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Thousands of people gathered outside Norway's royal palace to pay their respects to King Harald, who died Friday at age 89 after a reign spanning three and a half decades, with mourners laying down flowers, cards, cuddly toys and Norwegian flags as many embraced each other in shared grief.
Harald's 53-year-old son immediately succeeded him on the throne, taking the name King Haakon VIII, and arrived at the palace with his 22-year-old daughter Ingrid Alexandra, the new crown princess, to formally inform the government of his father's death.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store addressed the nation shortly after meeting the new monarch, saying an era had ended and a new one had begun, and praised the late king for his love of his people, his humor and warmth, and his unwavering faith in the Norwegian public.
King Harald, who had been Europe's oldest reigning monarch, had been hospitalized in Oslo since Aug. 17 with hemolytic anemia, a condition caused by the abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells that leads to fatigue and shortness of breath.
Store noted that Harald, who ascended to the throne in 1991, guided Norway through decades of enormous change, during which the country grew wealthier, more populous and more diverse.
Many mourners recalled Harald's ability to unify the country, pointing in particular to his address following the twin attacks carried out by neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik on July 22, 2011, in which 77 people were killed in Norway's worst massacre since World War Two.
Tributes arrived from leaders around the world, including those of France, Germany, India, Italy, Jordan and Ukraine, along with messages from the royal houses of Europe, while Britain's King Charles III expressed his profound sadness at losing his cousin.
The Norwegian government declared a period of national mourning ahead of the king's funeral, whose date has not yet been set, and lowered the palace flag to half-mast following the announcement of Harald's death, though it was later raised again once Haakon arrived to meet with the government.
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