Haakon Magnus becomes the new king of Norway after the death of Harald V at the age of 89. The 53-year-old monarch assumes the Crown under the name Haakon VIII at a particularly delicate moment for the royal family due to the controversies affecting his wife, Mette-Marit, and his stepson, Marius Borg Høiby.
The new king comes to the Crown after more than three decades as heir and with the challenge of maintaining the stability of an institution that in recent years has been marred by several family controversies.
Haakon VIII, from crown prince to king of Norway
Born in Oslo on July 20, 1973, Haakon Magnus is the second son of King Harald V and Queen Sonya. Since 1991 he had held first place in the line of succession and in recent years he had assumed part of his father’s duties due to the monarch’s health problems.
Their training also departed in some ways from the tradition of the Norwegian royal family. He studied at the University of California at Berkeley and later studied development studies at the London School of Economics. In addition, surfing and music are among his great hobbies.
His arrival to the throne now represents a generational change in the Norwegian Royal House, although he does so at a time marked by the controversies surrounding some of his closest relatives.
A relationship that broke with Norwegian tradition
One of the figures that has received the most attention around the new Crown is Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, Haakon’s wife and who now becomes Queen of Norway.
The couple met at the end of the nineties and their relationship generated controversy from the beginning, because Mette-Marit was a woman outside the aristocracy and the mother of a son, Marius Borg Høiby, the result of a previous relationship. Finally, Haakon and Mette-Marit married in Oslo in 2001 with the backing of King Harald V.
The couple later had two children: Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. With the arrival of Haakon to the throne, Ingrid Alexandra, 22, becomes the new heir to the Norwegian Crown.
The conviction of the stepson of the new king of Norway
The other major focus of controversy for the new royal family is Marius Borg Høiby, the 29-year-old son that Mette-Marit had before marrying Haakon and who does not have a noble title or functions within the Norwegian Royal House, but who lives with the privileges of royalty.
Høiby was sentenced in June to four years in prison after a Norwegian court found him guilty of two counts of rape, as well as domestic violence and other crimes. Both his defense and the Prosecutor’s Office have appealed part of the resolution. He is currently serving his sentence under house arrest.
The case has put significant pressure on the royal family and Haakon himself has publicly shown his support for Marius during the process, while defending the need to protect the rest of his children.
The controversies affecting Mette-Marit
Added to her son’s judicial situation is the controversy arising from the contacts that Mette-Marit had in the past with Jeffrey Epstein. The documents published by the United States Department of Justice on the case include communications between the now queen of Norway and the American financier, convicted of sexual crimes. The emergence of his name has brought new scrutiny to the Norwegian royal family.
Haakon has publicly supported his wife amid the controversy. Furthermore, the situation comes after Mette-Marit has gone through health problems that have forced her to reduce her public activity.
With this scenario, Haakon VIII begins his reign with the challenge of preserving the image and trust in the Norwegian monarchy while his family faces one of its most complicated moments.
