King Harald bought the 266-square-meter flat for his son last year. Haakon already was living with his then-girlfriend, Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, in a smaller flat further down Ullevålsveien.
Haakon had bought that flat shortly after he returned to Norway after several years in the US, where he earned a bachelor's degree at the University of California at Berkeley.
He soon outgrew the flat after launching his controversial romance with Tjessem Høiby, a single mother with a son from a previous relationship. It emerged last year that Tjessem Høiby had moved into the crown prince's flat with her son, Marius.
The new flat at Ullevålsveien 67 takes up the entire third floor of the gracious building in Oslo's St Hanshaugen's district. It features a 13-square-meter terrace with a view over the city.
It remains unclear, however, how long the couple will actually live there. Tradition calls for the crown prince couple to live on an estate called Skaugum, west of Oslo in suburban Asker, and many expect them to move there after their wedding.
King Harald and Queen Sonja have continued to live at Skaugum but are due to move into the newly renovated Royal Palace downtown later this spring. That means Skaugum will soon stand empty.
The estate is then likely to be renovated, meaning Haakon and Mette-Marit in turn will probably delay any eventual move.
Aftenposten Interactive English Desk
Nina Berglund
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