What Lies Ahead for Norway’s Monarchy Following the Passing of King Harald V and Recent Scandals

King Harald V, Norway's popular monarch who died Friday, leaves behind a royal family plagued by scandal. The death of a monarch can boost national unity, and support for the crown. Norway’s new King Haakon VIII will be hoping that sentiment rings true following the death of his father, King Harald who died Friday after 35 years on the throne, marking the latest blow for a family reeling from scandal.

The royal clan was thrust into the global spotlight earlier this year, when Queen Consort Mette-Marit, Haakon’s wife of 25 years, made headlines for her past association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while her non-royal son from a previous relationship stood trial for rape. The succession of scandals sparked an open discussion in the country about her suitability to the role of Queen, with some experts even laying out possible options for her withdrawal from royal duties. But past criticism seems to have softened of late. Instead, the death of Harald V, who was Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, could potentially mobilize a fresh wave of support and empathy for the clan, experts now suggest.

“Maybe people will remember the Epstein scandal, but I think maybe the worst will fade away,” Kjetil Alstadheim, the political editor at Norway’s influential newspaper Aftenposten, told CNN. The late King’s death could also contribute to “helping the new King and Queen into their roles and their positions because of how people will gather around the institution and the family,” Alstadheim said. Or as Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre put it on Friday after the news broke, “a whole nation is in mourning.”

Harald’s death was officially announced at an extraordinary Council of State meeting at Norway’s Royal Palace on Friday, as the full title of the new King was formally presented. Haakon chose to keep the personal motto “All for Norway.” In his first comments following the death of his father, Haakon thanked the Norwegian people for their “support and compassion for the Royal Family during this time.”

Haakon, 53, previously reflected on the power of succession to boost a sense of unity when speaking about the death of his grandfather. “It made an impression on me,” Haakon told NRK, Norway’s public broadcaster, in 2023. “It did something, with the understanding of how this was going to be for me, and it was also a clear expression that people were happy with my grandfather and the institution.”

Haakon met Mette-Marit in the late 1990s, and the pair married in 2001 at Oslo Cathedral in front of 800 guests and a TV audience of millions. At the time, Mette-Marit’s openness about what she described as a “wild life” in her youth was well-received, particularly among younger Norwegians. “It mobilized the younger generations who felt this was a modern monarchy, and they could identify with that,” Alstadheim previously told CNN.

That young child would years later spark a major PR crisis for the royal family. In June, Marius Borg Høiby, 29, was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of rape and domestic violence after a seven-week trial that further tarnished the family’s reputation. Høiby pleaded not guilty to the most severe accusations against him, including those of rape, while admitting to some lesser charges. He is currently under house arrest at Norway’s Skaugum royal estate as he awaits a court decision about whether an appeal will be considered, his lawyer Petar Sekulic told CNN.

Around the same time as Høiby’s trial began, a second scandal erupted, this time implicating Mette-Marit herself. The Epstein files revealed that she had maintained extensive correspondence with the disgraced financier years after he had pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a minor. She later expressed regret over the association, saying it did not “represent the person I want to be.”

Royal historian Ed Owens said that as a result, the royal house had no doubt been brought into a “degree of disrepute,” with the family facing a “difficult moment ahead of them in terms of the succession.” One concern was the family’s “reduced capacity” due to a “lack of manpower,” Alstadheim said, referring to its severe shortage of working royals. It was announced earlier this year that Mette-Marit would temporarily step back from royal duties to undergo a lung transplant after she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic progressive lung disease with a poor prognosis, in 2018.

Despite the challenges ahead, the royal commentators agree this moment could be unifying for the country, and its support for the monarchy, with Owens calling it a “re-energising of national identity.” Haakon, a more energetic King than most European royal houses can lay claim to with a passion for the outdoors, takes the helm of a monarchy that still enjoys substantial support among the public, even if the latest scandals have taken their toll. The new King and Queen Consort have two children together, and the elder – Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 22 – now becomes heir to Norway’s throne.