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Norway's King Harald V dies at 89; Crown Prince Haakon takes throne
🇱🇹 Lithuania /Culture & Society

Norway's King Harald V dies at 89; Crown Prince Haakon takes throne

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Norway's King Harald V died on Friday, and his son Crown Prince Haakon has automatically succeeded him to the throne.
  • Haakon is popular in Norway and is seen as a modern, forward-looking monarch, despite recent scandals involving the royal family.
  • The new king has a strong educational background and has actively fulfilled his duties as heir apparent, often acting as regent for his father.

Norway's King Harald V died on Friday, with his son Crown Prince Haakon automatically assuming the throne. The 53-year-old Haakon now becomes the new king of Norway, following his father's passing.

Despite recent scandals that have touched the royal family, Haakon remains a popular figure in Norway. A March poll indicated that four out of five respondents believed he would be a "very good" or "fairly good" king. This positive perception persists even with public knowledge of his wife Mette-Marit's connections to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and accusations against Mette-Marit's son, Marius Borg Høiby.

Haakon is very popular in his country despite recent scandals related to the royal family.

— Source analysisDescribing Crown Prince Haakon's public standing.

Haakon is widely regarded as a modern, energetic, and future-oriented monarch. He graduated from the Norwegian Naval Academy and studied political science at the University of California, Berkeley, and development studies at the London School of Economics. Since the death of his grandfather Olav V in 1991, Haakon has diligently performed his duties as heir apparent. He frequently served as regent when King Harald faced health issues due to his advanced age.

He is considered a modern, energetic, and future-oriented monarch.

— Source analysisCharacterizing Crown Prince Haakon's reign.

The new king has also been recognized for his active role in promoting gender equality, climate-friendly technologies, and poverty reduction. In his personal life, Haakon has broken with tradition, notably by marrying the commoner Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby in 2001, who was a single mother at the time. Their children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, were born in 2004 and 2005.

The royal couple has been seen as embodying a more modern monarchy. Haakon has consistently supported Mette-Marit, who has a chronic lung fibrosis condition requiring a lung transplant. While this has led to a slower pace for the couple, Haakon will need to maintain a more demanding schedule as king.

Haakon has diligently performed his duties as heir apparent since the death of his grandfather Olav V in 1991.

— Source analysisDetailing Crown Prince Haakon's preparation for the throne.
About this summary

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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