King Harald V of Norway has Emergency Pacemaker Implanted in Malaysia

Following a debilitating infection that derailed his holiday plans in Malaysia, Norway’s 87-year-old King Harald V had a temporary pacemaker implanted on Saturday. The procedure, which was performed at a hospital on the resort island of Langkawi, should help the monarch return home, a spokesperson said, where he will continue to recover from a series of illnesses before returning to his royal duties.

Harald is the oldest monarch in Europe, though until recently, he had a close runner-up in his 83-year-old second cousin, Margrethe II, who abdicated the Danish throne in January. But unlike Margrethe, Harald has no intention of stepping down, he told reporters earlier this year. 

“I stand by what I said all along,” he said when asked about a possible retirement at an Oslo event. “I have taken an oath to the Storting (the Norwegian parliament), and it lasts for life,” Hello! reported at the time.

Just days after that statement, the Norwegian palace announced that Harald would go on a few days of sick leave, after he fell ill with a respiratory infection. As noted by the Associated Press, the leave followed a December hospitalization for an infection and an August stint in care for a fever.

Harald and his wife, Queen Sonja, headed to Malaysia last week to celebrate his 87th birthday (He was born on February 21, 1937), a private trip to the 99-island vacation cluster of Langkawi. Soon after, he checked into Hospital Sultanah Maliha with an undisclosed infection, the Norwegian palace said Tuesday. At that point, his 50-year-old son, Crown Prince Haakon, stepped in to handle Harald’s royal duties, which are mostly ceremonial: in Norway, the king holds no political power.

On Saturday, doctors implanted a pacemaker “due to a low heart rate,” the Royal House of Norway said via statement. 

“His Majesty is doing well under the circumstances but still requires rest. The procedure will make the return back home safer,” his personal physician, Bjørn Bendz, was quoted as saying in the release. He is expected to make the trip back home “within the next couple of days,” the palace said. According to ABC News, a Scandinavian Airlines medical evacuation plane, a “flying ambulance,” is standing by at the Langkawi Airport to bring the king home when he’s healthy enough to make the trip.