King Harald ascended the throne on the death of his father, King Olav V, on
17 January 1991. Like his father and his grandfather, King Haakon VII, he
adopted the motto "All for Norway".
First Norwegian prince in 567 years
The birth of a prince is always an historic event. However, it was a
particularly special occasion for the Norwegian people when an heir to the
throne came into the world on 21 February 1937. The prince was born at Skaugum,
the estate that is still the home of the Royal Family. This was the first time
in 567 years that a prince had been born in Norway, and the birth ensured the
line of succession of the relatively newly establish-ed Norwegian Royal Family.
King Haakon VII became King of Norway after the dis-solution of the union with
Sweden in 1905. According to the Constitution of 1814, he could only be
succeeded by male heirs (this provision has subsequently been amended).
With the prince's birth, the country was guaranteed a king, at least for the
next two generations, and this meant a great deal to most Norwegians.
The family
King Harald is the son of King Olav V (1903-1991) and Crown Princess Märtha
(1901-1954). King Olav was son of King Haakon VII (1872-1957) and Queen Maud
(1869-1938). King Haakon was Prince Carl of Denmark before he was elected King
of Norway in 1905. Queen Maud was the daughter of the Prince of Wales, later to
become King Edward VII, and Queen Alexandra of Britain. King Harald's mother was the daughter of the Swedish Prince Carl (1861-1951) and Princess Ingeborg
(1878-1958).
Raised to be a king
Prince Harald was raised to carry out the duties to which he was born. On the
one hand he was prepared for a life as custodian of royal traditions. On the
other, he grew up with strong personal ties to the people and to his own time,
in keeping with the tradi-tions of modern constitutional monarchies.
Marriage to a commoner
King Olav's announcement in 1968 that Crown Prince Harald wished to marry a
commoner triggered a heated political debate on the future of the monarchy. The
Crown Prince had known his bride-to-be for nine years before it was decided that
they were to marry. King Olav himself made the decision after having consulted
the Govern-ment, the President of the Storting and the leaders of the various
parliamentary groups in the Storting.
A warm reception
The response was favourable. The vast majority of the population accepted Sonja
Haraldsen immediately with great enthu-siasm, which indicates the status enjoyed
by the Royal Family and by Sonja Haraldsen as an individual. She became
inseparably linked with the national unity symbolized by the Norwegian Royal
Family.
Two children
The marriage took place in August 1968. The couple's first child, Märtha
Louise, was born on 22 September 1971, and the second, Prince Haakon, on 20 July
1973.
An all-round education
Queen Sonja was born on 4 July 1937, and grew up in Oslo. After completing lower
secondary school, she took a diploma in dressmaking and tailoring at the Oslo
Vocational School and a diploma in dress-making at the Ecole Professionelle des
Jeunes Filles in Lausanne, Switzerland. She subsequently completed her upper
secondary education and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, French
and art history from the University of Oslo. The Queen has been particularly
involved in humanitarian work, and she served as Vice President of the Norwegian
Red Cross for a number of years. She is also known to have a keen interest in
art and culture.
A strong monarchy
The deep commitment shown by King Olav and the then Crown Prince and Crown
Princess is one of the reasons the monarchy has such a strong position in Norway
today. Another reason is the significance of the Royal Family as a symbol of
social stability and political continuity in politically turbu-lent times. And
above all, the Royal Family is a symbol of unity, which proved extremely
important during the Second World War.
The German invasion
The first three years of Prince Harald's life at Skaugum were peaceful ones. But
this peace was destroyed in the early hours of 9 April 1940, when Hitler's
troops invaded Norway. The Royal Family was one of their primary targets. Forced
to flee in great haste, King Haakon, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and the
Government left the capital by train only hours before the occupation forces
arrived. The King and the Government held out against the Germans until Norway
capitulated in June. They then fled to London, where they set up a
government-in-exile.
To the USA via Sweden
The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess parted company at Hamar. Crown Princess
Märtha and the children crossed the border into Sweden under cover of
darkness on 10 April. Several months later they went to the USA. The Crown
Princess, Prince Harald and his two elder sisters, Ragnhild and Astrid, lived
just outside Washington D.C. until the liberation in 1945.
Liberation and homecoming
On 13 May 1945, Crown Prince Olav re-turned to Norway, where he was joined by
the rest of his family and King Haakon on 7 June. They were greeted by
jubilant crowds.
Primary school
After the liberation Prince Harald attended Smestad Primary School, a Norwegian
state school. Apart from the police guard in the corridor, his schooling was no
different from that of other children.
First regatta
The prince took part in a wide variety of sports. As a ten-year-old, he laid the
founda-tion for an active career as a regatta sailor. He had his own boat, which
he sailed to victory during the summer regattas in the Oslo Fjord.
Lower and upper secondary school
After completing primary school, Prince Harald continued his studies at Oslo
Kate-dralskole. He took his upper secondary diploma in science in 1955, and
matricu-lated at the University of Oslo that same autumn.
Officer in the Cavalry
Immediately afterwards, he began his military education. First he attended the
Cavalry Officers' Candidate School at Trandum, and then the Military Academy,
from which he graduated in 1959. Today he is a general in the Army and the Air
Force and an admiral in the Navy.
His first Council of State
Two years before he graduated as a non-commissioned lieutenant, Prince Harald
was made Crown Prince and attended his first meeting of the Council of State.
His grandfather, King Haakon VII, died on 21 September 1957, and Harald
took his place beside his father in the Council of State just a few days later.
Regent
As Crown Prince, Harald was the King's deputy. The first time he served as
Regent was in 1958. From the time King Olav fell ill in the spring of 1990 and
during his convalescence, the Crown Prince Regent presided over the Council of
State and assumed some of King Olav's other duties.
Studies at Oxford
After completing his compulsory military service as an officer, Crown Prince
Harald went to Oxford. He studied political science, history and economics at
Balliol College, the same college his father had attended more than 30 years
earlier.
First official journey
In 1960 Crown Prince Harald made his first major official journey abroad. He
visited the USA in connection with the fiftieth anniver-sary of the American
Scandinavian Founda-tion. The Crown Prince proved to be a good ambassador for
Norwegian interests, particularly Norwegian shipping interests.
At his father's side
Crown Prince Harald took his place at his father's side in the years that
followed. The two men complemented each other in carrying out the extensive
official duties required of the Royal Family. The Crown Prince opened
exhibitions, took part in con-ferences, visited homes for the elderly, and made
official visits abroad. He opened new airline routes and Norwegian tourist
offices abroad, and carried the Norwegian flag at the opening of the Olympic
Games in Tokyo.
Sharing duties
After their marriage in 1968, Crown Princess Sonja took over her share of the
official duties, both in Norway and abroad. Together and separately, the Crown
Prince and the Crown Princess visited most of Norway and made a great many
journeys abroad, including visits to Australia, Thai-land, Malaysia, India,
China, Tanzania, Latin America and the USA as well as to most of the countries
of Europe. Crown Prince Harald also did what he could to promote Norwegian
business interests abroad, but only insofar as this did not interfere with his
domestic duties.
Oath of allegiance and consecration
On 21 January 1991, King Harald took his oath of allegiance to the Constitution.
Queen Sonja accompanied him at this historic event which took place in the
national assembly - the Storting. It had been 69 years since a queen had last
entered the national assembly. Queen Sonja was present again in 1993 during the
ceremonial opening of the Storting.
At his own wish, King Harald was consecrated on 23 June 1991 in the Nidaros
Cathedral in Trondheim. Later in the year, the royal couple went on a ten-day
post-consecration tour in the southern half of Norway. The following year, they
completed the tour with a 22-day trip to the country's four northern counties.
As King and Queen, Harald and Sonja have carried out numerous representation
duties at home and abroad.
The 1994 Winter Olympics
King Harald and Queen Sonja are both involved in various forms of outdoor
recrea-tion and are nature lovers. They have also played an active role in the
preparations for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lille-hammer. Whereas Crown
Princess Sonja took part in the planning of cultural activi-ties, Crown Prince
Harald was honorary chairman of the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee and
a member of the LOOC's general assembly. He also took part in several of the
Committee's board meetings. The King as well as the Queen were eager spectators
during several of the Olympic events.
Sailing victories
His Majesty has made a name for himself in a number of national and
international sailing competitions. As Crown Prince, he represented Norway
several times in the Olympic Games, won the Gold Cup Races in 1968, and took
first place in the Kiel Week Races in 1972. He was number two in the world
championship in the half-ton class in 1982. In the summer of 1987, he won the
world championship with his new yacht, the one-ton "Fram X", which was
a gift from the Norwegian business community on his fiftieth birthday. The
following year the yacht and its crew won a bronze medal in the world
championship in San Francisco.
Skaugum
At present, the Royal Family resides at the Royal Palace in Oslo. The Crown Prince now lives with his family at King Harald's childhood home, Skaugum,
in Asker, just outside Oslo. Skaugum, which was a wedding gift from King Olav, covers a total
of 325 acres and is run as a farm with livestock and cultivated fields.
Biographical data
- Born: 21 February 1937 at Skaugum
- Baptized: 31 March 1937 in the Palace Chapel by Bishop Johan Lunde
- Confirmed: 10 May 1953
- 1940-45: Washington D.C., USA
- 1945-50: Smestad Primary School
- 1950-55: Oslo Katedralskole
- 1956-57: Cavalry Officers' Candidate School
- 1957-59: Military Academy
- 1960-62: Balliol College, Oxford
- 27 September 1957: Attended Council of State for the first time
- 21 February 1958: Took the Oath to the Constitution
- 1958: Served as Regent for the first time
- 19 March 1968: Engaged to be married
- 29 August 1968: Married
- Children:
- Princess Märtha Louise, born 22 September 1971
- Crown Prince Haakon, born 20 July 1973
-
Oath of allegiance to the Constitution on 21 Janyary 1991
- Consecrated in the Nidaros Cathedral on 23 June 1991
Produced for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Nytt fra Norge, who is also responsible for the contents of the article. Printed in October 1995.
Reproduced with permission from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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