Norway has a new king, whose tasks will include stabilizing the Scandinavian country's monarchy and boosting the royal family's popularity after his wife's past contacts with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his stepson's rape conviction. Crown Prince Haakon, 53, became King Haakon VIII when his father, Harald V, died Friday. Haakon's oldest child now becomes Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and the heir to the throne.
As his father aged and his health began to fail in recent years, the prince stepped in as the country’s regent on several occasions. Norway’s monarchy has old roots, tracing its origins to King Harald Fairhair in the ninth century. When Norway regained its independence in 1905, three-quarters of voters in a national plebiscite approved restoring the monarchy.
Today, the role is largely symbolic as the power lies with an elected parliament, but the country's royal family retains celebrity and a role in promoting the wealthy nation around the world. Haakon is the younger child of Harald, born two years after his sister, Princess Märtha Louise. As the oldest male, however, he became heir to the throne when his grandfather, King Olav, died in 1991.
The Norwegian Constitution was altered in 1990 to allow future firstborns — regardless of gender — to take precedence in the line of succession. However, it was not applied retroactively. Haakon said in a 1998 book that as a child he dreamed of owning a toy shop, but he soon realized that his path was already paved and one day he would become king.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in development studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, with a specialization in international trade and Africa. In 1995, he graduated from the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy, and he also completed the Foreign Ministry’s trainee program for diplomats. An avid surfer, skier and sportsman, he told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that if he hadn’t been a royal, he would have been a surfer.
A music lover — he likes rock and rap — he attended festivals across Europe as a youth. Haakon sought the king's permission to marry 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.
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