Norway's new king Haakon VIII inherits throne, and a reputational challenge
Norway has a new king, whose tasks will include stabilising 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.
Haakon knows the ropes. 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 from Sweden 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 realised 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 specialisation 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
Haakon knew his relationship would face an uphill battle for acceptance when he met Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby at a popular music festival in Norway in 1999. She was a single mother whose son's father had been sentenced to prison for cocaine possession, and she had been seen at parties where illegal drugs were used.
The country was divided. Some cheered for love, others were sceptical. The Norwegian newspaper VG wrote in 2000 that Haakon “lives closer to the people than any other heir to the throne before him.”
In a May 2000 interview with NRK, Haakon said that in the early 1990s, “a youth culture emerged in Oslo" and he acknowledged that Mette-Marit was "an active part of this environment at the time.”
“It is clear that there is relatively extravagant partying there,” Haakon said.
Nevertheless, he won permission from his father, who had also married a commoner, to wed Mette-Marit. And despite her background, the Norwegian people found much to like about this statuesque blond woman with striking eyes and a ready smile, a down-to-earth manner and an undisguised love for Haakon.
They wed in August 2001 at the Oslo Cathedral. The couple's popularity soared thanks to a carefully cultivated blend of the common touch and the glamour and grace demanded of royalty. They were constantly on the covers of gossip magazines, yet tried to live relatively normal and private family lives.
They have two children, Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. Haakon also became the stepfather of Mette-Marit's son, Marius Borg Hoiby, who has no royal title.
The royal family's reputation took a hit from Hoiby's trial
In June, Hoiby was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of rape. He was found guilty of two of the four rape charges he was facing and acquitted of the other two. He was also convicted of assault and abuse in a close relationship. Hoiby's lawyers said he will appeal the convictions.
The trial unfolded amid renewed scrutiny of the royal family following disclosures about Mette-Marit's past contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased sex offender. She has publicly apologised for the association and said she exercised poor judgment in maintaining contact with him. She isn't accused of any wrongdoing.
In a television interview in March, she said she was manipulated and deceived by Epstein and felt unsafe during a 2013 encounter with him at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion.
In 2018, the royal palace announced that Mette-Marit had been diagnosed with a rare form of chronic pulmonary fibrosis, meaning she sometimes must take a break from her official duties. The incurable condition made breathing increasingly difficult; she had a dry cough and fatigue, weight loss and loss of appetite. She received a lung transplant in June.
In connection with the couple's 50th birthdays in 2023, NRK interviewed Haakon and aired an old video of him playing guitar, with Ingrid Alexandra and Mette-Marit singing, and another one where he and his children mimic the moves of a Norwegian rapper. He watched the clips and burst into laughter, saying that they showed that “I am all in.”
One task for the new king will be to shore up popular support for the royal family. While a majority of people still support it, the proportion has declined in recent years and took a battering this year as Hoiby's trial played out. Critics of Haakon's sister, Märtha Louise, who has written books in which she claimed to have contact with angels, also blame her for the family's reputational troubles.
Märtha Louise, who was previously married for 14 years, in 2024 wed Durek Verrett, an American who describes himself as a shaman and a healer on his website. In 2022, she announced that she would no longer officially represent the Norwegian royal house, following “many questions relating to me and my fiance's role.”
A poll published by Norway's Dagbladet newspaper in late 2022 showed 68 per cent of respondents saying they wanted to keep the monarchy. When NRK asked the same question in 2017, support for the royal house stood at 81 per cent.
