The royal family in Norway entered a new era with the death of the popular King Harald at the age of 89, and the accession of his son Haakon, who is 53 years old, to the throne amid a decline in the popularity of the royal family affected by a number of scandals, although this popularity seems to have recently recovered. A poll conducted by the public broadcaster NRK after the death of King Harald, a week ago, showed that the popularity of the royal family reached 72 percent, an increase from last May, when support for the family dropped to its lowest levels, reaching only 54 percent! Throughout his 35-year reign, the late King Harald enjoyed high popularity among Norwegians, and was viewed as “the grandfather of the nation,” as commentators in Norway described him. Although the king in Norway had no real powers, he succeeded in uniting the country, and he always found the right words, even in the most difficult times. Moreover, Harald did not abdicate the throne, even though in the last ten years he suffered from a number of successive diseases that greatly affected his health. In recent years, the royal family has been rocked by several scandals related to his daughter-in-law, Haakon, the new king, and his daughter, Princess Marta Louise, who is older than Haakon, but did not inherit her father on the throne due to ancient laws, which only allowed males to assume the throne. However, these laws were changed in 1990 to allow the eldest son or daughter to become Crown Prince, but the old law remained applied to Harald’s children. After his father's death, Haakon assumed the throne in a modest ceremony during which he took the oath, without a coronation ceremony after it was canceled in Norway a decade ago.
It was noteworthy that King Haakon's wife ("Hakon" as the name is pronounced locally) was absent from the swearing-in ceremony the day after his father's death. In place of his dead Marit, his daughter Ingrid Alexandra was present at his side, and took the oath to become his heir to the throne.
The royal family justified Mette-Marit's absence by saying that she was suffering from complications after undergoing a lung transplant in mid-July. Indeed, the new Queen was seen arriving at Oslo Hospital, accompanied by her husband, the King, shortly after his swearing-in ceremony, in a Range Rover, which he drove himself... and stayed with her for about an hour, then left and returned a short time later to take her with her.
“Mette Merit” scandals
However, the princess's absence may also be an opportunity for the royal family to keep the spotlight away from her due to the many scandals associated with her for years, which caused calls to strip her of her royal titles because she is "unworthy of them." For years, the name of Mette Marit has been linked to American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in prison after being arrested on charges related to trafficking in minors for sexual purposes, among other charges. Since 2019, Norwegian newspapers have revealed a friendship between Mette-Marit and Epstein.
Although the Queen repeatedly announced that she broke off her relationship with him in 2013, two years after she met him, the correspondence recently revealed by the US Congress showed that she was not telling the truth. These documents confirmed the existence of a strong friendship between them and their exchange of private personal letters for years that continued until 2014.
For your information, Mette-Marit later apologized for her relationship with Epstein, but denied knowing that he was convicted of sexual crimes, despite her admission in one of the correspondences she sent to him that she searched for his name on Google and that the results “were not good.” For your information, Epstein was convicted of sexual crimes and fraud crimes since 2005, and was also arrested and sentenced to months in prison in 2008, although he was not arrested in a large file until 2019.
Another scandal...this time for her son
Mette-Marit's relationship with Epstein caused calls in the Norwegian press to strip her of her position and title, similar to Prince Andrew in Britain. Some suggested that her husband remain king after his coronation, but on the condition that she would not be granted the title nor be given any royal duties. However, the Queen's new association with Epstein came amid another scandal related to her son from her first husband before her marriage to Harald. Her son Darius was on trial for crimes of rape, violence, and drug smuggling, in which he was later convicted and sentenced to 4 years in prison... He is now serving her in home detention after being forced to wear a tracking bracelet.
Amidst all these scandals, Haakon chose to stand by his wife, offering her all support. In fact, these scandals reflect the couple's history and the problems that surrounded them before their marriage. She belonged to the common people, not the daughter of an aristocratic family, but that was not the main obstacle. This is because Queen Sonja, the mother of King Haakon, and the wife of King Harald, was also a commoner. She was the first commoner to enter the Norwegian royal family.
However, the history of Mitte Marit and her previous relationships proved from the beginning that they constituted a challenge to the then Crown Prince. They met in 1999, and married three years later, knowing that they had been living together before their marriage, which also caused criticism within the Lutheran Church, to which the Norwegian royal family belongs.
An extraordinary life
For your information, Queen Mette-Marit had a son named Marius, who was 4 years old. When she met Haakon, she had him with a man who was convicted of drug possession. Mette-Marit was also known for her tumultuous past, turbulent life, drug use, and association with people who were later convicted of crimes. However, before her marriage to Haakon, she publicly apologized for her past and declared her condemnation of drugs.
As for Haakon, he maintained his admiration for her despite her tumultuous past and the press’s criticism of her, and he announced before their marriage that they had received the approval of his parents, adding: “What we found together was so strong that I could not give it up.” Then, the couple welcomed Ingrid Alexandra in 2004, and then her brother, Sverre Magnus, the following year.
In addition to the above, and amid the recent scandals, Mette-Marit's health also returned to the forefront, after the royal family announced in 2018 that she was suffering from chronic pulmonary fibrosis. Her condition has worsened since the beginning of the year, which required a lung transplant last June, and it appears that she is still suffering from its consequences. The announcement of Mette-Marit's deteriorating health came at a time when her son Darius was being tried, amid significant media coverage in Norway.
Princess Marta Louise...and astrology!
On the other hand, observers believe that Mette Marit is not the only source of concern for King Haakon or the decline in his popularity, but also his sister Marta Louise as well. She also caused problems for the royal family, the latest of which was her association with Dorric Veret, an African-American spiritual teacher and believer in conspiracy theories.
The Norwegian media describes Verit as a “fraudster,” but Princess Marta herself accuses the media of being “racist” and attacking her husband because he is black. Indeed, the princess gave up her title “Her Highness” in 2022 so that she could pursue her business projects, but she continued to use the title “princess,” and is still in line to the throne after King Haakon’s daughter.
In addition to the above, Martha Louise herself causes controversy because she defines herself as an “astrologer” and claims the ability to gain clairvoyance and speak with angels (!)
Thus, in 2024, an opinion poll on the level of popular support for the monarchy showed a decline to 68 percent compared to 81 percent in 2017, and respondents named Princess Marta Louise and Mette-Marit's son Darius as the main reasons for the decline in their support for the royal family.
Haakon... the exception
Despite all this, Haakon succeeded in maintaining a high level of public support. He is seen as close to the people, humble, and capable of leading the country like his father, with unity and humility. Indeed, King Haakon himself pledged, in his first speech to the people, that he would follow his own path, as his father did before him, while emphasizing the foundations on which the constitutional monarchy in Norway was built. He announced that he would keep his father's slogan, "Everything for Norway." The Norwegian Prime Minister commented on King Haakon's accession to the throne by saying that he shared many qualities with his father, especially "his ability to create a climate of unity" among Norwegians.
Increasing responsibilities...and an awaiting role
On the other hand, although Haakon was crowned king under difficult circumstances and the popularity of the royal family declined, he was born and grew up waiting for the day when he would become king. In recent years, he has taken on increasing responsibilities with his father often absent due to illness, which has made him more experienced in the major role, despite some doubting his ability to fill the place of his father, who was very popular. Today, Haakon is the fourth king in Norway after the restoration of the monarchy in 1905, when the country gained independence from Sweden.
Haakon is the only son of the late King Harald and his wife Sonja, and was named after his great-grandfather Haakon VII, who is also a distant grandson of Queen Victoria, the former Queen of Britain. Like most men in the royal family, Haakon has a military background; He served in the Norwegian Navy after graduating from the Naval Academy in 1995.
Although Haakon was aware from a young age that he was heir to the Norwegian throne, he found his royal responsibilities difficult at first, and he wrote in his memoirs, which were published in 2023: “Yes, I am from the royal family, but at school I did not want to talk about it, as it made me anxious.” In fact, unlike the children of the royal family, he attended a public state school in the 1980s, which reflected the will of his parents at the time to give their two children as normal an upbringing as possible. Haakon quickly became Crown Prince, when he was only 17 years old, upon the death of his grandfather, King Olaf V, and the coronation of his father, Harald, as king in 1991.
Details of his family life
Haakon met his wife, Mette-Marit, in 1999 at a concert in Kristianstand, where she is from. The press at the time described her as “Cinderella of Christiansstand” due to her humble upbringing there. Despite the controversy surrounding the prince's relationship with a commoner girl who has a 4-year-old son, Haakon married Mette-Marit in 2001. Commentators in Norway likened their relationship to that of King Edward VIII, who gave up the British throne in order to marry Wallis Simpson, the divorced American woman.
At the time, many predicted that this marriage might spell the end of the royal family. Many wondered whether Mette-Marit's tumultuous life - before she met Haakon - was suitable for the life of the royal family. But she succeeded in winning the love of Norwegians when she made a public apology for her past and asked to turn a new page. Since their marriage, they have been seen as representatives of the modern royal family and are good at communicating with ordinary Norwegians. But her popularity declined, specifically with her son’s involvement in rape cases, all of which he denied, and then her own involvement in a friendship with Epstein. Despite the royal family's repeated statements that Marius does not hold any royal titles, these scandals returned and shed a negative light on the family. Therefore, the challenge facing King Haakon today is the extent to which he can distance himself from these scandals, restore trust and create a climate of unity among Norwegians, as his father did.
