Your Majesty,

It is more than 35 years since Your Majesty came here to meet the Storting for the first time.

Your Majesty reached the age of majority in 1991, the same year as His Majesty King Olav V passed away. With that, King Olav’s seat in this Chamber was handed on – not just to a new King, but to a new Crown Prince as well.

Today, history repeats itself.

King Harald’s place in this Chamber will be taken by a new King. And by a new Crown Princess.

Such is the way of succession in our monarchy.

The Storting wishes to welcome His Majesty King Haakon VIII and Her Majesty Queen Mette-Marit as they take on their new and solemn duties.

It is a weighty yet distinguished legacy Your Majesties now inherit.

The true legacy resides in the fellowship between Your Majesties and the people. This fellowship is reaffirmed today.

Your Majesties come to the Storting to swear the Oath of Allegiance to the Constitution, which the Royal Family has been such a staunch defender of since 1905.

In Your first address to the Norwegian people as King, Your Majesty underscored the importance of democracy and the rule of law.

The Oath that is taken today is a commitment to this. It binds generations, King and people together.
Your Majesty now inherits the legacy of three generations of monarchs who have gone before You.

This legacy must be protected.

Yet the monarchy must evolve in step with the democracy it is there to protect.

Only then can it endure.

Your Majesties have now inherited the Kingdom of Norway.

With this responsibility come great expectations.

Expectations of King Haakon VIII as head of state, as monarch, and as a fellow human being.

We are in no doubt: The King is exceptionally well-equipped to meet these expectations.

Both personally and as a human being.

The choices Your Majesty has made as Crown Prince bear testament to a monarch who is prepared to shape and fill the role in keeping with the times.

Together with Queen Mette-Marit, and always close to the people.

From this day onwards, the Storting and the Norwegian people will look to Your Majesties as our natural symbol of unity.

In good times, but also in times of adversity.

When the Norwegian people elected King Haakon VII as king in 1905, he chose “We give our all for Norway” as his motto.

Today, a new King Haakon stands here in this Chamber with us, but the motto remains the same.

We live in a more turbulent world than for a long time.

Democratic values are under attack.

We are confident that today we meet a regent who stands for continuity, but who also understands the society we live in. A King who clearly expresses the wish to preserve the Norwegian spirit of fellowship and to do his utmost for Norway.

Your Majesties,

The representatives of the people gather around their new King with the time-honoured wish:

God protect the King and the fatherland!