Norway No Longer Crowns Its Kings, It Consecrates Them: Haakon and Mette-Marit at Nidaros Cathedral on 22 August 2027

The Norwegian royal court has announced the date: King Haakon and Queen Mette-Marit will be consecrated on 22 August 2027 at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. Harald V, who reigned for almost four decades, was consecrated in the same place in 1991.

The word "consecration" is no accident. The 1814 constitution required Norwegian monarchs to be crowned precisely at Nidaros, but an amendment in 1908 dropped the coronation and replaced it with a church consecration. The last real coronation was that of Haakon VII and Queen Maud. Olav was the first consecrated king, Harald V continued the tradition, and now it is the turn of Haakon VIII of the Glücksburg dynasty.

The protocol is already half done. A few days after the death of Harald V, the government's succession plan went ahead without a hitch: Haakon swore an oath before the Storting, the Norwegian parliament, to reign according to the Constitution, followed by his father's state funeral. Part of the secret of long-lived monarchies lies exactly there - every step is written in advance, so nobody improvises.

After the ceremony itself, the royal couple will host a gala dinner and then sail to Bergen on the royal yacht "Norge". There the city will welcome them with a dinner in Håkonshallen, the hall built by King Haakon Haakonsson more than 760 years ago. The symbolism is transparent: the new Haakon will dine in the hall of the old one.

That is only the beginning. The consecration opens a series of "introductory tours" around Norway that will last two years - from summer 2027 to spring 2028 - and will cover the lesser-known corners of the country too. The king goes to the people, instead of the people waiting outside the palace. Would any Balkan official spend two years touring villages with no election in sight?

The tour has a personal dimension as well. Mette-Marit was forced to miss key moments of the first days of her husband's reign - both the oath before the Storting and the new king's first gala dinner. So the consecration at Nidaros will also be her big return to the public stage, in front of the whole country.