by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

King Harald V of Norway was born on February 21, 1937, at Skaugum, the residence of the Crown Prince, in Asker, Norway. His parents were Crown Prince Olav of Norway (later King Olav V) and Princess Märtha of Sweden.  At the time of Harald’s birth, his grandfather, King Haakon VII (born Prince Carl of Denmark, son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark) was the monarch and his grandmother, Queen Maud (born Princess Maud of Wales, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) was his consort. King Harald is closely related to several European monarchs: King Philippe of Belgium and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg are his first cousins once removed, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is his second cousin, and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and King Charles III of the United Kingdom are his second cousin once removed.

• Unofficial Royalty: Ancestors of King Harald V of Norway
• Unofficial Royalty: First Cousins of King Harald V of Norway

Harald was christened in the Royal Chapel of the Royal Palace in Oslo on March 31, 1937, by Bishop Johan Lunde. His godparents were:

• King Haakon VII of Norway (his paternal grandfather)
• Queen Maud of Norway (his paternal grandmother)
• Prince Carl of Sweden (his maternal grandfather)
• Princess Ingeborg of Sweden (his maternal grandmother)
• King Leopold III of Belgium (his maternal uncle by marriage)
• Queen Mary of the United Kingdom (his paternal great-aunt by marriage)
• King George VI of the United Kingdom (his paternal first cousin once removed)
• Crown Princess Ingrid of Denmark (later Queen Ingrid of Denmark, his maternal second cousin)

King Harald has two older sisters:

• Princess Ragnhild (1930 – 2012), married Erling Lorentzen, had three children
• Princess Astrid (1932), married Johan Ferner, had five children

In 1940, when Harald was just three years old, Germany invaded Norway.  To avoid being taken into custody by the Germans, the Norwegian Royal Family along with many members of the Government and the Storting (legislature) left Norway. Crown Princess Märtha and her three children, Princess Ragnhild, Princess Astrid, and Prince Harald, fled to Sweden, Märtha’s native country. King Haakon VII (Queen Maud had died in 1938) and Crown Prince Olav fled to London where they stayed with the Norwegian government in exile for the duration of World War II.

After staying in Sweden for several months, Crown Princess Märtha and her three children traveled to the United States by ship. President Franklin Roosevelt offered refuge to Crown Princess Märtha and her children. They stayed briefly at Roosevelt’s Hyde Park estate in New York State and then at the White House. Eventually, they settled into Pook’s Hill, a Tudor-style mansion in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC. Crown Princess Märtha worked quietly behind the scenes to support the war effort.

The family members were special favorites of President Roosevelt and when he took his fourth and final oath of office at the White House, an 8-year-old Prince Harald was standing behind him. The work Crown Princess Märtha did in the United States had a lasting impact on U.S.-Norwegian relations. Her advocacy on her country’s behalf during World War II influenced President Roosevelt’s famous “Look to Norway” speech. In September 2005, the United States erected a statue of Crown Princess Märtha on the grounds of the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C. as a symbol of the enduring friendship between the two nations. The statue was unveiled by her three children.

Harald returned to Norway in June 1945 with his mother and his sisters. That autumn, he began to attend Smestad School in Oslo. In 1955, Harald graduated from the Oslo Cathedral School.  He then entered the Norwegian Cavalry Officers’ Training School and went on to finish his military education at the Norwegian Military Academy in 1959. After Harald finished his compulsory military service, he studied social science, history, and economics at Balliol College, Oxford University in Oxford, England from 1960 – 1962.

Harald’s mother Crown Princess Märtha died of cancer in 1954 at the age of 53. On September 21, 1957, when Harald’s grandfather King Haakon VII died, Harald’s father became King Olav V, and Harald became Crown Prince. Thereafter, Harald attended the Council of State and acted as Regent in the King’s absence. He worked closely alongside his father and carried out an increasing number of official tasks, such as traveling with trade delegations to promote the Norwegian industry abroad.

When he was Crown Prince of Norway, Harald’s father King Olav V had won an Olympic Gold Medal for Sailing Mixed 6 Meters in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Although he did not win a medal, Harald followed in his father’s footsteps and represented Norway in Sailing events in three Summer Olympics: 1964/Tokyo, 1968/Mexico City, 1972/Munich.

In June of 1959, Crown Prince Harald attended a party hosted by a friend, Johan Stenersen. It was at this party that he met another friend of Johan Stenersen, Sonja Haraldsen. In August of 1959, when the Crown Prince graduated from the Norwegian Military Academy, he invited Sonja to attend the graduation ball, and the couple was photographed together.

The relationship between the Crown Prince and Sonja was controversial as many people including politicians and journalists, felt the Crown Prince should marry a princess and not a Norwegian commoner. The controversy continued for years as did the relationship despite the media’s attempts to promote a royal marriage with either of the Greek princesses Sophia and Irene. Apparently, Crown Prince Harald made it clear to his father, King Olav V, that he would remain unmarried if he could not marry Sonja. This would have resulted in a succession crisis as Harald was the sole heir to the throne. At that time, Norway did not allow female succession, so his two sisters Ragnhild and Astrid were not in the line of succession.

Finally, in 1968, when King Olav felt the position of the Norwegian people had changed to favor Sonja, he consulted with parliamentary leaders and other government leaders and gave his consent for the Crown Prince to marry a commoner. The engagement of the couple was announced on March 19, 1968, with this announcement from King Olav V: “It is with pleasure that I inform you, Mr. President and Members of the Storting, that I, after seeking advice from the Prime Minister, members of the Government, you, Mr. President, and the parliamentary leaders of the political parties, have today given my consent to my dear son, Crown Prince Harald, to take as his wife Miss Sonja Haraldsen, daughter of the late Mr. Karl August Haraldsen and Mrs. Dagny Haraldsen née Ulrichsen.”

The wedding was held on August 29, 1968, at the Oslo Cathedral in the presence of 850 guests. Because the bride’s father was deceased and to show his support for his soon-to-be daughter-in-law, King Olav escorted the bride down the aisle.

• Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of King Harald V of Norway and Sonja Haraldsen

The couple had two children:

• Princess Märtha Louise, born on 22 September 1971, married Ari Behn, divorced 2017, had three daughters
• Crown Prince Haakon, born on 20 July 1973, married Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, had one daughter and one son

 

On January 17, 1991, King Olav V died and the Crown Prince became King Harald V. Crown Princess Sonja became the first Queen Consort of Norway in 53 years, since the death of Queen Maud, wife of King Haakon VII, in 1938. Along with King Harald, Queen Sonja was consecrated in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway on June 23, 1991.

In recent years, King Harald has been unable to perform his duties as sovereign due to ill health on several occasions: from December 2003 to mid-April 2004 due to urinary bladder cancer, from April to early June 2005 due to aortic stenosis, and in 2020 due to cardiac surgery to replace of a heart valve. In January 2021, King Harald underwent surgery for torn knee tendons and remained on sick leave through mid-April 2021. Crown Prince Haakon served as the country’s regent on these occasions, including giving the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament in 2020.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of Norway Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Kingdom of Norway Index
• Norwegian Monarchs
• Norwegian Orders and Honours
• Norwegian Royal Burial Sites
• Norwegian Royal Christenings
• Norwegian Royal Dates
• Norwegian Royal FAQs
• Norwegian Royal Residences
• Norwegian Royal Trivia
• Norwegian Royal Weddings
• Line of Succession to the Throne of Norway
• Profiles of the Norwegian Royal Family