From Sydney Uni to heir: Princess Ingrid Alexandra becomes Crown Princess of Norway after death of King Harald V

Just months after leaving Australia and putting her Sydney University plans on hold to be with her sick mother, Ingrid Alexandra has become heir to Norway’s throne following the death of her grandfather King Harald V.

The 22-year-old is now Crown Princess of Norway and first in the order of succession of the House of Glücksburg, which has ruled the Scandinavian country since 1905.

The princess is next in line to the throne after Norway’s succession laws were changed in 1990 to include women, and she’ll one day make history by becoming Norway’s first queen regnant in more than 600 years. 

Her father acceded the throne as King Haakon VIII when his father, Harald V, died on Friday, August 28.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of His Majesty King Harald today,” the Royal House said in the statement that came through on Friday evening Australian time.

“King Harald passed away peacefully at the National Hospital on Friday, August 28, at 6.35 am,” it said.

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Haakon, 53, is now monarch and head of state while his wife, Mette-Marit, is queen. The new king, and his heir, appeared an extraordinary meeting of the council of state at the Royal Palace in Oslo in the hours after his father’s death.

Mette-Marit, who is also 53, underwent a lung transplant in June eight years after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. Her recovery is expected to take a year, during which she is not likely to carry out any public-facing duties.

It was the queen’s deteriorating health that brought her daughter back to Norway, upending the princess’ plans to spend three years in Australia as an ordinary university student.

Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra had moved to Sydney in late July 2025 and in August began the three-year degree at Sydney University in social science, specialising in international relations and politics. 

Weeks later, she was visited by her parents who helped her settle into life on the other side of the world, taking up residence inside the prestigious St Andrew’s College, in a private room with a shared bathroom, where the annual fee is around $44,000 per year.

In an interview with Norwegian media, done on campus at Sydney University in November, Ingrid Alexandra said her course would be “relevant” for her future job as Queen of Norway. 

“I definitely think that my education will be very relevant to the job I will do in the future,” Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra said.

“I think it is important to have a basic understanding of the political system, of international relations, and how things work.”

This year - on May 17 - nine.com.au was there when the princess carried out her first public appearance in Australia, attending Norway’s National Day celebrations in Sydney.

Days later, a 63-year-old Australian man was issued with a two-year restraining order after sending the princess a letter to her university dorm, claiming he wanted to be her friend. 

But Ingrid Alexandra’s time in Australia was unexpectedly cut short when she left Sydney to return to Oslo on June 2 to be with her mother. Three days later, the Royal House announced Mette-Marit was officially on the transplant waiting list.

Mette-Marit received a lung transplant barely a week later and Ingrid Alexandra has been there to help with her mother’s recovery and rehabilitation ever since.

On August 10, the young princess started at the University of Oslo where she is continuing her studies on exchange from Sydney University.

Her late grandfather King Harald had been reluctant to push the young princess into her public role, preferring to give her the time to focus on her studies and to enjoy her youth before the burden of responsibility. 

However, the Royal House recently conceded Princess Ingrid Alexandra and her younger brother Prince Sverre Magnus, 20, were needed more than ever.

In a statement just weeks ago, the palace confirmed the siblings would be called upon “to carry out selected official assignments for the Royal House when it fits in with their studies”. 

Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra is popular among Norwegians and well-liked.

And the fresh-faced royal is undoubtedly what the embattled monarchy needs as it begins a new reign under her father, the now King Haakon. 

A monarchy plunged into controversy

The Norwegian royal family has faced a turbulent few years that have seen the family battle one challenge after another.

The small monarchy became the subject of headlines around the world this year when Marius Borg Høiby, stepson of the now-king and half-sister to the heir, went on trial for rape and assault, and other serious crimes. 

In June, the 29-year-old was convicted of rape and assault and sentenced to four years in prison. His lawyers have since appealed the verdict. 

Høiby, who is Queen Mette-Marit’s son from a previous marriage before she married into the royal family in 2001, is now serving his sentence under house arrest with an ankle monitor at Skaugum, the family’s private residence outside of Oslo.

While he has never held royal titles or an official role, Høiby grew up as part of the royal family and attended many events with the late king, and former crown prince family, until he stepped back from the spotlight when he was 17.

His arrest in late 2024, and the seven-week trial and sentence, plunged the royal family into a cycle of negative headlines and brought unwelcome stress on the late king and Høiby’s mother, both of whom were suffering a decline in their health.

Mette-Marit’s past friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were revealed in documents released by the US Justice Department and saw Norwegians turn against her. A poll declared half of Norwegians thought she was unsuitable for the role of queen.

She apologised twice and described her contact with Epstein as having shown “poor judgement”, admitting it was “simply embarrassing”. In a television interview, Mette-Marit claimed she was “manipulated and deceived” by him.

Mette-Marit, whose health significantly deteriorated in late 2025, then began wearing an oxygen tube on the rare occasions she was seen in public.

A lung transplant, doctors said, was Mette-Marit’s only option at survival and Ingrid Alexandra abruptly left Australia to be with her mother it became clear the operation would soon take place.

Norway’s monarchy also found itself making news around the world thanks to the late king’s eldest daughter, Princess Märtha Louise.

In 2024, she married the American healer Shaman Durek Verrett and a year later they were accused of exploiting their royal connections in the 2025 Netflix documentary Rebel Royals, renewing calls for the princess to be stripped of her titles. 

Despite not having a formal royal role since November 2022, Princess Märtha Louise’s commercial endeavours have seen her earn the wrath of the Royal House and public.

The palace issued a scathing statement claiming the documentary was “a breach of the agreement” made following the princess’ royal exit when she was forbidden from using her royal titles in any business ventures. 

The film also included claims from Shaman Durek that the king and queen, as well as the then-crown prince, were blind to the racism he experienced when he started dating Märtha Louise. Shaman Durek later issued a clarification on Instagram, insisting he loved “my father in law and my mother in law deeply”.

This week, Shaman Durek underwent a kidney transplant in the same hospital where the late king was being treated.

A queen-in-waiting, in training

To say Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, as heir, has a tough time ahead, is an understatement.

Amidst all of her family’s challenges, she has escaped relatively scandal-free and, until recently, was largely kept out of the spotlight. 

In January, Ingrid Alexandra carried out her first solo tour of Norway’s northern regions in what was a major step towards her time on the throne. 

She has slowly been taking on more high-level duties and, in April last year, the princess joined her parents and grandparents for a state banquet inside the royal palace, marking the first time she had taken part in such a formal occasion and the highest level of a foreign visit.

Two months later, she and Prince Sverre carried out their first joint engagement without their parents, at a Red Cross event. 

The brother and sister were prominent figures at the recent World Cup in the US, attending several games supporting Team Norway. Their time in the US marked Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus’ first joint engagements outside of Norway. 

For its continued survival and relevance, Norway’s monarchy needs the youthful and competent Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra. 

Her father previously joked his daughter “would have liked to have been a pro surfer on the World Tour”, had she not been born heir to the throne. In 2020, she was named junior surfing champion in countrywide competition. The young royal is also a keen skier and does kickboxing.

In April last year the princess completed her military service after spending 15 months as an engineer soldier and rifleman with the Engineer Battalion in Brigade North. Ingrid Alexandra’s compulsory training was initially planned for 12 months, but she extended it by a further three.

Speaking after the end of her training, and potentially alluding to her future on the throne, the princess said: “I think the most important thing I have learned is that you can do much more than you think, and you are much stronger together.

“Whether it’s in a team or in a platoon or company, you get a lot more done when you’re not alone.”

Her escape to Australia

Now that she is Crown Princess of Norway, and needed more than ever in her homeland to support her father, the king, and her mother’s continued recovery, a return to Australia is looking even more unlikely for Ingrid Alexandra.

Even before her grandfather’s death, the princess’ future in Sydney was in doubt.

Norwegian historian and author Trond Norén Isaksen previously told nine.com.au the very nature of their places in the line of succession would see Ingrid and her brother “face greater responsibilities”.

“[They] are the only ones who can step in and take some of the burden off their father’s shoulders,” Isaksen said.

“In the time to come they [Ingrid Alexandra and Sverre Magnus] will both be needed to keep the wheels of the monarchy turning and I personally doubt it will be possible for the princess to resume her studies in Australia, as Sydney is simply too far away from Oslo for her to be able to combine her studies with royal duties.” 

However, Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s time in Australia - albeit brief - was integral to her future role as queen.

It was hoped that her three years in Australia in relative anonymity, and as a “regular” person, would ultimately prepare the princess for her most significant task of all: saving her country’s monarchy from collapse and safeguarding it into the future. 

She chose Australia to escape much of the noise in her homeland, travelling here when her family was dominating headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Though she was Down Under for just under 12 months, it served as a vital character-building and learning experience for the young princess. Anyone who has studied or worked far from home during those formative adult years knows the impact such adventures can have on their lives. 

By Ingrid Alexandra’s own admission she had been “so sheltered” in Norway. 

She did not come to Australia to hide away, though.

Ingrid Alexandra made her first public appearance in Australia by joining Sydney’s Norwegian community in celebrating its national day, known as Constitution Day, on May 17.

Closely observing the royal during what was her most high-profile engagement outside of Norway yet, I saw a quietly confident and relaxed young woman who is clearly still adjusting to her growing profile.

Moments after her arrival at the park where 400 Norwegian-Australians were eagerly awaiting a glimpse of their princess, Ingrid Alexandra seemed slightly hesitant about where to walk and where to stand.

Often on official engagements, it is the royals themselves who take the lead, but it is not uncommon for them to be directed into position by those running the particular event.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra quickly relaxed and stood poised as she listened to speeches, later engaging in small talk with the NSW Governor Margaret Beazley and Norway’s ambassador to Australia Anne Grete Riise – both years her senior.

She smiled and laughed on cue and spent more than 30 minutes mingling with the crowds, crouching down to speak to children and sharing stories about back home, student life and her time in Australia so far.

Ingrid Alexandra’s engagement that day was a rite of passage for the princess, no doubt, as all ‘first appearances’ are for royals as they navigate their growing roles in the public eye.

On the other side of the world, her family was celebrating the national holiday in Oslo.

“I think she is happy to be [in Australia], far away from all the problems,” royal correspondent at Norway’s national broadcaster NRK, Kristi Marie Skrede, told nine.com.au in November.

A crew from NRK had flown to Australia to interview the princess on campus as part of its annual documentary on the royal family’s year.

“It gives her the possibility to concentrate on her studies and to concentrate on being a young woman and spending time with her friends. She wants to be Ingrid. She’s not ready to be an official person yet.

“Choosing to move so far away when they really need her there, that tells us that it’s important for her to be free as Ingrid.”

Princess at the centre of historic constitutional reforms

Earlier this year, when it became clear King Harald’s health was in serious decline, and Haakon would be out of action caring for his sick wife following her lung transplant, Norway’s parliament realised another senior royal was needed to perform constitutional duties required from the head of state.

Ingrid Alexandra was put forth as the next royal who should act as regent because Norway’s system allows just the heir to take on such a role.

Other monarchies around the world, including Britain’s and Denmark’s, have multiple back-up royals to stand in for the monarch when needed, such as when they are ill or travelling abroad. 

Parliamentarians were due to vote on the constitutional regency reforms on November 3, marking an historic moment not only for the country but for the young princess.

However, as Ingrid Alexandra is now heir she will be able to act as regent if needed without the parliamentary vote.

Ingrid Alexandra’s aunty, Princess Märtha Louise was born King Harald’s eldest child but at the time of her birth in 1971 the line of succession favoured males. When Haakon was born two years later, he immediately overtook his sister.

When the government changed the rules in 1990, allowing females to inherit the throne, Märtha was given the opportunity to have her say. But she ultimately rejected the opportunity to be queen.

She later said: “For me, I was like, ‘Phew.’ It is a lot of pressure, and it really is a life that you need to choose and be committed to 100 per cent. So I’m very happy that my brother is next in line, and he’s doing an amazing job. He’s focused on all the right things.”

A very female future

Ingrid Alexandra will one day become Queen of Norway following her father’s reign and when that time comes she’ll be in good company.

Five of Europe’s next heads of state will be female out of the eight main royal houses across the region.

The House of Glücksburg has ruled Norway since 1905 and its monarchy dates back more than 1000 years, making it one of Europe’s oldest.

It may very well be up to this young princess, who is still finding her feet, to carry on the institution of monarchy into the future.

Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra has so far proven herself capable of stepping into the spotlight amid extraordinary pressures, keeping a brave face while representing her country and navigating student life in a foreign country.

She has now stepped into her biggest, and most high-profile, role yet.