PM Modi recalls ‘warmth’ of King Harald V, offers condolences to Norway | Today’s news
Norway has a new king whose tasks will include stabilizing the Scandinavian monarchy and boosting the royal family’s popularity after his wife’s earlier contacts with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the rape conviction of his stepson.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of King Harald V of Norway, recalling their meeting earlier this year and praising his warmth and devotion to his nation.
Crown Prince Haakon, 53, became King Haakon VIII when his father Harald V died on Friday. Haakon adopted the motto “All for Norway”, which dates back to his great-grandfather. Haakon’s eldest child now becomes Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and heir to the throne.
Haakon knows the ropes. As his father aged and his health began to decline in recent years, the prince stepped in several times as regent of the country.
The Norwegian monarchy has ancient roots that go back to King Harald Fairhair in the ninth century. When Norway regained its independence from Sweden in 1905, three-quarters of voters approved the restoration of the monarchy in a national plebiscite. Today, the role is largely symbolic as power rests 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 Harald’s younger child, born two years after his sister, Princess Märtha Louise. However, as the eldest male, he became heir to the throne when his grandfather, King Olav, died in 1991. The Norwegian constitution was changed in 1990 to give future firstborns – regardless of gender – priority in the line of succession. However, it was not applied retroactively.
Haakon said in a 1998 book that he dreamed of owning a toy store as a child, but soon realized that his path was already paved and he would one day become king.
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He holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MA in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, specializing in international trade and Africa. He graduated from the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy in 1995 and also completed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Internship Program.
An avid surfer, skier and athlete, he told Norwegian television NRK that if he wasn’t king, he’d be a surfer. A music lover – he likes rock and rap – he attended festivals all over Europe in his youth.
Haakon asked the king for permission to marry
Haakon knew his relationship would face an uphill battle of acceptance when he met Mette-Marit Tjess Høiby at a popular music festival in Norway in 1999. She was a single mother whose father was sentenced to prison for possession of cocaine, and she was seen at parties where illegal drugs were used.
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The country was divided. Some were rooting for love, others were skeptical. Norwegian newspaper VG wrote in 2000 that Haakon “lives closer to the people than any other heir to the throne before him”.
In an interview with NRK in May 2000, Haakon said that in the early 1990s “youth culture emerged in Oslo” and acknowledged that Mette-Marit was “an active part of that environment at the time”.
“Clearly there are some pretty extravagant parties,” Haakon said.
Nevertheless, he obtained permission from his father, who also married a commoner, to marry Mette-Marit. And despite her background, the Norwegians found a lot to like about this statuesque blonde with striking eyes and a quick smile, down-to-earth demeanor and undisguised love for Haakon.
They were married in August 2001 in Oslo Cathedral. The couple’s popularity soared thanks to a carefully cultivated blend of common touch and the grace and glamor required of the royal family. They were constantly on the covers of gossip magazines, yet they tried to live relatively normal and private family lives.
They have two children, Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. Haakon also became stepfather to Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Høiby, who has no royal title.
The reputation of the royal family was affected by 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 faced and acquitted of the other two. He was also convicted of assault and abuse in a close relationship. Høiby’s lawyers said they would appeal the verdicts.
The trial unfolded amid renewed scrutiny of the royal family following revelations of Mette-Marit’s past contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender. She publicly apologized for the association, stating that she had exercised poor judgment in maintaining contact with him. She is not accused of any wrongdoing.
In a television interview in March, she said she had been manipulated and deceived by Epstein and felt unsafe during a 2013 meeting 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, which means she sometimes has to take a break from her official duties. The incurable condition made it difficult to breathe, she had a dry cough and fatigue, she lost weight and had no taste. She underwent a lung transplant in June.
On the occasion of the couple’s 50th birthday in 2023, NRK interviewed Haakon and aired an old video of him playing the guitar, with Ingrid Alexandra and Mette-Marit singing, and another of him and his children imitating the Norwegian rapper’s moves. He watched the clips and burst out laughing, saying they showed “I’m all in.”
One of the tasks of the new king will be to boost popular support for the royal family. While most people still support it, that share has fallen in recent years and plummeted this year as the Høiby trial unfolded. Critics of Haakon’s sister, Märtha Louise, who wrote books claiming to have contact with angels, also blame her for the family’s trouble with the reputation.
Previously married for 14 years, Märtha Louise married Durek Verrett in 2024, an American who describes himself as a shaman and healer on his website. In 2022, she announced that she would no longer officially represent the Norwegian royal house, following “many questions regarding me and my fiance’s role”.
A poll published by the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet at the end of 2022 showed that 68% of respondents said they wanted to preserve the monarchy. When NRK asked the same question in 2017, support for the royal house was 81%.
