Norway's Constitution requires that only children born to a legally married king or queen can inherit the throne. If Haakon continues to merely live with his girlfriend, he will not be able to pass on his royal legacy to any children they might have.
The royal palace announced in a terse press release Saturday that Haakon had bought a fashionable new flat near downtown Oslo and will move there with his girlfriend Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby and her three-year-old son from an earlier relationship. The move sent royal shock waves around Europe because it marks the first time an heir to a throne has broken marital convention.
Reaction to the royal announcement that Haakon is setting up housekeeping with his girlfriend has been mixed and generally muted.
Bishops of Norway's state church, who officially oppose extra-marital domestic relationships, have found themselves in an awkward position and openly have admitted they don't want to criticize or offend the royal family. Some theologians accuse the bishops of cowardice for not blasting the Crown Prince's radical move, but they claim it remains his private affair. Several have said they hope the Crown Prince will marry eventually.
Politicians said essentially the same thing on Monday. None would publicly criticize the royal announcement, not even the most conservative members of parliament.
"The Crown Prince isn't doing anything that most all Norwegian youth do," said the Conservative Party leader Jan Petersen, referring to the high percentage of Norwegian couples who opt to live together without getting married. Such couples have legal status nearly equal to that of married couples, and such domestic situations have been socially accepted for years.
Petersen said he sees no reason for Parliament to propose a constitutional change because of the Crown Prince's new domestic arrangement. Nor does Kjell Magne Bondevik, head of the Christian Democrats and a pastor of the state church.
"I don't see any reason for such a public debate," Bondevik said. "I reckon they will get married."
