The Scandinavian Royals Message Board: Re: King Haakon VIII

Im surprised to see that Crownprincess Ingrid Alexandra was already given precedence over her grandmother Queen Sonja. That feels wrong to me, yes the crown princess will by all means and purposes be the acting First Lady of the land but when her mother or grandmother are there they should precede her.

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I agree with your analyses. It will be Haakon, Queen Sonja and his two children. I don t think we can expect MM to be able to work full-time. She hardly ever did. Even when they were just married she wasn t a very active royal. She will attend big occasions at home but I don t think frequent travel (abroad) is in the cards for her. And as for her acquaintance with Epstein. That will blow over if nothing new pops up. Her son is a different matter. I am afraid he will always remain the biggest liability for Haakon VIII's reign.

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Im not convinced Haakon VIII has that many problems. His queen is recovering from her lung transplant but seems to be doing well. His sister has said goodbye to Royal life and is spending a major part of her life in the US. Leaving a stepson who will probably end up spending some time in jail.
The new Royal Couple will have to separate their own personal feelings for their son and the public fact that he's convicted. So far they seem to be able to do so and that will probably end up giving them credits.

For the new crown princess things will change more and sooner than hoped for. She will in effect often act as the First Lady of the country. Her grandmother at 89 will no doubt remain active as far as her age allows her but she will also be able to retreat mainly to the cultural sector she is so fond of.

The remaining question is what can the new Queen handle as a workload? I have no doubt she will want to support her husband but she may not be able to as much as she'd like.

At the same time in a few years the new King will have his two grown children supporting him. We have already seen that both of them are very capable of doing so even at their current young age.

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Yes very sad day. A very much loved monarch King Harald V has passed away. His son has become King Haakon VIII today. May he have a good reign. Although King Harald was in a fragile physical state for some time nobody anticipated his passing at this time because he had been ill so many times. A very devoted monarch and family man who struggled sometimes to align these two roles. He had a big hart. Perhaps too big sometimes...

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I just heard that news of his passing ... may he rest in peace, and may the new king navigate a successful transition to sovereignty ... it will be difficult, given all the personal problems in his life ... one can only hope for the best ...