Norway's new King Haakon VIII takes oath in parliament

New King Haakon VIII swore an oath of allegiance to Norway 's consititution in the parliament in Oslo on Tuesday, following him succeeding his father Harald V, who died last week .

This follows a day after Harald's coffin was taken to the chapel of the royal palace, where it will remain for the public to pay their last respects until a funeral on September 9.

Haakon was driven the short distance from the royal palace to the Storting, or parliament in Oslo.

House speaker Masud Gharahkhani read the official announcement of Harald's death and Haakon's succession before the new constitutional monarch took the oath.

"I promise and swear that I will govern the Kingdom of Norway in according with its constitution and laws, so help me god, the almighty and omniscient," the 53-year-old said.

Ahead of he ceremony, the palace said that Haakon's wife Queen Mette-Marit would not be attending.

She had made her first public appearance since assuming the title on Monday in the coffin procession but is recovering after a lung transplant in June.

In a statement, the palace quoted Are Holm, a pulmonologist at Oslo's University Hospital, as saying that complications following a transplant are not uncommon and that Mette-Marit had experienced them on several occasions, including Tuesday.