| Norwegian Royalty House of Oldenburg (Glücksburg branch) |
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| Haakon VII |
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| Olav V |
| Harald V |
Members of theNorwegian royal family are people related toKing Harald V of Norway or formerNorwegian monarchs who are royals and who hold royal titles. The term does not include non-royal relatives. The current family who holds the throne are members of theHouse of Glücksburg[1] who ascended to the Norwegian throne after the election of Prince Carl of Denmark asKing of Norway (regnal nameHaakon VII) during thedissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian union in 1905.
TheNorwegian monarch holds the titleKing of Norway while his consort isQueen of Norway with the styleMajesty. Theheir apparent to theNorwegian throne holds the title Crown Prince of Norway while his wife is Crown Princess of Norway with the styleRoyal Highness. The children of the reigning monarch and the children of theheir apparent are granted the title Prince of Norway or Princess of Norway. Only the eldest child of the Crown Prince is aRoyal Highness, while the others do not have any styles in Norwegian, although the style ofHighnesses may be used informally in foreign languages. In Norway there is traditionally no distinction between the royal house (kongehuset) and the royal family (kongelige familie). Both are informal terms. The Constitution specifically recognizes only those who hold royal titles such as prince or princess, or those who are in the line of succession. Since the 2000s, the term royal house has been used on the website of the royal family to refer only to the monarch and his spouse, theheir apparent and his spouse, and the heir apparent's eldest child. The royal family was from the same time used to refer to other princes or princesses, but did not include untitled relatives of the royal family.[2]
In the 2020s, the Norwegian royal family has faced extensive criticism and scandals, includingCrown Princess Mette-Marit'sassociation with Jeffrey Epstein, the indictment for rape against her sonMarius Borg Høiby, nicknamed "Little Marius,"[3] scandals surrounding the King's son-in-law, American conspiracy theoristDurek Verrett, and criticism ofPrincess Märtha Louise for commercial exploitation of her title to promote alternative medicine. The scandals have been cited as contributing to a "decimation of the Norwegian royal family's reputation"[4] and a doubling of membership in theNorwegian republican association.[5][6] Experts stated that the scandals involving the royal family's conduct increasingly undermine its role as a representative of the Norwegian state abroad.[7]
The Norwegian monarchy traces its history and origin back to theunification and founding ofNorway, as well as Norway's first king,Harald I of theFairhair dynasty. With the introduction of theNorwegian Law of Succession in 1163, the legal framework established that only one monarch and one royal family was, through succession, allowed to rule.[8]
Norway, Sweden and Denmark had joint monarchs during theKalmar Union in the late Middle Ages, and Norway remained in union with Denmark after Swedenleft the union in 1523. Following thereformation a jointDanish-Norwegian state was established 1536–37, which was ruled fromCopenhagen by theHouse of Oldenburg until Norway was ceded to Sweden at theTreaty of Kiel in 1814 following Denmark-Norway's defeat in theNapoleonic Wars. Norway wasbriefly independent with its own king in 1814, but forced into a newunion with Sweden under the rule of theHouse of Bernadotte.
Upon becoming independent in 1905, Norway decided through areferendum to remain as a monarchy, with its first monarch being the Danish-bornKing Haakon VII, whose family consisted of the BritishPrincess Maud and their sonOlav. It is King Haakon's descendants that today make up the current royal family of Norway.
Through marriages and historical alliances, the Norwegian royal family is closely related to theSwedish andDanish royal families as well as being more distantly related to royal families ofGreece and theUnited Kingdom.[9]
The current king Harald V descends from all of the four kings belonging to theHouse of Bernadotte (1818–1905) that preceded the House of Glücksburg on the throne and is the first Norwegian monarch to be a descendant of all previous Norwegian monarchs since 1818.
Mette-Marit'sassociation with Jeffrey Epstein and the scandals surrounding the King's son-in-law, American conspiracy theoristDurek Verrett, have been cited as contributing to a deterioration in its reputation.[4] Norwegian media criticized KingHarald V for legitimizing and endorsing the exploitation of national values and symbols for Märtha Louise's and Verrett's personal financial gain.[10] International media have extensively covered scandals involving theNorwegian royal family, linking the Norwegian monarchy to Jeffrey Epstein, rape allegations, and controversy. Experts stated that this sustained international portrayal has damaged Norway's international standing, as the royal family's conduct increasingly undermines its role as a representative of the Norwegian state abroad.[7]
The royal family is defined as those who hold a royal title. As of 2006[update], the website of the royal family stated that the royal house consisted of King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and that the extended royal family consists Prince Sverre Magnus, Princess Märtha Louise, Princess Ragnhild and Astrid. The website mentioned that Märtha Louise has the children Maud Angelica Behn and Leah Isadora Behn, but did not describe them as royal or part of the royal house or royal family, as they are commoners and do not hold any title. The website did not describeAri Behn as part of the royal family, only as the father of Märtha Louise's children, in line with traditional practice. The website made no mention at all ofMarius Borg Høiby, Mette-Marit's son from a previous relationship.[2]
In September 2024, three days after Märtha Louise married conspiracy theoristDurek Verrett, the royal court removed the term "royal family" from the website (of the royal court) and clarified thatMarius Borg Høiby is not royal.[11]
Jan Bøhler wrote that "organized crime is today a greater threat to our country than terrorism, and we are allocating increasingly larger resources to combat it. At the same time, a member of the royal family has for years vacationed and partied with central figures in drug-related crime. Individuals known for involvement in serious money laundering cases and violent gangs, including theHells Angels, have also participated in the festivities. These enemies of society have been allowed to roam freely on the Crown Prince couple's properties during events referred to as "Skaugum festivals."[12]
Members of the Royal House are:
Other royals are:
The following are grandchildren of Norwegian kings who are not royal themselves and who hold no title. In each case they are children of "other royals", that is other people than the king or the crown prince.
* Member of the Royal House
Thecoat of arms of Norway is one of the oldest in Europe and serves both as the coat of arms of the nation and of the Royal House. This is in keeping with its origin as the coat of arms of the kings of Norway during the Middle Ages.[14]
Håkon the Old (1217–1263) used a shield with a lion. The earliest preserved reference to the colour of the arms is the King's Saga written down in 1220.[14]
In 1280 KingEirik Magnusson added the crown and silver axe to the lion.[14] The axe is the martyr axe ofSt. Olav, the weapon used to kill him in the battle ofStiklestad in 1030.
The specific rendering of the Norwegian arms has changed through the years, following changing heraldic fashions. In the lateMiddle Ages, theaxe handle gradually grew longer and came to resemble ahalberd. The handle was usually curved in order to fit the shape of shield preferred at the time, and also to match the shape of coins. The halberd was officially discarded and the shorter axe reintroduced by royal decree in 1844, when an authorized rendering was instituted for the first time. In 1905 the official design for royal and government arms was again changed, this time reverting to the medieval pattern, with a triangular shield and a more upright lion.[14]
The coat of arms of the royal house as well as theRoyal Standard uses the lion design from 1905. The earliest preserved depiction of the Royal Standard is on the seal of Duchess Ingebjørg from 1318.[15] The rendering used as the official coat of arms of Norway is slightly different and was last approved by the king 20 May 1992.[16]
When used as the royal coat of arms the shield features the insignias of theRoyal Norwegian Order of St. Olav around it and is framed by a royalerminerobe, surmounted by thecrown of Norway.
The royal coat of arms is not used frequently. Instead, the king'smonogram is extensively used, for instance in military insignia and on coins.
He was nicknamed "Little Marius" after a character in Norwegian literature
Durek Verrett, 49, is a Californian conspiracy theorist and self-declared shaman, or "spiritual guide", who claims not to be human and professes that he can reverse ageing by "turning atoms".