Alexander Larman
The death of the Norwegian monarch, King Harald, at the age of 89 might, initially, seem like a sad but ultimately inconsequential event as far as the British royal family are concerned. Still, at a time when there are only a few monarchies left in Europe, there is an informal fraternity of sorts between the kings and queens who still – some would say anachronistically – cling onto their thrones. And in the case of the Oxford-educated King Harald, there were many parallels, for good and bad, that King Charles, Prince William and the rest of the Windsors would do well to learn from.
Given Norway’s rather smaller size than Britain, it is unsurprising that its monarchy has always been a more informal and less rulebound institution than ours. Yet Harald excelled at an accessibility and apparent universality that saw him approvingly called ‘the people’s king’ and ‘grandfather to the nation’. This was shown at its best in 2011 when, addressing his grieving people after the Anders Breivik massacre at a national memorial service, he rallied them by saying, ‘I can only imagine the depth of your pain…I feel for each and every one of you.’ He went on to announce that ‘I firmly believe that we will uphold our ability to live freely and securely in our country’ and stated that they should not ‘let fear take over’ their lives.
