King Haakon VIII of Norway paid tribute to his late father, King Harald V, calling him “such a wonderful papa” in his first address to the nation as monarch.
“Above all, you were a person who remained committed to your values and dedicated to your duties,” Haakon said Saturday in a televised speech. “We greatly mourn his loss. At the same time, it gives us consolation and strength to know that there are so many who are grieving with us.”
Norway’s King Harald died at 89, after more than three decades on the throne, during which time he became known as a reformer and a popular monarch. In a televised speech from the palace, Haakon praised his father as a “warm and devoted family man.”
Haakon became emotional while speaking about his widowed mother, Queen Sonja. He noted that his parents would have celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on Saturday.
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Earlier on Saturday, Haakon met at the palace with leaders of the Church of Norway, parliament and the Supreme Court. He also received Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who viewed the late king’s casket after it was brought to the palace from Oslo University Hospital on Friday evening.
Flags flew at half-mast Saturday as mourners continued to gather at the palace, laying flowers alongside tributes left the previous day by more than 20,000 people.
Haakon stresses he will do things ‘his own way’
Haakon said he would follow his own path, as his father did before him, while reaffirming the principles of Norway’s constitutional monarchy. He is due to swear an oath in parliament on Tuesday to uphold the country’s constitution and laws.
“We believe in our system of self-governance — and in democracy. We believe in a society built on the rule of law, where every individual has equal worth,” he said.
Haakon automatically became king following his father’s death. Norway does not hold coronations, which were abolished by parliament in 1908.
But, like his father and grandfather before him, Haakon could opt for a consecration ceremony at Trondheim Cathedral, where Norwegian monarchs were crowned between 1814 and 1906.
The Norwegian prime minister told Reuters news agency that Haakon shared many of his father’s qualities, particularly his “ability to create an atmosphere of togetherness.”
Mourning and challenges for the royal family
A national period of mourning has been declared, with no date yet set for Harald’s funeral. Churches across Norway will hold memorial services Sunday, including one in Asker, south of Oslo, which the royal family was scheduled to attend.
Harald was widely regarded as a symbol of an open and tolerant Norway and praised for leading a modern, modest monarchy.
The king had been hospitalized in Oslo since August 17 with hemolytic anemia, a condition that causes the rapid destruction of red blood cells and can lead to fatigue and shortness of breath. His health had deteriorated in recent years, forcing him to reduce his official duties.
The royal family has also faced a series of challenges. Haakon’s wife, Queen Mette-Marit, has come under scrutiny over her ties to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In June, her son from a previous relationship was sentenced to four years in prison for two rapes, a sentence he is appealing.
Mette-Marit, 53, who has a serious lung disease, underwent a lung transplant in July.
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Edited by: Sean Sinico
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