Who is King Haakon? What to know about Norway’s new monarch

Crown Prince Haakon became Norway’s king on Friday after the death of his father Harald. Here are some ⁠facts about the new 53-year-old monarch.Early yearsThe new king was born Haakon Magnus on July ⁠20, 1973, and went to a state primary school, as is expected of royals in the egalitarian Scandinavian nation – though his secondary school was private.He joined the navy before studying politics at the University of California, Berkeley and, later, development studies at the London School of Economics.Haakon developed an early love of music and surfing. He has said that if he were not a ‌royal, he would have aspired to be a pro surfer on the World Tour.A young Haakon in 1987 with his family. Photo: NTB/Bjorn Sigurdson via ReutersA marriage tangled in scandalHe met his wife Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby in a bar at a music festival in 1999 in the southern Norwegian city of Kristiansand. The fact that she was a commoner and a single parent, with a son from a previous relationship, initially triggered a media furore. Two decades later, the US Justice Department released extensive email correspondence between Mette-Marit and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.