Norway's crown prince becomes King Haakon VIII after his father's death
[August 28, 2026]
By JAN M. OLSEN and STEFANIE DAZIO
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — 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. 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 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
Haakon knew his relationship would face an uphill battle for acceptance
when he met Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby 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 skeptical.
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 glamor and grace demanded of royalty. They were constantly on the
covers of gossip magazines, yet tried to live relatively normal and
private family lives.
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Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon looks on during a tour at the Amazon
Spheres, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey
Wasson, File Photo)
They have two children, Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus.
Haakon also became the stepfather of Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg
Høiby, who has no royal title.
Royal family's reputation took a hit from Høiby's trial
In June, Høiby 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. Høiby’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 apologized 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 Høiby'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 fiancé’s role.”
A poll published by Norway’s Dagbladet newspaper in late 2022 showed
68% 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%.
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Dazio reported from Berlin. Olsen, a former AP journalist,
contributed reporting previously for this story.
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