Norway has a new king following the death of Harald V on Friday. Crown Prince Haakon, 53, has acceded to the throne as King Haakon VIII. The new monarch faces the immediate task of strengthening public support for the monarchy following a scandal regarding his wife’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein and the rape conviction of his stepson.
King Haakon’s eldest child, 22-year-old Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, now assumes the position of heir to the throne. King Haakon is well prepared for the role, having frequently served as regent in recent years as his father's health declined. Norway's royal house traces its heritage to King Harald Fairhair in the ninth century.
Following independence in 1905, three-quarters of voters supported restoring the monarchy in a national referendum. While political authority rests with an elected parliament, the royal family retains a symbolic role, promoting the wealthy nation globally. Born two years after his sister, Princess Märtha Louise, Haakon became heir when his grandfather, King Olav, died in 1991.
Although Norway altered its constitution in 1990 to grant absolute primogeniture to future firstborns regardless of gender, the change was not applied retroactively. Writing in a 1998 book, Haakon said that as a child he dreamed of owning a toy shop, before realising his path to the throne was fixed. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s in development studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, specialising in international trade and Africa.
He graduated from the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy in 1995 and completed diplomatic training with the Foreign Ministry. An enthusiastic surfer, skier, and sportsman, he told Norwegian broadcaster NRK he would have chosen surfing as a career were he not a royal. A rock and rap fan, he frequented European music festivals as a youth.
When Haakon met Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby — a single mother whose son's father had been sentenced to prison for cocaine possession — at a popular music festival in Norway in 1999, he knew it was going to be an uphill battle, especially since she also had been seen at parties where illegal drugs were used. Some cheered for love, others were skeptical. The Norwegian newspaper VG wrote in 2000 that Haakon “lives closer to the people than any other heir to the throne before him”.
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