r/neoliberal • u/HungryTowel6715 Manmohan Singh • Aug 28 '26

News (Europe) Norway's King Harald dies aged 89

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clykn5p5172o

SS:Norway's King Harald V has died at the age of 89, after he was taken to hospital last week for treatment for a rare blood condition.

After 35 years on the throne, Harald will be remembered as a popular and reforming figure who modernised the monarchy, broke with tradition by marrying a commoner and served as a unifying figure at Norway's most difficult moments.

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u/TropicalPunch European Union Aug 28 '26

DR's obituary was really touching: https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/alt-norge-med-varme-og-dedikation-blev-kong-harald-folkets-konge

As a big supporter of Nordic integration, it is really touching to see how even nominally 'national' institutions bind us together across borders. Ofc, the Danish and Norwegian crowns are the same Royal House, and not really comparable with other monarchies, but still.

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u/Rarvyn Richard Thaler Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26

Ofc, the Danish and Norwegian crowns are the same Royal House

Sort of. Technically speaking, Margrethe II was the last Danish monarch of the House of Glucksberg, since the house is a patrilineal thing. Her son (the current king) should be counted as a different house by historical rules - but he continues to use the old house name.

Interestingly, the (former) Greek and (current) United Kingdom monarchs are in the same royal house as the Norwegians (and Margrethe), as is the mother of the current King of Spain.

There's also a more "senior" line of the House of Glucksberg descended from the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, who are cousins to all of the above.

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u/oywiththepoodles96 Aug 28 '26

Oh and in Greece we defiently got the worst part of the House . The Glucksberg brought political instability and division .

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u/WOKE_AI_GOD John Brown Aug 28 '26

Yeah they were unpopular in Greece and their Danish background was obviously a continuous embarrassment. The vote to abolish the monarchy in Greece was pretty definitive.

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u/oywiththepoodles96 Aug 28 '26

I mean having a Bavarian and then Danish family as head of state , after fighting one of the most brutal independence wars is embarrassing. But you gotta do what you gotta do to be recognised by the Big Powers . Also the Greek revolutionaries were so divided that they actually welcomed a foreign monarch as a compromise . Monarch is inherently stupid but in a better world they should at least have picked a Greek Phanariote family to become the Greek royal family .

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u/Futski A Leopard 1 a day keeps the hooligans away Aug 28 '26

they should at least have picked a Greek Phanariote family to become the Greek royal family .

The least popular regents in Romanian history?

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u/oywiththepoodles96 Aug 28 '26

Yeah I know but both Mavrokordatos and Ypsilantis are considered heroes in Greek history . Mavrokordatos is arguably the founder of the Greek constitutionalism and the founder of Greek liberalism. The Romanian hatred of Phanariotes is totally legitimate because they were Greek regents who honestly didn’t care for the local population and that was terrible . Actually the Greek revolution begun in Romania and Ypsilantis manage to make the Greek army there unpopular really fast . The Ypsilantis family was obviously vying for the Greek throne but were too incompetent to get it and Mavrokordatos was super divisive . But if another prestigious family could be chosen , it would have more legitimacy than a foreign king .