By Felicity Flynn
Correspondent
King Haakon VIII was sworn in as Norway’s new monarch on Sept. 1 after the death of his father, King Harald V, who was 89, according to AP News.
King Harald V’s casket is up for viewing in the royal palace in Oslo, Norway, where thousands of citizens have already gone to pay their respects. The casket will remain in the royal palace up until the funeral on Sept. 9, according to AP News.
For his first duties as a monarch, King Haakon VIII held a cabinet meeting where he announced his appointment as King of Norway, and adopted the historical royal motto of “Everything for Norway,” according to AP News.
Over time, he was given more responsibility including acting as regent, attending conferences and participating in government affairs, according to the BBC. This was due to the decreasing mobility of the sitting King and Queen because of their age and illness.
Even though he has taken his role as king in stride, Haakon has spoken of his anxiety about becoming monarch.
In his 2023 autobiography which highlights his time in the state primary schools in the 1980s, he wrote, “Yes, I was a royal but I did not want to talk about it … at school it made me anxious,” according to Reuters. He was one of the only royals to be educated at a local state school.
Haakon, however, grew into his role quickly when he was named the crown prince of Norway in 1991 at the young age of 17 following the death of his grandfather, King Olav V, according to the BBC News.
Haakon then attended to his mandatory military duties by attending the Norwegian Naval Academy from 1991, and eventually graduating in 1995 where he then spent the next year on various naval vessels. After this excursion, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a degree in political science in 1999, according to Time Magazine.
There was a major change to the constitution in 1990, which established absolute primogeniture for the descendants of the monarch, meaning the eldest child inherits the throne regardless of gender.
Haakon's daughter, Ingrid Alexandra is the current crown princess. She will be the first Norwegian female head of state since the 15th century, according to People Magazine.
There are differing views surrounding the new Norwegian queen, Mette-Marit. A poll was conducted earlier this year which found that 47.6% of Norwegians did not believe she should be the next queen, with 23.5% being undecided and 28.9% being in full support of her becoming queen, according to Nine.com.
The current queen has been largely absent from the public eye due to a serious illness, which led to the queen needing a lung transplant in June. She did attend the coffin procession, but she did not attend the ceremony in parliament.
