Abdication this year?

[Flamingo]

I can't see Harald abdicating, but I do believe that Haakon might become King before the rest of his peers.

HM Mette-Marit is going to be awesome.

I don't know...I wouldn't be shocked if Haakon were first on the throne out of the younger generation, but I'd be even less shocked if it were Fred or Felipe.  Margrethe and Juan Carlos both look old for their age.

[fairy]

I can't see Harald abdicating, but I do believe that Haakon might become King before the rest of his peers.

HM Mette-Marit is going to be awesome.

Agreed. Plus, Meary having to curtsey to the only foreign royal she feels superior to  will just be gravy 

Fifteen minutes after that finally sunk in, we will probably find Daisy blue faced with bulged eyes on the floor of her stateroom. Of course they will "determine" that HM had a stroke (too many cigarettes and red wine) but we  will know better...esp when Fred continues to whimper whenever the manhands come into his very near....

[smf3000]

I can't see Harald abdicating, but I do believe that Haakon might become King before the rest of his peers.

HM Mette-Marit is going to be awesome.

Agreed. Plus, Meary having to curtsey to the only foreign royal she feels superior to  will just be gravy 

Fifteen minutes after that finally sunk in, we will probably find Daisy blue faced with bulged eyes on the floor of her stateroom. Of course they will "determine" that HM had a stroke (too many cigarettes and red wine) but we  will know better...esp when Fred continues to whimper whenever the manhands come into his very near....

  Fairy 

Queen Mary Manhands?

[fairy]

Well Bloody Mary was already taken....

[fairy]

Now back to the Norwegians.. Sorry for the hijack...

I wonder if they would really go for the abdication. Can't they do a work load shift without the name shift? Give Haakon much more of the Kings job (say 70%) with Sonja and MM sharing the gigs and the cp work load. That way Harald would get more rest, ease out but would still fulfill his lifetime job....

[Chrissie]

Now back to the Norwegians.. Sorry for the hijack...

I wonder if they would really go for the abdication. Can't they do a work load shift without the name shift? Give Haakon much more of the Kings job (say 70%) with Sonja and MM sharing the gigs and the cp work load. That way Harald would get more rest, ease out but would still fulfill his lifetime job....

Liechtenstein did something along those lines. Hans Adam handed over the day-to-day business to Alois and made him official regent, but kept the title of Prince for himself. That really would be a favour for a number of crown princes out there. Let the heir gradually take over but keep the crown at least in name, and avoid that whole "I will die on this throne, no matter what" scenario.

The question is if Haakon wants it. The kids are still fairly small, so I doubt he minds having another few years of more than a token chance at family life. But once Sverre Magnus is in high school and they've safely gotten Marius through his teenage years, who knows?

[fairy]

But that would provide him with a safety net of "Father can pull some weight".
Sorry but how many people can lay their feet up and watch their kids grow while they know that the highest office is waiting for them?
Most people work their hardest and longest hours while their children are still small. You know they hardly ever offer you the job of the general after you insisted on 9-5, max. 35 hours per week, no overtime and two months vacation around xmas and again the summer....

[Chrissie]

But that would provide him with a safety net of "Father can pull some weight".
Sorry but how many people can lay their feet up and watch their kids grow while they know that the highest office is waiting for them?
Most people work their hardest and longest hours while their children are still small. You know they hardly ever offer you the job of the general after you insisted on 9-5, max. 35 hours per week, no overtime and two months vacation around xmas and again the summer....

Oh, I agree with that, but most people who work jobs in upper management choose to do them, and know the consequences, or they delay children until later. I don't think Haakon could have said "no, just let Märtha Louise be queen, I don't think I really want to" or "we'll not have any kids for a while, until I'm settled". It's the crux with the heir generation, they need to get the kids over and dealt with as soon as possible because the longer they wait, the higher are the chances that the next crown prince or princess gets hit with it all while still underage.

If Harald shared power, it would be bit like those family-run companies, wouldn't it? The senior boss still is the official head and everybody comes to him with problems and agrees that he's the one holding it all together, but junior runs the business.

[joys54]

I can't see Harald abdicating, but I do believe that Haakon might become King before the rest of his peers.

HM Mette-Marit is going to be awesome.

Agreed. Plus, Meary having to curtsey to the only foreign royal she feels superior to  will just be gravy 

Fifteen minutes after that finally sunk in, we will probably find Daisy blue faced with bulged eyes on the floor of her stateroom. Of course they will "determine" that HM had a stroke (too many cigarettes and red wine) but we  will know better...esp when Fred continues to whimper whenever the manhands come into his very near....

Too frickin' funny fairy!!   I could just imagine it right now

[Nattie Lite]

I can't see Harald abdicating, but I do believe that Haakon might become King before the rest of his peers.

HM Mette-Marit is going to be awesome.

I don't know...I wouldn't be shocked if Haakon were first on the throne out of the younger generation, but I'd be even less shocked if it were Fred or Felipe.  Margrethe and Juan Carlos both look old for their age.

Since Harald has been pretty healthy for the last few years, I'd agree.  (But I do think Juan Carlos has been looking a lot healthier since recovering from his surgery.)  Margrethe looks pretty sturdy, but so did my grandmother -- a lifelong smoker -- on the day she found out she had lung cancer.  She only lived another year after that.

If I had to guess, though, I'd put my money on Willem-Alexander becoming the first in the CP/ss generation to take the throne.  Even though the Bee still looks of sound mind and body to me, the Dutch are the only ones with a history of abdication, and some people suggest she's already laying the groundwork for it.

In any event, I think this entire CP/ss generation (except maybe Victoria) will take the throne before Charles does.  Poor guy.

[Holly Golightly]

I can't see Harald abdicating, but I do believe that Haakon might become King before the rest of his peers.

HM Mette-Marit is going to be awesome.

Agreed. Plus, Meary having to curtsey to the only foreign royal she feels superior to  will just be gravy 

Fifteen minutes after that finally sunk in, we will probably find Daisy blue faced with bulged eyes on the floor of her stateroom. Of course they will "determine" that HM had a stroke (too many cigarettes and red wine) but we  will know better...esp when Fred continues to whimper whenever the manhands come into his very near....

Cripes, Fairy! 

That image of how Lady MareBeth and Richard Frederick the Turd Third finally ascend the throne of Hamlet's Denmark just gave me the creeps, and sounds like all of Shakespeare's great tragedies rolled into one!! 

[fairy]

Yeah the modern version you know? Buy one get two more into the bargain...