Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon will celebrate his 50th birthday this year. Recently, it is he who acts as the monarch, because his 86-year-old father King Harald V has more and more health problems. The other day, he was once again diagnosed with an infection that needs to be treated in a hospital, and he was hospitalized, leaving the country in the care of his son for a long time. We tell ten curious facts about the future King Haakon VIII.
The Crown Prince was born on July 20, 1973 at the Royal Hospital in Oslo. The godparents of the only son of Harald V and his wife Sonja were King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and British Princess Anna. This is not surprising, because Haakon is not only the heir to the Norwegian throne. As a great-great-grandson of the British King Edward VII, the Swedish King Oscar II and Danish Frederick VIII, he could theoretically claim four crowns. But in practice he claims only one — my.
Haakon has an older sister, Princess Martha Louise. And although in 1990 the constitution of Norway was amended, according to which the eldest child inherits the crown, regardless of gender, this did not affect the line for the throne. The amendments were not retroactive, as, for example, in Sweden, where instead of Prince Carl Philip, Princess Victoria became the heiress. So, Haakon remained the first contender for the Norwegian crown. But next after him in line for the throne is his eldest daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and not Prince Sverre Magnus.
Little Haakon went to a regular kindergarten and high school, then studied at the Christian Gymnasium, from which he graduated in 1992. His grandfather had died the year before. — King Olaf V, and his father Harald succeeded to the throne. So at the age of 17, Haakon became crown prince. July 20, 1991 — on your 18th birthday — for the first time he took part in a meeting of the State Council, and on July 22, in connection with the departure of the king, he even presided over the council. He received further education in full accordance with his status. In 1999, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley, after which he returned to his homeland and attended lectures on the program compiled for him at the University of Oslo. In 2001, he completed an introductory course for civil servants at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 2003 he completed an MA in Development Studies at the London School of Economics in 2003.
As befits a future monarch, Haakon was trained in various branches of the royal troops of Norway. He began his military education right after high school. — entered the Naval Preparatory School. From there he was transferred to the Naval School in the city of Horten on the west bank of the Oslo Fjord. — bay in southeastern Norway. In 2016, he ended up taking paratrooper courses and receiving the appropriate certificate. Crown Prince Haakon — Admiral of the Royal Navy and General of the Norwegian Army and Air Force.
The Crown Prince met his wife Mette-Marit Tjessem Heiby at a party during Norway’s biggest music festival in her hometown of Kristiansand. This novel was doomed from the start: the girl was a single mother with no higher education and a very dubious drug-related past, which the Norwegian press savored for many years. Nevertheless, Haakon not only did not give up his love, but also insisted on the wedding. And his father gave permission for this marriage, because he himself once went against the will of his parents and society. His wife Queen Sonja worked in a small clothing store in Oslo in her youth. For nine years, they met in secret from Harald’s parents, after which he raised the question point-blank: either he marries his beloved girl, or does not marry at all, and Norway will be left without heirs to the throne.
King Olaf had no choice but to bless the lovers, and in August 1968 they got married. Apparently, Haakon had a similar conversation with his parents. In any case, in December 2000, he made a statement that he had proposed to his girlfriend. On the hand of a commoner from the city of Kristiansand, there was an engagement ring worn by three generations of brides from the Swedish royal family. Their wedding took place in August 2001. Mette-Marit was very worried, and the prince, realizing this, instead of waiting for the bride at the altar, left the Oslo Cathedral, took her by the hand and walked with her along the aisle of the temple. By the way, the best man at this wedding was a friend and colleague of Haakon — Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.
Immediately after the wedding, Haakon had a 4-year-old child. The Crown Prince adopted the son of his beloved wife Marius Borg Heiby. The boy’s father was convicted of drug dealing, so he could not pay child support to Mette-Marit. Before her marriage to the heir to the throne, even while living in the palace, she received monthly payments from the state in the amount of 1800 crowns. According to the Norwegian media, Morten Borg had a good relationship with Mette-Marit and Haakon, and while Marius was little, he called them up and also took the child for the weekend.
In 2004, the couple had a daughter, who was named Ingrid Alexandra. She is to become the second female monarch in the history of Norway. The first was Queen Margaret Iwho ruled Denmark, Sweden and Norway in the 15th century. The christening of the princess took place on April 17, 2004 in Oslo. Her godparents were King Harald, King Philip of Spain, Crown Prince of Denmark, and the future King of this country, Frederick, Crown Princess and future Queen of Sweden, Victoria, etc. And a year later, her younger brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, was born.
Because of King Harald’s health problems, Prince Haakon had already had to bear the brunt of the Norwegian crown. He served as regent several times, including between November 2003 and April 2004, when his father was treated for cancer and was recovering, and from March to June 2005, when the king took time to recover from heart surgery.
Haakon is actively involved in sports, skiing, driving a yacht, and is fond of hang gliding. He is an avid theatergoer. And in 2011, the crown prince, together with the Norwegian band Katzenjammer, recorded his song “Vi tenner våre lykter” — “We light our fires”, which was included in the Christmas album of the same name. Proceeds from its sale were transferred to the joint charitable foundation of Haakon and Mette-Marit.
The future king is known for his true English sense of humor. In 2017, his parents, being the same age, celebrated their 80th birthday at a gala reception hosted by other European monarchs. At the table sat the Queen and Crown Prince of Denmark, the King and Crown Princess of Sweden, as well as the monarchs of Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Monaco and Luxembourg with their spouses, the Crown Prince of Greece and the daughter-in-law of the British Queen Sophie of Wessex. In the middle of the evening, Haakon got up from the table and left, and half an hour later he returned clean-shaven — without his trademark bristles. Later, he explained that he wanted to cheer up the anniversaries-parents with such an unexpected act.
Source: Hellomagazine
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