2 min readQueen Sonja of Norway has quietly stepped back from several official engagements this week, based on changes to the schedule posted on the Royal House of Norway’s website. The adjustments come as her husband, King Harald, remains hospitalized in Oslo with a deteriorating condition, and as their son, Crown Prince Haakon, continues to serve as regent.
Among the canceled appearances, Queen Sonja was originally scheduled to attend the Military Tattoo—a ceremonial performance featuring military bands playing music while marching—conducted by The King’s Guard in the Palace Square on Tuesday. The event was rescheduled to Wednesday, with Crown Prince Haakon attending in her place. She also withdrew from the Foreign Affairs Council, which she had been expected to attend alongside the Crown Prince.
Haakon was seen watching the Military Tattoo from the balcony of the Royal Palace in Oslo alone on Wednesday, taking on the additional duties that have fallen to him while his father remains on sick leave.
Queen Sonja is still expected to attend a board meeting on Thursday for the Queen Sonja Print Award, an international prize for graphic art and fine art printmaking, as well as a series of visits to municipalities in the Trøndelag region in central Norway in early September, including a stop at Gjefsjøen Mountain Farm in Snåsa, which once served as the headquarters of a U.S.-led sabotage operation during World War II.
King Harald, 89, was admitted to the National Hospital in Oslo earlier this month following complications from treatment for hemolytic anemia, a blood disease. As of Monday, the palace said his condition remained stable with no significant changes. Queen Sonja, 88, herself had a brief health scare earlier this year when she was hospitalized with heart failure in May, though she was discharged quickly and appears to have since recovered.
Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at .
