A Norwegian newspaper said on Thursday that Norwegian King Harald and Queen Sonja were not expected to meet the increasingly frail former South African president Nelson Mandela during a state visit to South Africa later this month.

The royals had hoped to pay a courtesy call on Mandela, 91, during their November 24-27 visit, the Oslo daily Aftenposten said.

Marie Borgyad of the Norwegian foreign ministry told the newspaper that when the Norwegian embassy had approached the Nelson Mandela Foundation it had been informed that a meeting was "not possible".

Mandela has been described as increasingly frail.

The foundation recently issued a statement saying he was "as well as anyone can expect of someone who is 91 years old" and was cutting back on his engagements "even further" to "spend more time with his family".
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