King Harald V of Norway


Prince Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Queen Martha.  He was born at Skaugum manor House near Oslo, on 21 Feb 1937. In 1940 the family had to flee Oslo because of the German invasion of Norway. They tried to get into Sweden but were not made welcome there even though Queen Martha was from the Swedish royal family, so they made their way to the USA where Martha and her young children spent the war. Harald’s slight American accent derives from that period. When they returned to Norway in 1945 he went to state school. He was only 17 when his mother died of cancer in 1954. There was further study at the University of Oslo followed by a course at Cavalry School and then the Norwegian Military Academy. Like his father be went on to Oxford to study at Balliol College. His subjects were history, economics and politics.

He became Crown Prince on the death of his grandfather, King Haakon VII in 1957. He attended the Council of State for the first time in September 1957. On 29 Aug 1968 he was controversially married to Sonja Haraldsen as she was a commoner. They have two children, Princess Martha Louise and Prince Haakon. On 17 Jan 1991 King Olav V died and Harald became King of Norway at the age of 54. He was the first monarch of Norway to have been born in Norway. He is a keen sailor and represented his country in the Tokyo, Mexico and Munich  Olympics. He has also won top prizes at the World Sailing Championships. He has had health problems with bladder cancer but in 2015 was able to visit Antarctica, specifically Queen Maud Land, and in 2016 took part in competition sailing on Lake Ontario. He was Colonel-in-Chief of the Green Howards from 1991 to 2006. He made a state visit to Britain in 1994 and on 5 July inspected the Green Howards who formed the Guard of Honour in Edinburgh. The inter-company competition in the regiment rewarded the winning company with the title King Harald’s Company and every man in the regiment wore the red badge on his right sleeve, bearing King Harald’s H5 monogram.


Regimental Details | Colonels-in-Chief


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by Stephen Luscombe