Haakon of Norway has turned 53, and while Norway is still celebrating the national team's success, the heir to the throne marks his birthday the way he has grown used to: quietly, without drama, with a face that gives away nothing of what is happening behind him. And behind him, plenty has happened.

The past two years have been the toughest for the Norwegian court in recent memory. Marius Borg Høiby, Haakon's stepson, was convicted at first instance to four years in prison for sexual offences. The correspondence between the crown prince's wife, Mette-Marit, and Jeffrey Epstein came to light. The health of King Harald and Queen Sonja worsened. For an institution that lives off the image of stability, this was a storm few would come out of intact.

Haakon chose an approach rarely seen among the powerful: he did not hide. He kept his regular schedule, appeared before the cameras, communicated even if tersely - but communicated. He didn't run, he didn't go silent behind the palace walls. In a world where every politician calls in the lawyers and vanishes at the first scandal, this looks almost old-fashioned.

The case with Marius is what remains open. A stepson who grew up in a royal residence, yet legally remains an anonymous citizen with no dynastic rights - he lived the privileges without the obligations. The defence, whose sources of funding are unclear, has filed an appeal. A second verdict is not expected before 2027. He spent his first weeks of detention at the royal Skaugum estate, which shows that even in prison there are prisons of a different class.

The question hanging over all of this is not whether Haakon will survive the scandals - he has already shown that. The question is whether Mette-Marit can sit on the throne with a son behind bars. Haakon answered without hesitation: the future monarchy includes her or it will not happen at all. The same ultimatum his father Harald set for Sonja, a divorced woman of common origin, half a century ago. Another wager on love, in the family style.

The heiress Ingrid Alexandra is returning to Oslo, and a constitutional change is being prepared so she can take on the role of regent by the end of the year. The plan for the transition is set. Haakon has closed nearly every crisis except the one that will follow him to the throne. For a man who will never reach the legendary status of his grandfather Olav V, the leader of the wartime resistance, this is a rather decent result - to keep the institution whole while everything around it cracks.