2LT International News

OSLO, Norway: Following two surgeries to implant pacemakers, Europe’s oldest monarch, King Harald V of Norway, returned to work this week after an extended sick leave.

The country’s royal household said Harald, 87, would scale back his official activities after the operations.

According to the Norwegian royal calendar, Harald’s first task is to receive Norwegian military officers at the royal palace in Oslo.

In a statement, the royal household said, “The king will make adjustments to his program in the future, due to his age. This will entail a permanent reduction in the number and scope of activities in which the king participates. Practical arrangements will also be made in the implementation of his official activity.”

Unlike his second cousin, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who stepped down earlier this year, Harald stressed that he has no plans to abdicate.

In late February, Harald fell ill during a private holiday with his wife, Queen Sonja, on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi. He received a temporary pacemaker in Malaysia.

He returned to Norway on a medical airplane and was transferred to a hospital, where he underwent a second surgery to receive a permanent pacemaker ten days later at Oslo’s University Hospital.

As Norway’s head of state, Harald’s duties are ceremonial, and he has no political power. He ascended to the throne in 1991 after his father, King Olav, died.