Norway Has a New King and a 21-Year-Old Crown Princess

Princess Ingrid Alexandra, age 21, appeared at her first cabinet meeting as Norway's heir apparent on Friday, standing beside her father just hours after the death of her grandfather, King Harald V.

Harald died at 89 after developing a serious blood infection, according to 9News Sydney. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, immediately became King Haakon VIII under Norway's rules of succession. He is 53.

At the cabinet meeting at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Haakon announced he would keep his name — making his official title His Majesty King Haakon VIII — and confirmed his motto would be "Everything for Norway," the same words carried by his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, according to Town & Country. Norway's Royal House website has already been updated to reflect Ingrid Alexandra's new title: Crown Princess.

She is now first in line to the Norwegian throne, positioned to become the country's first female head of state since Queen Margrete, who ruled in the late 1300s, Reuters reports. Norway's constitution was amended in 1990 to establish equal primogeniture — meaning the eldest child inherits regardless of gender — and the change applied retroactively to Haakon's children, placing Ingrid Alexandra ahead of her older brother, Prince Sverre Magnus.

The machinery of transition moved quickly. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre addressed the nation after a government conference Friday morning, expressing the government's sadness and compassion. "The king is dead, long live the king," Støre said in his broadcast. "We have a new king in King Haakon" (Town & Country).

Haakon is required by the Norwegian Constitution to take a formal oath at the Storting — Norway's Parliament — a ceremony expected in the coming days. Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra will separately sign a written oath that allows her to serve as regent when needed, a role that lets her carry out the king's duties if he is incapacitated or abroad.

For an American audience, the mechanics may look unfamiliar. Norway is a constitutional monarchy, meaning the king holds a largely ceremonial role as head of state while an elected parliament and prime minister run the government. The cabinet meeting Haakon and Ingrid Alexandra attended is a formal gathering between the monarch and the government, a constitutional fixture that also marked the official transfer of power.

Ingrid Alexandra is no stranger to public milestones — she delivered her first major speech at a national event at 18 and has represented the royal family at official engagements — but Friday's cabinet meeting was her debut in the role she is expected to hold for decades. Her father became heir at birth and waited 53 years for the throne. She is starting her wait at 21.