Norway Has a New King

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. Haakon knows the ropes, the AP reports. 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.

• 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 country's constitution was changed in 1990 to allow future firstborns—regardless of gender—to take precedence in the line of succession. However, it was not applied retroactively.

• 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. An avid surfer, skier, and sportsman, he once told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that if he hadn't been a royal, he would have been a surfer. In a 1998 book, he wrote 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.
• When Haakon met Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby—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 had been seen at parties where illegal drugs were used. The country was divided. Some cheered for love, others were skeptical. He won permission from his father, who had also married a commoner, to wed Mette-Marit. They wed in August 2001 at the Oslo Cathedral. In an emotional press conference a week before the wedding, Mette-Marit, who acknowledged using drugs during what she said was a rebellious youth, expressed regret about her choices and condemned drug use, the Guardian reports.

• 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. 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 Epstein. Files released by the US government earlier this year showed that she exchanged friendly emails with him long after his conviction. She has publicly apologized for the association and said she exercised poor judgment in maintaining contact with him. She isn't accused of any wrongdoing.
• 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.
• 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. A poll in 2017 found that 81% of Norwegians wanted to keep the monarchy. A poll in February found that support had fallen to 54%.