Bonheur’s interests in the Canary Islands have revealed a striking detail. The Nordic company did not issue any message in the Canary Islands about the death of Norway’s King Harald V. This could be due to two things: ignorance, or the absurd theory that Canary Islanders do not know it is a Nordic-capital company when the entire board is Norwegian, except for the secretary, who is from Tenerife.
Fred. Olsen’s cruise unit in the United Kingdom did issue a message. “As a company with Norwegian roots, at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines we join the people of Norway in mourning the death of King Harald V. We honour his record of service, his leadership and his dedication to Norway. At this time, our thoughts are with the Royal Family and the people of Norway.”
In the Canary Islands, which owe so much to Norway in sectors such as the port industry, there has been virtually no institutional message of condolence. On August 29, with the customary poor taste that often characterises La Gomera’s Socialist right, the island’s council issued a statement saying it was taking part in the regional roadshow organised by ANTOR Norway, which visited the cities of Bergen, Trondheim and Oslo between August 25 and 27.
On August 28, the King and Queen of Spain expressed their condolences over the death of Norway’s King Harald V, whom they described as an “example of responsibility, dignity, simplicity and tireless dedication to the service” of his country and its people, “before and during his 35 years on the throne.”
The King and Queen also expressed their “respect and admiration” for Harald, as well as their sadness at his loss. “Our condolences, with fraternal affection, to the Norwegian Royal Family,” the statement concluded. On the throne since 1991, he died at the age of 89 after a worsening of the health problems that led to his admission on August 17 to Oslo University Hospital for fluid retention and a bacterial infection in his bloodstream amid treatment for the haemolytic anaemia from which he suffered.
Harald V was the doyen of Europe’s royal houses and had suffered from various health problems in recent years, leading to hospital admissions even while on holiday, as happened at the beginning of the year at Santa Cruz de Tenerife University Hospital for a skin infection on one leg.
Known for presenting the Nobel Peace Prize each year, during his 35-year reign he also witnessed changes in his institutional role and was the last head of the Church of Norway, following the constitutional amendment approved in 2012. Married since 1968 to Sonia Haraldsen, a woman who was not a member of the royal family, he had to fight for his father, King Olaf V, to approve the marriage after nearly a decade of courtship, following their meeting at a summer camp when they were 15.
The article “Bonheur’s conduct in the Canary Islands following Harald V’s death” was first published on canarymaritime.com.
