Who Is The Next Queen Of Norway? Meet Princess Ingrid

When Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway was born on January 21, 2004, one thing became immediately clear: The kingdom was set to have its first ruling queen in about 600 years. Indeed, Norway had traditionally determined its line of succession by gender, meaning that first-born sons were the ones to inherit the throne. However, this changed in 1990 when Norway altered its constitution to allow any first-born child to take priority in the line of succession, regardless of their gender. 

Ultimately, this change had huge consequences for Ingrid. The very minute she was born as the eldest biological child of Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon — heir to the Norwegian throne — Ingrid was destined to be second in the line of succession. Never mind that her younger brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, would join the family just one year later. The new rules meant that Ingrid would have to prepare to be the next queen of Norway.

Of course, beyond the historical implications of Ingrid's future, the princess has been given an extraordinary amount of responsibility. According to the Norwegian constitution, the monarch is the head of the military — and a member of the Church of Norway. This means that, unlike many people of her generation, Ingrid will have to study a number of serious issues, starting from a relatively early age. The good news, though, is that the princess seems up for the challenge.

In some ways, Princess Ingrid is a typical royal. Like King Charles III and Prince William, she is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of England. This means that Ingrid is loosely related to several other Protestant European royal families, including the ones hailing from Sweden and Denmark. 

Upper crust pedigree aside, however, Ingrid also has extremely common roots. Indeed, back in 2001, when her parents Prince Haakon and Princess Mette-Marit tied the knot, their marriage was extremely controversial. After all, Haakon was a prince who had studied at elite international institutions, such as the University of California at Berkeley and the London School of Economics. Meanwhile, Mette-Marit was a much more ordinary Norwegian girl — a single mother who worked as a waitress to support her son, Marius Borg Høiby. Critics apparently thought that the class differences between the two lovebirds could lead to disaster. As Norwegian journalist, Rune Saevik, told People at the time: "The establishment felt she was not good enough for the prince — too nontraditional, too middle-class."

More than two decades later, though, Haakon and Mette-Marit's marriage remains strong. And, the couple's unique makeup has provided Ingrid with the opportunity to be raised by two people with very different views on life. As Mette-Marit explained in an interview with NRK, Haakon has been known for showing others how to be proper. Meanwhile, Mette-Marit teaches her family how to be soft.

It still is not clear what exactly will drive Princess Ingrid during her years as Norway's future queen, but these days, the young royal seems motivated by sports. In fact, Ingrid is an athlete with extraordinary ability at both surfing and downhill skiing. As she shared in an interview with NRK TV: "I have many girlfriends who go skiing with me. We have fun together and come up with all sorts of strange things. We have gone on surfing trips and ski collections. We compete occasionally abroad and so on. That community is a lot of fun."

Interestingly, though, these sports are more than just fun and games to the princess. Over the years, Ingrid has also been known to bring home a trophy or two. In the same conversation with NRK TV, the smiling young royal opened up about one of her biggest athletic accomplishments to date. "We were at surf camp, which I received as a graduation present. Me and some girlfriends ... they asked us if we wanted to join the [National Junior Surfing Championship]. We thought it was great fun ... And then I won. It was a little bigger, better than what I might have thought."

While winning this competition was clearly a big deal for Ingrid, the princess remained humble about her achievement. When asked what she likes about surfing, Ingrid simply replied: "The feeling when you lie in the water."

Perhaps because she is such a strong athlete, Princess Ingrid says that she often thinks of freedom. After all, from what she has expressed in interviews, Ingrid believes that this concept is deeply tied to both adventure and nature. As Ingrid told VG magazine in her 18th birthday interview, freedom is something that she experiences while "skiing, deep in the forest, and has shaken off the security guards who follow [her] everywhere" (via UFO No More). This sentiment was also reflected in her NRK TV interview when Ingrid spoke on the peace and solitude that she experiences on her surfboard. "Nice to be alone for a bit," she marveled.

As she gets older, though, Ingrid admits that she will lose certain freedoms, especially when it comes to privacy. That being said, the young princess has also expressed a desire to gain more liberty as she enters her 20s. Speaking with NRK TV, Ingrid revealed: "I'm looking forward to the freedom [of being older]. Maybe be able to travel alone, drive a car, etc." She went on to share: "I will travel a lot, I have plans to ... I want to visit Japan. Skiing in Japan, I think, is cool."

Of course, there is a lot more to growing up than gaining liberties. But, luckily, Ingrid seems to know this. As the princess told NRK TV, getting older also means taking on more responsibilities, like "more expectations on how to behave."

It's no secret that some royals seem to prioritize their own freedom over their royal duties. Prince Albert of Monaco, for example, famously spent decades shirking his responsibility of producing a legitimate heir — and instead dated so many women that the press labeled him "the playboy prince." More recently, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have all but exited the royal family in their attempt to live something more reminiscent of a normal life.

Unlike these royals, however, Princess Ingrid seems to understand the significance of her role — and is ready to take on the responsibilities that come along with it. Speaking to NRK TV, the princess shed a little bit of light on the way that she views her royal obligations. "It is a very nice opportunity. I am grateful for the opportunity we have." Compellingly, Ingrid shared that she could not even imagine her life without the weight of the crown hanging above her. "You wonder ... You can dream away. What would another life have been like? ... But it is hard to imagine not to be in the role I am now."

Perhaps part of the reason that Ingrid is so enthusiastic about her royal future is the sense of pride that she feels toward her country. In her NRK TV interview, the princess expressed this sentiment. "I have a lot of love for Norway. We are the best country, definitely."

As a member of Generation Z, Princess Ingrid is also part of the social media epoch. However, the princess is extremely conscientious about her use of these online platforms, even occasionally opting out of the ones that she finds too addictive. This was especially true when Ingrid realized that she was over-using TikTok. In her interview with NRK TV, the princess recalled: "I was at school ... I looked at my screen time. I had been at school all day and had been on TikTok for an hour already."

This experience motivated Ingrid to take a step back from this particular platform. She deleted the TikTok app and continued to use other forms of social media — ones like Snapchat, which she found to be less addictive. All in all, this gave Ingrid the chance to decrease her screen time and live more in the moment. As she herself explained: "It was time to take a break."

Naturally, though, Ingrid's relationship with social media is much more complicated than it is for most of her non-royal peers. Her Snapchat handle, for example, is a secret. And, she has historically opted out of creating a Facebook or an Instagram account — for fear of exposing her life to the media. When asked by NRK TV how she felt about her personal privacy, Ingrid replied: "It is very important to me." 

One of the most important aspects of royal life is community service. Indeed, most princes and princesses are involved in some kind of philanthropic endeavors. Princess Ingrid's own parents, Prince Haakon and Princess Mette-Marit, have dedicated themselves to running the Crown Prince and Crown Princess' Foundation — an organization that tries to give opportunities and community to young people. While Ingrid still has not chosen which path to take with her own charitable future, she has already shown an interest in learning more about common social issues.

In a conversation with NRK TV, Ingrid explained that she specifically enjoys movies that explore themes of racism, social stratification, and dystopia. Indeed, she revealed that two of her favorite films are "Divergent" and "The Hate U Give." Interestingly, the princess elaborated that the second movie "addresses racism and societal problems" — issues that seemed close to her heart. When the interviewer asked Ingrid if she supported the Black Lives Matter movement, the future queen replied: "I hope everyone is concerned about it."

In addition to taking an interest in social issues, Princess Ingrid has invested a lot of time in academics. Throughout high school, she was known to have an interest in a wide variety of disciplines. As she revealed in her interview with NRK TV: "I enjoy many of my subjects [at school]. It is more fun this year since we have chosen our subjects ourselves. I like social geography, chemistry, and English. I enjoy many of the subjects."

When it comes to writing, however, it seems that Ingrid has a particular interest in people and culture. When asked what she likes to write about, the princess replied: "It is [so] much! The writing about people and demographics ... That part is very exciting." 

She did, however, then proceed to share her interest in other areas, explaining: "And we learned about outer space last year. It was very inspiring. We have learned a lot about sustainable development, about how we can develop further in an economically friendly way."

On top of being an excellent student, Princess Ingrid is known for being extremely creative. Ever since she was young, the future queen has enjoyed writing fictional stories and sharing them with her friends and family. As an elementary schooler, this talent manifested itself in the form of the "Digilutes" — a fictional type of mountain-dwelling rat dreamed up by the princess. In her conversation with NRK TV, Ingrid explained: "The digilutes are a race of rats that live in the mountains, and which I wrote about in 4th grade. I made a little book about different digilutes ... I drew all the digilutes and wrote a bit about each [one]." 

As the princess grew older, she continued to pursue creative endeavors — although she did eventually trade in her digilute stories for other interests. One of the areas that perhaps inevitably caught Ingrid's eye was video-making. With the help of her father, brother, and even her cousin, Ingrid began to record comedic videos that involved her hopping, jumping, and dancing about.

Interestingly, Ingrid will not be the first queen to have dabbled in the arts before beginning her reign. In fact, back in 1943, when she was just 17 years old, Queen Elizabeth II put on a special rendition of "Aladdin" for her family and close friends. Like Ingrid, Elizabeth did not perform for the general public. However, she did seem to have a grand time with this creative work.

For the most part, it's safe to say that European royal families have a reputation for being somewhat separate from the rest of society. After all, princes and princesses largely tend to spend time in ultra-elite circles, oftentimes studying at the most exclusive schools, partying at VIP clubs, and mingling with the wealthiest people. That being said, Princess Ingrid has made a point of avoiding many of those stereotypes. During her high school years, she even showed the world that she could embrace hard work by taking on a job bussing tables at a restaurant in Oslo. 

Speaking with NRK TV, Ingrid admitted that this job changed her. The princess explained: "I got a summer job — and I felt like I got two years older in one week. It was quite strange." While working certainly forced the princess to mature a little bit, she also found that growing up was not all that bad. In the end, she really enjoyed working. "I worked [bussing tables] together with my girlfriend. [We worked] running with food, cleaning water bottles, glass, and things like that," Ingrid explained.

Being queen may sound like something of a dream job, but it's actually a major responsibility. In Norway, the job of a "monarch" entails being the head of the country's military. In practice, this means that Princess Ingrid will one day be an Air Force General, an Army General, and an Admiral of the Navy. Perhaps because of the weight of this responsibility, Ingrid has been more than keen to learn everything she can about the Norwegian armed forces. This was especially evident when leading up to the princess' 18th birthday, she made a point of visiting several military bases. 

Reflecting on this experience in her conversation with NRK TV, Ingrid shared: "It was pretty cool. I learned extremely a lot about the military on my trips. [These were] my first official assignments alone. Both visits were absolutely fantastic." Compellingly, one of the things that Ingrid most enjoyed about the experience was getting to know some of the people who are currently serving under the Norwegian flag. "I met many nice people. Especially when I visited [the base in] Rena, I met the whole girl squad, who were my age," Ingrid explained. "They welcomed me so well and were just absolutely gorgeous."

As Princess Ingrid gets closer and closer to one day becoming queen, the Norwegian royal will have to make increasingly difficult decisions. Luckily, though, Ingrid will not be making any of these big choices alone — at least not if her interview with NRK TV is anything to go by. In a demonstration of courage and honesty, the young royal has admitted that she is not afraid to ask others for advice. Fascinatingly, Ingrid says that she already has a number of confidants, who are royal and common, alike.

"I go to friends a lot [for advice]," Ingrid divulged, before adding, "and to Mom and Dad." On top of that, the princess revealed that she has also been working with other young heirs to create a network of emotional support — something that could be incredibly powerful once they all take the crown. "There are a lot of peers [who are] heirs to the throne in Europe now. I hope we can use each other [for advice]," Ingrid admitted. When asked which peers she spoke to the most, the princess replied that she had "quite a lot [of contact] with Sweden and Denmark."