King returns to work, but Royal House announces changes to his activities going forward

 King Harald V  of Norway’s sick leave came to an end on Monday. Nearly two months after being hospitalized during his holiday in Malaysia, His Majesty returned to work on April 22. However moving forward, the number of the King’s engagements will be reduced.

In a statement, the Norwegian Royal House said that the 87-year-old monarch “will make adjustments to his program in the future, due to his age,” adding, “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.”

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The Royal House also noted that the King “is happy to be back and resume his work.” The King of Norway had been on sick leave since being discharged from Rikshospitalet on March 14. The monarch left the hospital two days after receiving a permanent pacemaker because of his low heart rate.

The King had a temporary pacemaker implanted in early March while he was hospitalized with an infection in Malaysia. At the time, the Royal House said that according to the King’s personal physician, Bjørn Bendz, the procedure would make the royal’s return home safer.

King Harald ascended the throne in 1991. Earlier this year, His Majesty revealed that he does not plan to abdicate like Denmark’s Queen Margrethe did this past January. When asked “if he has made up his mind after Queen Margrethe abdicated,” the King said, per VG, “No, I don’t really have it. I stand by what I have said all along, I have taken an oath to the Storting and it lasts for life.”