Following the death of her grandfather, King Harald, at 89, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra is now first-in-line to the Norwegian throne.
The 22-year-old princess has only recently stepped into the spotlight, so let’s refamiliarize ourselves with Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s life so far.
Born on 21 January 2004 to then-Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra is the first princess born into the line of succession. Norway formally adopted absolute primogeniture in 1990, and it was not retroactively applied to her aunt, Princess Märtha Louise, who would have leapfrogged now-King Haakon, her younger brother.
Should Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra ascend to the throne, she will be Norway’s first modern queen regnant; the first since Margaret I, who reigned from 1388 to 1412.
Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s godparents include her late grandfather, Harald V, King Frederik of Denmark, King Felipe of Spain, Crown Princess Victoria, Princess Märtha Louise, and her maternal grandmother, Marit Tjessem. She was christened shortly after her birth, and confirmed in 2019.
At her confirmation, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra said of her family: “You gave me a safe and secure childhood filled with love, caring and happy experiences. I realise that I am very fortunate.”
Her leisure interests, according to the Norwegian Royal Court, include skiing and surfing. To celebrate her 18th birthday, the Court published a video of her skiing with the family, showcasing her adeptness at the sport and laughing with her parents.
Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra carried out rare engagements with her family throughout her childhood. Her most consistent appearance was at National Day celebrations on the palace balcony with the wider family. She undertook her first official royal engagement in 2015, christening the Norwegian Rescue Company’s lifeboat, Elias.
Her first high-profile appearance came in June 2010, when she acted as a bridesmaid at her godmother Crown Princess Victoria’s wedding to Daniel Westling. She was also given a worldwide spotlight when the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge paid an official visit to Norway and she gave them a tour of the Princess Ingrid Alexandra Sculpture Park.
Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra got a pop culture shoutout from The Simpsons in 2010, when the girls in Lisa’s class did their ‘inspirational women’ assignments on various princesses, leading to their teacher announcing: “Ok, so far for Inspirational Women Day, we’ve had one Princess Anne, 15 Dianas, two Princess Ingrid Alexandras of Norway, and one Princess Leia.”
In 2016, she followed in her father’s footsteps in lighting an Olympic cauldron in Lillehammer. In Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s case, this was the Winter Youth Olympics whereas her father lit the 1994 Winter Olympics cauldron.
Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra was educated at the Jansløkka School, a state school, before transferring to the Oslo International School to become more fluent in English. Following a stint at Uranienborg School, she graduated in 2023 from Elvebakken Upper Secondary School.
On her 18th birthday, she received a suite of rooms at the Royal Palace of Oslo to conduct her official business; though the Royal Court also stressed that education and military training would be a core focus for Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra in the coming years.
She gave her first official interview to NRK, the Norwegian state broadcaster, to coincide with her birthday. She said about her future: “I am very grateful for the opportunity I have, and I think I can do a lot with it. Of course, you can daydream and wonder what a completely different life would have been like. I do too. But that is not the life I live, so it is hard to imagine not being in the role I am in.”
At her official 18th birthday dinner—celebrated in June 2022 instead of January due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic—her parents gave speeches. Crown Prince Haakon said: “Ingrid, you have a self-assurance that will be an asset for you throughout your life.”
Crown Princess Mette-Marit said: “Norway is the sum of all the knowledge, thoughts, actions, and, perhaps most importantly, of the values of all the people who live here. One of your most important tasks will be to stand together with all Norwegian women and men through their good days and bad days alike. To see them, to understand who we are as a whole, and to ensure that everyone feels they have a place here.
“That is what King Haakon did for his people, what Pappa’s grandfather King Olav did, and what your wonderful grandfather our King has done for his people. You follow a path that many wise people have walked before you.
“You have to find your own way along that path, Ingrid. And no one who knows you has doubted for a moment that you have what it takes to do what you have been called to do.”
Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra took a brief job working at her former secondary school after graduating before she began an 15-month military posting with the Combat Engineer Battalion in Brigade Nord in January 2024. She progressed from Recruit Alexandra to Private Alexandra by the time she left the service in April 2025.
She said about her military service, which saw her operate as a gunner on a CV90 Sting vehicle: “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.”
After completing her military service, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra participated in her first state visit, when Icelandic President Halla Tómasdóttir travelled to Norway in April. In June, she again participated in the French State Visit to Norway.
Over the summer of 2025, the Norwegian Royal Court announced that the Crown Princess would attend the University of Oslo, studying international relations and political economy.
In an interview with NRK, the future queen said: “It is important to have a basic understanding of the political system, of international relations, and how things work. And you learn an incredible amount from just being in conversations, having good discussions where you even disagree. I think that will be very important for me in the future as well.”
The three-year programme was meant to see Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra abroad to help prepare her for her future role. After a year, however, she would make the difficult decision to return to Norway due to the deteriorating health of her mother.
Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra returned to Norway as Mette-Marit’s chronic pulmonary fibrosis reached a point that a lung transplant became her only option. Her second year of study began at the University of Oslo, where she is currently an exchange student, to be closer to her mother as she recovers from a lung transplant.
On 28 August, she became Norway’s first Crown Princess after the death of her grandfather. The first public images of the future queen were of a sombre Haakon VIII and Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra attending an extraordinary meeting of the Council of State to announce King Harald’s death and usher in a new reign and a period of mourning for a beloved monarch.
