Norway’s new king pays emotional tribute to his father
Norway’s new king pays emotional tribute to his father
Our Foreign StaffSat, August 29, 2026 at 8:25 PM UTC
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Haakon thanked his father for being ‘a good dad’ and said that he now faced a ‘great task himself’ - Heiko Junge/AFP
Norway’s new king, Haakon VIII, has paid tribute to his late father during his first sovereign address.
“Above all, you were a person who always stayed true to your values and commitments,” King Haakon said of his predecessor in a televised speech on Saturday.
King Harald V, Europe’s longest reigning monarch, died aged 89 on Friday.
The new regent said it had been a “powerful and moving experience” to see the thousands of Norwegians who had gathered since Friday outside the Royal Palace in Oslo with “flowers, tributes and candles.”
“We are in mourning, yet at the same time it brings comfort and strength that so many are grieving together with us,” the 53-year-old said.
He also noted that his father and mother, Queen Sonja, would have celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on Saturday.
“Happy wedding anniversary, dear Mum,” he said, choking back tears.
The crowds of mourners brought ‘comfort and strength that so many are grieving with us,’ Haakon VIII said - Thomas Andersen/AP
Flags flew at half-mast on Saturday as scores of Norwegians flocked to the palace, adding flowers to the masses already on the ground after more than 20,000 people paid their respects.
The late king enjoyed massive support, despite the slew of scandals that dogged his family in the final stretch of his 35-year reign.
King Haakon thanked his father for being “a good dad” to him and his sister Martha Louise, and acknowledged that he now faced a “great task himself”.
“He constantly reminded us in the family that each of us must do things in our own way. Find our own form. Be ourselves,” King Haakon said.
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“Now it is my turn,” he declared.
Earlier on Saturday, King Haakon held audiences at the palace with the leaders of the Church of Norway, parliament and supreme court. A national period of mourning has been declared but a date for the late king’s funeral has not yet been announced.
King Haakon will swear an oath of allegiance in parliament on Tuesday. He and his wife, Queen Mette-Marit, are not expected to be crowned in a ceremony: Norway abolished coronations in 1908.
But, like his father and grandfather before him, the new king could choose to have his reign blessed during a ceremony at Trondheim Cathedral, where Norwegian monarchs were crowned between 1814 and 1906.
Harald was widely seen as the embodiment of an open and tolerant Norway, and praised for leading a monarchy that was modern and modest.
He had been in hospital in Oslo since August 17, suffering from haemolytic anaemia, a condition caused by an abnormally rapid destruction of red blood cells that leads to fatigue and shortness of breath.
The regent faced mounting health problems in his final years, forcing him to scale back his official schedule.
Haakon noted that his father and mother, Queen Sonja, would have celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on Saturday - Per Ole Hagen/Getty
The past year has been a turbulent one for the Norwegian royal family.
Queen Sonja, also 89, was briefly admitted to hospital in May due to heart problems.
King Haakon’s wife Mette-Marit is under scrutiny for her ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. She exchanged hundreds of emails with the financier between 2011 and 2014, and stayed in his Florida house when he was not there.
In June, Mette-Marit’s son from a relationship prior to her marriage to Haakon, Marius Borg Høiby, was sentenced to four years in prison for two rapes, a sentence that is under appeal.
Suffering herself from a serious lung disease, Mette-Marit, 53, underwent a lung transplant in July.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
