in the implementation of his official activity.”
Harald has repeatedly said he has no plans to abdicate, unlike his second cousin, Queen Margaret II of Denmark, who resigned earlier this year.
Harald fell ill in late February while on a private holiday with his wife, Queen Sonja, on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi. There he received a temporary pacemaker due to a low heart rate on March 2.
Harald returned to Norway aboard a medical plane and was immediately taken to a hospital. He underwent a second surgery to receive a permanent pacemaker 10 days later at Oslo University Hospital.
He was initially expected to be on sick leave for two weeks, but it was extended several times. During that time, her 50-year-old son, Crown Prince Haakan, has assumed the king’s duties.
Harald’s duties as Norway’s head of state are ceremonial and he has no political power. He ascended the throne after the death of his father, King Olav, in 1991.