The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingdoms which were united to form Norway; it has been in unions with both Sweden and Denmark for long periods.

The present monarch is King Harald V, who has reigned since 17 January 1991, succeeding his father, Olav V. The heir apparent is his only son, Crown Prince Haakon.

In recent years members of the Socialist Left party have proposed the abolition of the monarchy during each new session of parliament, though without any likelihood of success.

[3] This gives the Norwegian monarchy the unique status of being a popularly elected royal family and receiving regular formal confirmations of support from the Storting.

The date of the first formation of a unified Norwegian kingdom is set as 872 when he defeated the last petty kings who resisted him at the Battle of Hafrsfjord; however, the consolidation of his power took many years.

Over the centuries kings consolidated their power, and eventually a strict succession law made Norway a principally hereditary kingdom.

[4] The Black Death of 1349–51 contributed to the decline of the Norwegian monarchy, as the noble families and the population in general were gravely affected.

[4] The Kalmar Union was not only possible due to the complex history of the royal dynasties of Scandinavia but was also, among other things, a direct reaction to the expansive and aggressive policies of the Hanseatic League.

This weakened the monarchical governing structures of Norway: the Riksråd, for example, was gradually undermined as the Norwegian nobles did not have the King's confidence to the same extent as their Danish counterparts.

However, the hereditary nature of the Norwegian monarchy meant that the King had to maintain the basic principle of Norway being a separate and extant kingdom.

It was initially proposed that the Norwegian dependencies of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroes would remain with Norway, but that point was dropped during the negotiations, so they became Danish.

[6] On hearing news of the treaty, the Prince of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway, Christian Frederick, the resident viceroy in Norway, participated in founding a Norwegian independence movement.

[7] The union with Denmark also had its adverse effects on the monarchy: among other things it resulted in the Crown of Norway losing territory which today amounts to 2 322 755 km2 (although most of this was uninhabited areas of Greenland).

[8] Very little royal activity had been relocated to Norway; the country thus lacks the monumental palaces of the period which can be seen in Copenhagen and other parts of Denmark.

The Convention of Moss was from a Norwegian point of view a significant improvement over the terms dictated to Denmark-Norway at the treaty of Kiel.

Notably, Norway was no longer to be treated as a Swedish conquest but rather as an equal party in a personal union of two independent states.

As the Norwegian movement towards full independence gained momentum, the King approved the building of forts and naval vessels intended to defend Norway against a Swedish invasion.

Norway had grown into one of the world's leading shipping nations, but Sweden retained control of both the diplomatic and consulate corps.

[12] Prince Carl impressed the delegation in many ways, not least because of his sensitivity to the liberal and democratic movements that had led to Norway's independence.

On 12 and 13 November, in the second constitutional plebiscite in three months, Norwegian voters decided by a nearly 79% majority (259,563 to 69,264) to keep the monarchy rather than establish a republic.

In that sense it was a stroke of good fortune that Prince Carl had set as a condition for accepting the throne that he would not be forced to keep a large court.

However, the King adhered to the established practice of parliamentarism and decided to appoint Christopher Hornsrud as the first Labour Prime Minister.

The constitutional powers granted to the King in the Norwegian monarchial system made his position very important and enabled the government in exile to continue its work with the utmost legitimacy.

Contemporary Norwegian constitutional practice has replaced the meaning of the word "king" in most articles from the meaning the King-in-person; apart from those dealing with the monarchy specifically, as opposed to those dealing with the apparatus of government and affairs of state at large; to the cabinet of the Prime Minister (also known as the King-in-Council when chaired by the King), which is accountable to the Storting, and thus ultimately to the electorate.

The King also orders the holding of extraordinary sessions of the council of state in situations that require urgent actions that cannot wait for the next scheduled meeting.

Article 26 states: The King has the right to call up troops, to engage in hostilities in defence of the Realm and to make peace, to conclude and denounce conventions, to send and to receive diplomatic envoys.

[citation needed] The Kings of Norway have traditionally received an extensive military training and to some extent pursued a career within the armed forces before acceding to the throne.

The oath is as follows: "I promise and swear that I will govern the Kingdom of Norway in accordance with its Constitution and Laws; so help me God, the Almighty and Omniscient."

[24] 500 million Norwegian kroner was in the late 1990s allocated to the extensive refurbishments of the royal residences that have been taking place and are still under way.

In 1905 the official design for royal and government arms was again changed, this time reverting to the medieval pattern, with a triangular shield and a more upright lion.