Princess Anne's Norwegian Godson Becomes King Haakon VIII
Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, has a personal connection to Norway's new monarch: she is one of his godmothers.
King Haakon VIII of Norway took the throne on August 28, 2026, after the death of his father, King Harald. Meeting the Council of State — Norway's formal body of senior ministers and advisors — the new king declared he would reign under the name Haakon VIII. His daughter, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, was at his side during the meeting (Royal Central).
The man now known as Haakon VIII was born Crown Prince Haakon Magnus, christened on September 20, 1973, in the chapel of the Royal Palace in Oslo. His name carries deep Norwegian royal history: he was named after his great-grandfather, King Haakon VII, who ruled Norway from 1905 to 1957.
When Haakon was christened, Princess Anne was invited to serve as a godmother alongside two other prominent royal women: Princess Astrid of Norway, the baby's paternal aunt, and Queen Margrethe of Denmark. The godparent list also included King Olav V of Norway, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, and Prince Carl Bernadotte — a roll-call of Scandinavian royalty and their closest European relatives (Royal Central).
Anne, however, was not at the christening. She was unable to attend the ceremony in Oslo, though she later attended Haakon's confirmation, fulfilling the role she had been asked to take on.
The British-Norwegian royal connections run in both directions. King Charles III was himself named Charles in honour of King Haakon VII of Norway, who was born Prince Carl of Denmark before being elected to the Norwegian throne in 1905. That naming thread links the British and Norwegian crowns across more than a century of family ties.
For Princess Anne, the accession of a godson to a throne is a reminder of how these relationships, formed in infancy through the tradition of choosing godparents from among allied royal families, endure well into adult life. Anne, 76, has been one of the British royal family's most active working members for decades, and her connections across European royal houses span generations.
Haakon VIII's daughter, Ingrid Alexandra, now stands as heir to the Norwegian throne — the next link in a line that stretches back to the man for whom both she and Britain's king share a name.
