When King Harald, after 35 years on the Norwegian throne, died at Rikshospitalet on Friday, the office of regent of Norway immediately passed to his son, Crown Prince Haakon, 53.
A cabinet meeting will be held at the palace immediately after the death to confirm that Haakon has taken over as king, says Bjørn Erik Rasch, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Oslo.
Afterwards, the Storting will convene as soon as possible and the new king will swear an oath of allegiance to the Norwegian constitution.
It is actually a very simple procedure that should ensure that no power vacuum arises, even if the king's power is in practice very limited, says Bjørn Erik Rasch.
Church blessing
The formal requirement for a coronation was removed from the Norwegian constitution as early as 1908. The last king to be crowned in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim was Håkon VII in 1906.
In 1958, King Olav V replaced the coronation with a church blessing ceremony, and when King Harald took over the throne from his father in 1991, he and Queen Sonja received the same type of ceremonial blessing, also in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.
I would think that will happen this time as well. Nidaros Cathedral is Norway's largest cathedral and is considered a national shrine and coronation church, says Bjørn Erik Rasch.
Halved support
Haakon's wife, 53-year-old Mette-Marit, becomes queen after a lot of drama.
In the past year, her friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has become public knowledge. In June, her son from a previous relationship was also sentenced to four years in prison for, among other things, rape.
When NRK measured trust in February, 60 percent responded that they support the monarchy, a drop of 10 percentage points compared with a month earlier.
The same survey showed that trust in Mette-Marit had halved. King Harald, on the other hand, received a high rating - an average of 9.2 points out of 10.
Withdrawn role
I don't think it will have that much significance, she will probably have a more withdrawn role than Sonja has had. But the monarchy certainly faces challenges, says Bjørn Erik Rasch.
Mette-Marit was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018 and underwent a risky lung transplant in June. She still has a lot of rehabilitation left before she is fully healthy.
What role and title Queen Sonja will have in the future is unclear, according to Rasch.
We have never faced this situation before in modern times, that the monarch dies before his consort.
Facts: This is why Märtha Louise will not become queen
The fact that Norway will continue to have a king on the throne is due to the fact that male primogeniture was still practiced when Prince Haakon Magnus was born on July 20, 1973. Princess Märtha Louise, born in September 1971, is the royal couple's eldest child.
On May 29, 1990, the Storting amended the constitution so that eldest children - regardless of gender - take precedence over their siblings in the line of succession to the throne, and thus the now newly crowned Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra will one day inherit the throne.
