Norway's King Haakon VIII automatically succeeded to the throne after his father, King Harald, passed away on Friday. He is the new face of a monarchy long praised for its modernity and modesty, but in recent years it has been beset by woe and scandal, including revelations about the queen's friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
King Haakon, 53, has increasingly seen his family's affairs plastered across front pages: his wife's lung transplant, revelations about her ties to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his stepson sentenced to four years for rape, and the escapades of his eccentric sister and her American husband, a self-proclaimed shaman.
