Despite his recent hospital stay, Norway's King Harald V (85) will send his compatriots into the new year with a speech again this year. The Norwegian royal family announced that the monarch's New Year's speech would be broadcast on New Year's Eve as usual.

Because of an infection, Harald had spent a few days in the Oslo National Hospital before Christmas. That's why it was recently unclear whether he would give his traditional New Year's speech himself or whether his son Crown Prince Haakon (49) would stand in for him. The speech is always shown on New Year's Eve at 7:30 p.m.