Few European monarchs have had as much time to observe the role before having to perform it. Haakon was 17 years old when his grandfather, Olav V, died. On that January 17, 1991, Harald ascended the throne and that tall young man, fond of sports and music, became the crown prince.
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Thirty-five years have passed since then. At the very moment Harald V died, one reign ended and another began. Haakon Magnus, until now crown prince and regent during his father’s illness, is already king of Norway.
Although the formal proclamation of the new holder of the Crown will take place in a few days, when he swears the Constitution before the Parliament, Haakon is for all intents and purposes king from the very moment of the certification of his father’s death. Succession in the Norwegian monarchy is automatic. The Royal House itself explains it with a formula with several centuries of history: “The king is dead. Long live the king.” When Olav V died at 10:20 p.m., Harald became Harald V at that very moment. Now history repeats itself with his son.
The grief over the death of the monarch at 89 is followed by the proclamation of his only son as the new head of state: crown prince Haakon Magnus opens a new era and becomes King Haakon VIII. His great-grandfather Haakon VII was the first monarch of modern Norway since its independence in 1905, although the Scandinavian Monarchy has a millennial history.
Like his ancestors of independent Norway, the new king ascends the throne past fifty years old and with a long career as regent.
As highlighted by Hola magazine, Haakon, 53 years old, has always shown himself to be an empathetic and sensitive person, strives to ensure that institutional life does not take a toll on family life, has spoken about his feelings, is said to be a confident and thoughtful man, worries about living up to his father despite recent reputational crises, and the Norwegian press has on several occasions called him “Haakon, the sensible.”
Son of King Harald and Queen Sonia of Norway, the new sovereign was born in Oslo on July 20, 1973, and he would not have had to reign if male preference in dynastic matters had not existed at the time. So, although he was born two years after his sister, Princess Märtha Louise, the future of the Royal House and his dynasty fell on him. “When did I notice? That I was born into a special role? Not in kindergarten, but at school I already understood I was different,” King Haakon recalled in a biography published in 2023 on the occasion of his 50th birthday.
When Haakon was born, there was still a preference for males within the succession rules. The regulation changed later: in 1990 it was established that the firstborn would have priority regardless of sex, although the change was not applied retroactively. For this reason, Haakon retained his status as heir despite having an older sister.
The next generation, however, is already subject to the new rule. Therefore, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, the eldest daughter of Haakon and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, will be the one to occupy the throne after her father.
In the biography published in 2023, among other things, Haakon recounted how the impossibility of “blending in with the crowd” led him to be irritable and to explode over minor setbacks, such as losing a sports race. “Being a prince was a source of problems, not an advantage. When I was a child, all this was an inconvenience, an obstacle to good relationships,” the now new king explained then.
Like most sovereigns of his generation, Haakon of Norway was given a tailored education at the most prestigious centers: he graduated from the Naval Academy in Bergen, earned a degree in political science at the University of California, Berkeley, and completed a master’s in international trade at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
His resume also included internships at the United Nations and training courses at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His preparation also includes specialized military training. Over the years, he has represented Norway in numerous official activities and gained experience in diplomatic, social, and environmental matters.
A lover of surfing and skiing, whenever he could he embarked on some kind of expedition with humanitarian, sporting, or royal purposes, such as the striking polar expedition undertaken by the three Nordic heirs of his generation: Haakon of Norway, Frederik of Denmark, and Victoria of Sweden.
The episode that best allows understanding the personality of the new king occurred when he fell in love. Haakon met Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby in the late nineties. She did not fit the prototype of a future queen. She was a single mother of Marius, born from a previous relationship. Her troubled past could not be kept from coming to light, but she did not back down.
Haakon and Mette-Marit met in 1999, two years before marrying, during a music festival. He would say that he “was surprised by the normality of the brilliant southerner” and that the fact she had a nearly three-year-old son he saw as a sign that “she was not afraid to take on commitment and responsibility.”
The couple married on August 25, 2001, in Oslo Cathedral. Marius became part of the prince’s family, although never of the Royal House nor the line of succession, and later Ingrid Alexandra was born in 2004, and Sverre Magnus in 2005.
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The story repeated itself, notes Hola magazine. It took King Harald 10 years for his father, Olav V, and the Norwegian Parliament to approve his relationship with Sonia, who was not well regarded because she was neither royalty nor even aristocracy. Then Harald was clear: “If the country needs me, here I am, but with Sonia by my side.” Father and son, Harald and Haakon, had one advantage: being the king’s only son. Haakon also had the security of having his parents, the kings of Norway, on his side.
Despite this, the beginnings with Mette-Marit were strongly criticized, especially in monarchical circles and by the ecclesiastical hierarchy, not forgetting that until 2012, when the separation between Church and State was approved, King Harald was the highest authority of the Norwegian Lutheran Church. For these sectors, it was not easy to accept that the future king married a single mother, and moreover, the father of her child had “problems with the law.”
For others, the problem stemmed from her lack of education or a professional career that they valued as an asset, as is the case with most consorts of her generation. Even Haakon’s aunt, Princess Ragnhild, Harald’s older sister who died in 2012, publicly criticized this marriage.
The great test came many years later through Marius. The investigations and later the trial against Mette-Marit’s son placed Haakon in a rather unpleasant situation. Protecting someone he considers a son without using the institution to shield him from his responsibilities. The young man was sentenced to four years of house arrest in the Skaugum Palace itself for numerous charges, including accusations of rape, assault, and threats.
When he spoke publicly before the 2026 trial, Haakon set a boundary by recalling that Marius does not belong to the Royal House, but immediately added that he is a person they love and an important part of their family. Haakon and Mette-Marit decided not to attend the trial, although they explained they would continue to provide personal support. He also expressed consideration for all those affected by the case.
Haakon also had to face revelations about the relationship Mette-Marit had years ago with Jeffrey Epstein, the American financial magnate and convicted child sex offender who died on August 10, 2019, while in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten even questioned in 2026 the couple’s understanding of the boundaries between private life and institutional responsibility. The criticism points to the future king’s weak spot. His protective instinct towards his own can conflict with the transparency demanded by a contemporary monarchy, highlights the Spanish newspaper La Razón.
The reputational crisis coincided for Mette-Marit with her delicate health condition. In June, she underwent a successful lung transplant at the National Hospital of Oslo (Rikshospitalet). The surgery was due to the worsening of chronic pulmonary fibrosis she has suffered since 2018. These months, Haakon’s wife has remained completely out of the spotlight. Her few public appearances have been visits first to her son Marius in the provisional prison where he was held, accompanied by Haakon himself.
Despite the marital questioning, Haakon made it clear he was not going to give in. “I always want her on my team.” With those words, he ended months ago the speculation and even calls for him to separate from his wife for the good of the monarchy. “I think it is significant to reflect on the foundations that the crown princess and I have built. We are based on something solid. We have been together for more than 25 years and have built it in a way that keeps us united. When you marry, it is for better or worse,” he declared before the cameras of Norwegian public television.
Thus, the succession takes place at a particularly complex moment for the royal family, marked in recent years by various controversies, although the new sovereign faces his accession to the throne with significant public support.
Sixty-five percent of Norwegians wish the country to remain a parliamentary monarchy and up to 78% trust that Haakon will do “very well” or “quite well” as king, according to a survey conducted by InFact for Nettavisen and released in early March.
A figure that contrasts markedly with the rating received by his wife, Mette-Marit, whose position as queen consort has generated many more doubts among the population. Only 30.2% of respondents consider her fully prepared to assume that role, according to another InFact survey published in 2025.
“Being king is something you cannot fully prepare for,” Haakon said in a 2020 documentary by the Norwegian channel TV2, in which he spoke openly about his work and warned that there would not be many changes regarding his father’s style of reign.
At the end of the interview, however, the then heir did admit that he would have to fill very big shoes when he assumed the role of king: “But I have to do it my way. I must not try to be someone other than myself, then it will be a little easier.” He assured that he would “probably” be a different king from his father because they have “different personalities and we are different people, and we can solve things in slightly different ways,” according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
The Norwegian press, recalls Hola magazine, has called him “sensible” on several occasions, but only time will tell by what nickname he goes down in history. Using a phrase from King Haakon himself, one he says to his daughter Ingrid when she faces dilemmas with her role as heir: “Often things fit if you give them time.” Now begins the time of Haakon VIII.
