Norway’s King Haakon VIII took an oath before parliament on Tuesday, the first major institutional step of his reign, though his wife, still convalescing after a lung transplant, was unable to attend.
Dressed in a ceremonial uniform, the 53-year-old Haakon, who became king when his father King Harald V died on Friday morning aged 89, swore to abide by the Scandinavian country’s constitution, under which the royals have a primarily symbolic function.
“I promise and swear that I will govern the...