Norway's King Harald said he got his first cellphone last year at the age of 83: 'It only took me 40 years'

• King Harald got a cellphone for the first time last year, at the age of 83.
• The king said he got a phone during the pandemic to stay in touch with family.

King Harald of Norway said he got a cellphone for the first time last year to keep in touch with his loved ones during the pandemic.

The 84-year-old monarch made the revelation at the annual Parliament dinner at Oslo's Royal Palace on Thursday, Royal Central's Oskar Aanmoen reports.

"Many of us have probably needed up to several good wishes during the time we have left behind us," Harald said, according to Aanmoen.

"And if there is one thing we have really learned since March last year, it is the importance of modern technology to be able to get in touch with each other. Great was therefore the joy in my family when I got a mobile phone. It only took me 40 years," he added.

The king's anecdote was met with laughter from attendees at the event and garnered a positive reception in Norway, where it made the front page of several newspapers, according to Royal Central.

The publication added that the king's wife, 84-year-old Queen Sonja, has an apple watch and an iPad and has kept up with changing technology through the years.

Harald has reigned since 1991 and has been married to Queen Sonja for 53 years, Insider previously reported.

The couple have two children, Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway and Princess Märtha Louise of Norway.