Crown Prince Haakon became King of Norway following the death of his father, King Harald.
Born Haakon Magnus, he attended state primary school, a private secondary school, and the Norwegian Navy.
As a child and student, Haakon suffered from anxiety regarding his royal status, thereby leading him to study at the University of California, Berkeley from where he earned a degree in politics.
“Yes, I was a royal, but I did not want to talk about it … At school it made me anxious,” he wrote in his 2023 autobiography “Haakon”, recounting his days in a state primary in the 1980s.
His marriage to Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoeiby, a single-parent commoner whom he met at a 1999 music festival, faced initial public scrutiny.
The family later dealt with scrutiny surrounding emails between Mette-Marit and Jeffrey Epstein, alongside legal proceedings where his stepson, Marius Borg Hoeiby, was convicted of rape and domestic violence.
But Hakkon described his meeting with Mette-Marit as really important as he credited her with helping him out of his shell socially.
Despite public duties and controversies, Haakon has mentioned in his autobiography that he found personal space, peace and identity through surfing and spending time in the water with his family.
Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 22, is the new heir apparent and is set to become Norway’s first female head of state since Queen Margrete I. She is followed in line by her younger brother, Prince Sverre Magnus.
Queen Margrete I ruled over Norway, Sweden and Denmark in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Haakon is the fourth King of Norway since the country gained full independence from Sweden in 1905. Speaking about his royal name, there is no confirmation yet as the new king will inform the government which name he wants to choose at the council of state in the early days of his reign.
He is widely expected to reign as King Haakon VIII, by keeping his name.
His royal lineage includes deep ties to other European monarchies, making him a great-great-great-grandson of Britain’s Queen Victoria.
