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Olav V

King of Norway from 1957 to 1991 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Olav V
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Olav V (Norwegian: Olav den femte, Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈûːlɑːv dɛn ˈfɛ̂mtə];[1] born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.

Quick Facts King of Norway, Reign ...

Olav was born at Sandringham House in England, the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norwegian throne when his father was elected King Haakon VII of Norway in 1905. He was the first heir to the Norwegian throne to be brought up in Norway since Olav IV in the 14th century, and his parents made sure that he was given as Norwegian an upbringing as possible. In preparation for his future role, he attended both civilian and military schools. In 1929, he married his first cousin, Princess Märtha of Sweden. During World War II, his leadership was much appreciated, and he was appointed Norwegian Chief of Defence in 1944. Olav became king following the death of his father in 1957.

His considerate, down-to-earth style made Olav immensely popular, resulting in the nickname Folkekongen ('The People's King'). In a 2005 poll by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Olav was voted "Norwegian of the Century".[2]

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Birth and early life

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The Norwegian royal family in 1921

Olav was born as Prince Alexander Edward Christian Frederik in Appleton House on the royal Sandringham Estate, Flitcham, United Kingdom.[3] His parents were Prince Carl, second son of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark (later King Frederick VIII), and Princess Maud, youngest daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who was the eldest son of Britain's Queen Victoria. In 1905, Carl was elected as Norway's first independent king in 518 years. The fact that Carl already had a son gave him an advantage over the other candidates, as it assured the continuance of the new royal line.[4] When Carl accepted his election, he took the name Haakon VII. The king gave his two-year-old son the Norwegian name Olav after Olav Haakonsson, the last independent king of Norway before its union with Denmark.[5] It was also chosen in honour of Saint Olaf, the first effective king of Norway and a symbol of Norwegian independence and pride. [6]

Olav was thus the first heir to the throne since the Middle Ages to have been raised in Norway, and his parents went to considerable length to give him as Norwegian an upbringing as possible. Unlike his father, who was a naval officer, Olav chose to complete his main military education in the army. He graduated from the three-year Norwegian Military Academy in 1924, with the fourth-best score in his class. Olav then studied jurisprudence and economics for two years at Balliol College, Oxford.[7]

During the 1930s, Crown Prince Olav was a naval cadet serving on the minelayer/cadet training ship Olav Tryggvason.[8] Olav moved up the ranks of the Norwegian armed forces in the army from an initial rank of first lieutenant to captain in 1931 and colonel in 1936.[9]

He was an accomplished athlete. Olav jumped from the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo and competed in sailing regattas. He won a gold medal in sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics[10] in Amsterdam and remained an active sailor into old age.

On 21 March 1929 in Oslo, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden with whom he had two daughters, Ragnhild and Astrid and one son, Harald. As exiles during World War II, Crown Princess Märtha and the royal children lived in Washington, DC, where she struck up a close friendship with Franklin Roosevelt. She died in 1954, before her husband ascended the throne.

The British Film Institute houses an early film, made in 1913, in which a miniature car (a "baby Cadillac") commissioned by Queen Alexandra for Crown Prince Olav tows a procession of Londoners through the streets of the capital, before being delivered to a pair of "royal testers" of roughly Olav's age.[11] The car is a battery-powered, one-third size replica on a four-foot wheelbase, and is on permanent loan to the Norsk Teknisk Museum in Oslo.[12]

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World War II

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King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav, and Hans Reidar Holtermann in Scotland during World War II

As Crown Prince, Olav had received extensive military training and had participated in most major Norwegian military exercises. That made him perhaps one of the most knowledgeable Norwegian military leaders,[citation needed] and he was respected by other Allied leaders for his knowledge and leadership skills. During a visit to the United States before the war, he and his wife had established a close relationship with President Roosevelt. Those factors would prove to be important for the Norwegian fight against the attacking German forces. In 1939, Crown Prince Olav was appointed an admiral of the Royal Norwegian Navy and a general of the Norwegian Army.[9]

During World War II, Olav stood by his father's side in resisting the German occupation of Norway. During the campaign he was a valuable advisor both to civilian and military leaders. When the Norwegian government decided to go into exile, he offered to stay behind with the Norwegian people, but that was declined. He reluctantly followed his father to the United Kingdom, where he and his staff and servants and aides continued to be a key advisor to the government-in-exile and his father. One source states that Olav helped "to build and lead a free fighting force" and made radio broadcasts in England.[13]

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Olav inspecting Norwegian sailors in the United Kingdom

Olav made several visits to Norwegian and Allied troops in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. In 1944, he was appointed to the post of Norwegian Chief of Defence and after the war he led the Norwegian disarmament of the German occupying forces. On 13 May 1945, Crown Prince Olav and five government ministers returned to a liberated Norway. The arrival was documented in a newsreel by British Pathé News.[14]

His war decorations from other nations, including the War Crosses of Norway, France, Greece and the Netherlands; the US Legion of Merit; and the French Médaille Militaire, are testament to the international recognition of his contribution to the war against Nazi Germany.

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Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha with their children Princess Astrid, Princess Ragnhild and Prince Harald at their exile home, Pook's Hill, in Bethesda, Maryland
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Reign

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King Olav V at Holmenkollen in 1975

Haakon was injured in an accident in 1955; his son Olav served as regent until his death.[15] Haakon died at the Royal Palace in Oslo on 21 September 1957. He was 85 years old. After his death, Olav succeeded him as Olav V.

Olav reigned as a "People's King," and became extremely popular, despite the fact that he had no queen consort (his wife, Märtha of Sweden, died in 1954). He liked to drive his own cars and would drive in the public lane even though, as king, he was allowed to drive in bus lanes. When driving was restricted during the 1973 energy crisis, King Olav wanted to lead by example even though he would have been well within his rights to drive. While going on a skiing trip, he dressed up in his skiing outfit and boarded the Holmenkollbanen suburban railway carrying his skis on his shoulder.[16] When later asked how he dared to go out in public without bodyguards, he replied that "he had 4 million bodyguards", the population of Norway at the time.

For his athletic ability and role as King, Olav earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1968, the Medal for Outstanding Civic Achievement in 1970 and was made Name of the Year in 1975. He had a strong interest in military matters and took his role as titular Commander-in-Chief very seriously. As well as his ceremonial roles in the Norwegian Army, he also served as Colonel-in-Chief of the Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Yorkshire Regiment), the British regiment named for his grandmother Queen Alexandra.

The King represented Norway extensively abroad during his reign, conducting state visits to both neighbouring countries and more distant destinations such as Ethiopia and Iran. King Olav V opened the 14th World Scout Jamboree in July 1975 in the presence of 17,259 Scouts from 94 countries.

Although the constitution nominally vested Olav with executive power, he was not responsible for exercising it. In practice, his role was almost entirely ceremonial and representative.[15] This not only followed practices dating from the definitive establishment of parliamentary rule in Norway in 1884, but also precedent set by his father. His acts were not valid without the countersignature of a minister–usually the Prime Minister–who then became politically responsible for the act in question. While he had the right to appoint the government, in practice it was impossible for him to appoint a government solely of his choosing or keep it in office against the will of the Storting. Nonetheless, like his father before him, he commanded great moral authority as a symbol of the nation's unity.

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Illness and death

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During the summer of 1990, the King suffered from health problems, but recovered somewhat during Christmas the same year. At the age of 87, on 17 January 1991, while residing in the Royal Lodge Kongsseteren in Oslo, he became ill and died in the evening of a heart attack. An interview given by King Harald V and hints in a biography by Jo Benkow, who was the President of the Storting at that time, mention the possibility that King Olav suffered great trauma upon learning of the outbreak of the first Gulf War,[citation needed] which began on the day he died. Olav's son succeeded him as King Harald V.

On the night of his death and for several days up until the state funeral, Norwegians mourned publicly, lighting hundreds of thousands of candles in the courtyard outside the Royal Palace in Oslo, with letters and cards placed amongst them.[17] The National Archives have preserved all these cards.

Funeral

The state funeral of King Olav V was held on 30 January 1991. During the funeral procession from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral, over 100,000 people lined up along Karl Johans gate to pay their respects.[18] Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland gave the eulogy at the funeral, before the casket was moved to Akershus Fortress where a private service was held.[19]

Olav was finally laid to rest next to his wife Märtha in the green sarcophagus of the Royal Mausoleum.[20]

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Legacy

King Olav's leadership during the Second World War made him a symbol of Norwegian independence and national unity. As King Olav's wife, Princess Märtha, died of cancer, the King Olav V's Prize for Cancer Research was established in 1992.

A 2005 poll by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation named King Olav "Norwegian of the Century".[2]

Viktor Andersen portrayed the two-year-old Prince Alexander (Olav) in the 2009 NRK drama series Harry & Charles. Actor Anders Baasmo Christiansen was chosen to portray Crown Prince Olav in the 2016 drama The King's Choice while Tobias Santelmann portrayed Olav in the 2021 NRK drama Atlantic Crossing. In the period drama The Commoner, premiered in 2025 on Amazon Prime Video, Anders Baasmo Christiansen is again portraying Olav V, this time during his reign as King of Norway.

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Honours

National honours and medals

Foreign honours

Other honours

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Issue

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More information Children, Birth ...
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Gallery

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    Crown Prince Olav arrives in Norway in 1905 on his father's arm and is greeted by Prime Minister Christian Michelsen.
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    Drawing, 1906, by Andreas Bloch
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    Märtha and Olav on the cover of Time on the occasion of their wedding
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    Crown Prince Olav and his father King Haakon VII take shelter under birch trees as the German Luftwaffe bombs Molde.
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    Märtha and Olav in 1950
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    Olav in 1921 as Crown Prince
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    Haakon VII of Norway, Maud of Wales and Crown Prince Olav on 17 July 1913 in Norway
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    Royal cypher of King Olav V
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    Prince Olav on a 1928 'National aid' Christmas seal of Norway
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See also

Notes

  1. Coronation discarded by constitutional amendment in 1908. Olav V instead received benediction in Nidaros Cathedral.

References

Bibliography

External links

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