In Norway, legislators propose amending constitution to allow two royal regents

It continues to be a difficult year for the usually popular royal family. King Harald V, age 87, has been seriously ill but refuses to abdicate, viewing his post as a life-long obligation. His son, Crown Prince Haakon, has been taking over more and more of his father’s royal duties but has no back-up himself. Haakon’s daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, is now 20 and of legal age to take over as regent and thus take on more royal responsibilities. Norway’s constitution, however, only allows one heir to the throne to be regent. If both the king and the crown prince fall ill or are otherwise indisposed, a plenum within the government would take over. That may be about to change. For the first time since 1905, Norway has two heirs to the throne who are both of legal age. Members of Parliament from six different political parties are proposing to change the constitution to also include the second heir to the throne (Ingrid Alexandra) as regent. [ . . . ] The anti-royalty Reds Party, meanwhile, wants to abolish the monarchy altogether and has proposed such in its party program for the upcoming parliamentary period that begins this week. NRK reported that the Reds thinks a referendum should be held, after recent polls have shown a sharp drop in public support for the monarchy after a series of scandals over the past few months.
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