King Harald V of Norway: the story of the current Norwegian monarch
From the dramatic events of his childhood to his love of sailing, here is an introduction to Harald V, the current King of Norway.
You may have heard of King Harald V of Norway, reserved but sometimes outspoken. Over the years he has contributed to the modernization of the Norwegian monarchy, increasing media access to the Norwegian royal family.
Indeed, the King of Norway sometimes gives interviews to the press, which is unheard of for other members of the royal family such as the Queen of England for example.
Like the rest of his family, King Harald is related to the British Royal Family. This is the story of King Harald V, a beloved Norwegian king.
Harald’s early years
Harald V was born on March 31st, 1937, in the Skaugum Estate, a Norwegian royal residence in Asker, southwest of Oslo. The king at the time was his grandfather, Haakon VII, the country’s very first king after gaining independence from Sweden in 1905.
The king’s childhood was marked by war. The German invasion at the start of World War II in April 1940 forced the royal family to flee Oslo. While the King and Crown Prince remained in Norway, little Harald traveled to Sweden with his mother, Crown Princess Märtha, and her two older sisters.
The political situation in Sweden was not ideal, however, as the country was neutral and unwilling to do anything to provoke the Germans. When the King and Crown Prince left Norway for England in June, they began planning the evacuation of the rest of the family to the United States.
This evacuation took place in August. Harald would spend the next few years of his childhood in Washington, DC To this day, his accent when speaking English is colored by his early years in the United States. He also remembers supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt when he was sworn in for his fourth term in 1945.
Read more: The chronology of Norway
The Allied victory in Europe allowed the royal family to return to Norway and resume their duties in 1945. For the young Harald, this meant going to a Norwegian school for the first time, after having started his studies at an American school. .
Young adult
In 1954, when he was only 17, Harald lost his mother to cancer. He would later name his own daughter Märtha to honor his memory.
On the death of his grandfather in 1957, he became crown prince. He was 20 years old. After studying at the University of Oslo, at the Cavalry Officers’ Candidate School and at the Norwegian Military Academy, he entered Balliol College in Oxford in 1960. There he studied history, economics and politics.
A love of sailing
Harald is an accomplished sailor and has represented his country in sailing events at three Olympic Games (Tokyo 1964, Mexico 1968 and Munich 1972). Most recently, at 79, he competed in the Sira Cup on Lake Ontario in Toronto in 2016, where his team finished in second place.
A controversial marriage
It’s easy to forget how quite controversial Harald’s relationship with today’s Queen Sonja was initially. The couple courted each other for nine years before finally getting married on August 29, 1968 in Oslo Cathedral.
The reason for the controversy was the fact that Sonja was a commoner. For King Olav, that meant she was off-limits. Members of the royal family are (or were at the time) supposed to marry other members of the royal family, or at least someone of the nobility.
But Harald was in love and reportedly told his father that if he was not allowed to marry Sonja, he would never marry at all.
This would of course have meant the end of the royal line, since Harald was the sole heir to the throne (the rules of succession at the time meant his sisters were not eligible).
Olav eventually gave in and the couple were allowed to marry. Seeing how the couple have stayed together over the decades and still care very much for each other to this day, it’s hard to imagine the story taking another turn.
Accession to the throne
Harald’s father, Olav V, died on January 17e, 1991. Harald automatically became the new king, Harald V, the first Norwegian monarch born in Norway since Olav IV, who died in 1387.
Harald decided to continue the tradition of the “royal blessing†started by his father. This means that instead of a full-fledged coronation, a simpler “blessing†ceremony is held to mark the new monarch’s accession to the throne. The ceremony took place at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on June 23e, 1991.
Republican sentiment in Norway
Discussions about the wisdom of having an unelected king as head of state have been ongoing in Norway since the country gained independence from Sweden in 1905.
These opponents of the monarchy are commonly referred to as Republicans because they would like Norway to become a republic with an elected president.
This is the official position of some political parties (notably Venstre, Sosialistisk Venstreparti and Rødt). It is not uncommon for other politicians from parties that do not have an official Republican position to voice their opposition to the monarchy as individuals.
That being said, the monarchy is still very popular among the people. A survey carried out in 2017 showed that 80% of those questioned were in favor.
The main argument against the monarchy is quite straightforward and easy to understand. Political power should not be inherited based on the family you were born into. Opponents also point out that having a monarchy is expensive.
The monarchy argument in Norway
Norway, like the United Kingdom, is a constitutional monarchy. This means that even though the monarch holds executive power on paper, he cannot constitutionally exercise that power. The role of the sovereign is largely symbolic.
Why then have a king? It turns out that having an unelected (and therefore apolitical) leader can sometimes be very handy. Here are two examples.
German invasion
When it became clear that Norway could not resist the Nazi assault, the king fled to Britain. The Nazi regime had asked him to appoint their puppet, Quisling, as prime minister. The king would thus have conferred legitimacy on the German occupiers.
Not only did the king refuse, but he was also invested with all the powers by the Norwegian parliament. He would exercise these powers in exile, ensuring the continuity of a legitimate and constitutional Norwegian government despite the occupation.
This is of course symbolic. In practice, the Nazis always appointed Chief Quisling and mostly did whatever they wanted in the country. But if symbolism didn’t matter, they wouldn’t have bothered to ask the king to name Quisling for them. And if symbolism didn’t matter, the king’s refusal wouldn’t have mattered either.
It is easy to see that investing a politician of all powers would have been more difficult and probably would have required longer negotiations when the time was simply not available.
The king, as a neutral and apolitical figure, was the perfect person to embody the Norwegian government in exile during the occupation, and it was easy for all politicians to side with that.
The terrorist attacks of 2011
The mourning that followed the attacks of July 22sd, 2011 provided another demonstration of the usefulness of having an apolitical monarch.
The perpetrator of the carnage that led to the deaths of 77 innocent people was politically motivated. In fact, he had officially been a member of one political party and shot dead many members of another on the day of the attack.
Following the attacks, the country had to mourn. Politics was the last thing we thought about.
When the king spoke to the people on television, he spoke to everyone, regardless of their affiliation. As it is apolitical, no one has tried to find an agenda hidden between the lines, as one might have done with a speaker from a political party.
The country was rocked by the horror and absurdity of the attacks, and the weeping king provided a figure to rally behind.
King Harald’s political views
As mentioned earlier, the king does not exercise any real political power. Traditionally, the sovereign does not express any political opinion.
That didn’t stop him from wowing his audience during a speech in 2016, expressing his support for refugees, religious tolerance and LGBT rights.
The king did this by providing his own description of who the Norwegians were. He described Norwegians as “girls who love girls, boys who love boys and girls and boys who love each otherâ€.
He also expressed support for religious tolerance, saying Norwegians believe “in God, in Allah, in the universe – and in nothing”. The speech went viral on social media shortly after it was delivered.
Tell us what you think
Do you have any memories of King Harald V’s visits to your country? Did you know before reading this article that he was essentially a refugee in the United States during WWII? What do you think of the constitutional monarchy as a system? Tell us in the comments!