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Haakon VII of Norway

Haakon VII (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈhôːkʊn]; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 1872 – 21 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957.

Haakon VII
King Haakon VII in 1942
King of Norway
Reign18 November 1905 − 21 September 1957
Coronation22 June 1906
Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway
PredecessorOscar II
SuccessorOlav V
Prime Ministers
See list
BornPrince Carl of Denmark
(1872-08-03)3 August 1872
Charlottenlund Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark
Died21 September 1957(1957-09-21) (aged 85)
Royal Palace, Oslo, Norway
Burial1 October 1957
Akershus Castle, Oslo, Norway
Spouse
(m. 1896; died 1938)
IssueOlav V of Norway
Names
Haakon, né Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel
HouseGlücksburg
FatherFrederick VIII of Denmark
MotherLouise of Sweden
Signature

Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VIII of Denmark and Louise of Sweden. Prince Carl was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and served in the Royal Danish Navy. After the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway, Prince Carl was offered the Norwegian crown. Following a November plebiscite, he accepted the offer and was formally elected King of Norway by the Storting. He took the Old Norse name Haakon and ascended to the throne as Haakon VII, becoming the first independent Norwegian monarch since 1387.[1]

As king, Haakon gained much sympathy from the Norwegian people. Although the Constitution of Norway vests the King with considerable executive powers, in practice Haakon confined himself to non-partisan roles without interfering in politics, a practice continued by his son and grandson.

Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1940. Haakon rejected German demands to legitimise the Quisling regime's puppet government, and refused to abdicate after going into exile in Great Britain. As such, he played a pivotal role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its resistance to the invasion and the subsequent five-year-long occupation during the Second World War. He returned to Norway in June 1945 after the defeat of Germany.

He became King of Norway when his grandfather Christian IX was still reigning in Denmark, and before his father and elder brother became kings of Denmark. During his reign he saw his father Frederick VIII, his elder brother Christian X, and his nephew Frederick IX ascend the throne of Denmark, in 1906, 1912 (also of Iceland from 1918 to 1944), and 1947 respectively. Haakon died at the age of 85 in September 1957, after having reigned for nearly 52 years. He was succeeded by his only son, who ascended to the throne as Olav V.[2]

Early life

Birth and family

 
Prince Carl's birthplace, Charlottenlund Palace north of Copenhagen, c. 1895.

Prince Carl was born on 3 August 1872 at his parents' country residence, Charlottenlund Palace north of Copenhagen, during the reign of his paternal grandfather, King Christian IX.[3] He was the second son of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark (the future King Frederick VIII), and his wife Louise of Sweden.[3] His father was the eldest son of King Christian IX and Louise of Hesse-Kassel, and his mother was the only daughter of King Charles XV of Sweden (who was also king of Norway as Charles IV), and Louise of the Netherlands. At birth, he was third in the succession to the Danish throne after his father and older brother, but without any real prospect of inheriting the throne. The young prince was baptised at Charlottenlund Palace on 7 September 1872 by the Bishop of Zealand, Hans Lassen Martensen. He was baptised with the names Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel, and was known as Prince Carl (namesake of his maternal grandfather the King of Sweden-Norway).[3]

Prince Carl belonged to the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (often shortened to Glücksburg) branch of the House of Oldenburg. The House of Oldenburg had been the Danish royal family since 1448; between 1536 and 1814 it also ruled Norway, which was then part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway. The house was originally from northern Germany, where the Glücksburg (Lyksborg) branch held their small fief. The family had links with Norway beginning from the 15th century. Several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of Norway in union with Denmark and at times Sweden. They included Christian I of Norway, Frederick I, Christian III, Frederick II, Christian IV, as well as Frederick III of Norway who integrated Norway into the Oldenburg state with Denmark, Schleswig and Holstein. His subsequent paternal ancestors had been dukes in Schleswig-Holstein. Christian Frederick, who was King of Norway briefly in 1814, the first king of the Norwegian 1814 constitution and struggle for independence, was his great-granduncle.

Childhood and education

 
Prince Carl of Denmark as a naval cadet in 1889.

Prince Carl was raised with his siblings in the royal household in Copenhagen, and grew up between his parents' residence in Copenhagen, the Frederick VIII's Palace, an 18th-century palace which forms part of the Amalienborg Palace complex in central Copenhagen, and their country residence, Charlottenlund Palace, located by the coastline of the Øresund strait north of the city. In contrast to the usual practise of the period, where royal children were brought up by governesses, the children were raised by Crown Princess Louise herself. Under the supervision of their mother, the children of the Crown Princess received a rather strict Christian-dominated upbringing, which was characterized by severity, the fulfillment of duties, care and order.[4]

As a younger son of the Crown Prince, there was little expectation that Carl would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, Prince Christian and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother. Carl was less than two years younger than Christian, and the two princes were educated together and had a joint confirmation at Christiansborg Palace Chapel in 1887.

After his confirmation, as was customary for princes at that time, Prince Carl was expected to start a military education.[dubious ] It was decided that he, in accordance with his own wishes, should enter the Royal Danish Navy. He was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy from 1889 to 1893, graduating as a second lieutenant. In 1894 he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and remained in service with the Royal Danish Navy until 1905.[5]

Marriage

 
Wedding of Princess Maud and Prince Carl at Buckingham Palace

On 22 July 1896,[6] in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace, Prince Carl married his first cousin Princess Maud of Wales. Princess Maud was the youngest daughter of the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise. The wedding was attended by the bride's grandmother, the 77-year-old Queen Victoria.

After the wedding, the couple settled in Copenhagen, where Prince Carl continued his career as a naval officer. The bride's father gave them Appleton House on the Sandringham Estate as a country residence for his daughter's frequent visits to England.[7] It was there that the couple's only child, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav (and eventually King Olav V of Norway), was born on 2 July 1903.[6]

Accession to the Norwegian throne

Background and election

 
Ballots with yes and no from the 1905 Norwegian monarchy referendum.

After the Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved in 1905, a committee of the Norwegian government identified several princes of European royal houses as candidates for the Norwegian crown. Although Norway had legally had the status of an independent state since 1814, it had not had its own king since 1387. Gradually, Prince Carl became the leading candidate, largely because he was descended from independent Norwegian kings. He also had a son, providing an heir-apparent to the throne, and the fact that his wife, Princess Maud, was a member of the British Royal Family was viewed by many as an advantage to the newly independent Norwegian nation.[8]

The democratically minded Carl, aware that Norway was still debating whether to remain a kingdom or to switch instead to a republican system of government, was flattered by the Norwegian government's overtures, but he made his acceptance of the offer conditional on the holding of a referendum to show whether monarchy was the choice of the Norwegian people.

After the referendum overwhelmingly confirmed by a 79 percent majority (259,563 votes for and 69,264 against) that Norwegians desired to retain a monarchy,[9] Prince Carl was formally offered the throne of Norway by the Storting (parliament) and was elected on 18 November 1905. When Carl accepted the offer that same evening (after the approval of his grandfather Christian IX of Denmark), he immediately endeared himself to his adopted country by taking the Old Norse name of Haakon, a name which had not been used by kings of Norway for over 500 years.[10] In so doing, he succeeded his maternal great-uncle, Oscar II of Sweden, who had abdicated the Norwegian throne in October following the agreement between Sweden and Norway on the terms of the separation of the union.

 
A delegation from the Norwegian Parliament is received on 20 November 1905 at Amalienborg by King Christian IX of Denmark, who gives his consent to the election of his grandson Prince Carl as King of Norway. Painting by Paul Fischer.

On the morning of 20 November, a large crowd gathered outside King Haakon and Queen Maud's residence in Bernstorff's Palace in Copenhagen. The attendees greeted the royal couple as they appeared in the window and started singing Ja, vi elsker dette landet. Later the same day, King Christian IX of Denmark received a delegation from the Storting in an audience in Christian VII's Palace at Amalienborg. The delegation conveyed the message that the king's grandson had been elected King of Norway, while Christian IX expressed his consent to the election of Prince Carl. The head of the delegation, the President of the Storting Carl Berner, conveyed a greeting and congratulations from the Norwegian people, and expressed the people's wishes for a happy cooperation. The king replied:

Mr. President of the Storthing, gentlemen. The first greeting from the Representatives of the Norwegian People, who in their unanimous Storthing decision on 18 November has elected me their King, has touched me deeply. The people have thereby shown me a confidence which I know how to appreciate, and which I hope will still grow stronger as it gets to know my wife and me. As it will be known to you, gentlemen, it was at my request that the newly concluded referendum took place. I wanted to be sure that it was a people and not a party that wanted me to be king, as my task above all should be to unite, not divide. My life I will devote to the good of Norway, and it is the fervent wish of my wife and I that the people who have chosen us will unite to cooperate and strive towards this great goal, and with full confidence I can then take as my motto: ALL FOR NORWAY.[11]

Arrival in Norway

 
King Haakon VII arrives in Norway with Crown Prince Olav on his arm and is greeted on board the ship Heimdal by Prime Minister Christian Michelsen.

On 23 November, the new royal family of Norway left Copenhagen on the Danish royal yacht, the paddle steamer Dannebrog and sailed into the Oslofjord. At Oscarsborg Fortress, they boarded the Norwegian naval ship Heimdal. After a three-day journey, they arrived in Kristiania (now Oslo) early on the morning of 25 November 1905 where the king was received at the harbour by the Prime Minister of Norway Christian Michelsen. On the deck of the Heimdal, the Prime Minister gave the following speech to the king:

For almost 600 years, the Norwegian people have not had their own king. Never has he been completely our own. Always have we had to share him with others. Never has he had his home with us. But where the home is, there will also be the fatherland. Today it is different. Today, Norway's young king comes to build his future home in Norway's capital. Named by a free people as a free man to lead his country, he will be completely our own. Once again, the Norwegians' king will be the strong, unifying mark for all national deeds in the new, independent Norway ... [12]

Two days later, on 27 November, Haakon VII took his constitutional oath before parliament as Norway's first independent king in 518 years. However, Norway counts 18 November, the day of his election, as the formal beginning of his reign.

Coronation

 
Coronation portrait of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud, 22 June 1906

On 22 June 1906, King Haakon and Queen Maud were solemnly crowned and anointed in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim by the Bishop of Trondheim Vilhelm Andreas Wexelsen.[6] The coronation was in keeping with the constitutional mandate, but many Norwegian statesmen had come to regard coronation rites as "undemocratic and archaic". The coronation clause was deleted from Norway's constitution in 1908, and although coronations are not expressly banned under current Norwegian legislation, this became the last coronation of a Norwegian monarch. In the period before and after the coronation, the king and Queen made an extensive coronation journey through Norway.

The King and Queen moved into the Royal Palace in Oslo. Haakon became the first monarch to use the palace permanently and the palace was therefore refurbished for two years before he, Queen Maud and Crown Prince Olav could move in. After the coronation, King Haakon and Queen Maud also received the estate Kongesæteren at Voksenkollen in Oslo as a gift from the Norwegian people.

Early reign

 
King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav and Queen Maud, on 17 July 1913 in Norway

King Haakon gained much sympathy from the Norwegian people. He travelled extensively through Norway. As king, Haakon endeavored to redefine the role of the monarchy in egalitarian Norway and to find a balance between the informal Norwegian way of life and the monarchy's need for formal representation. Although the Constitution of Norway vests the King with considerable executive powers, in practice nearly all major governmental decisions were made by the Government (the Council of State) in his name. Haakon confined himself to non-partisan roles without interfering in politics, a practice continued by his son and grandson. However, his long rule gave him considerable moral authority as a symbol of the country's unity. The Norwegian explorer and Nobel Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen became a friend of the Royal Family.[citation needed]

 
King Haakon with other European sovereigns at the funeral of King Edward VII, photographed on 20 May 1910. Standing, from left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, Tsar Ferdinand of the Bulgarians, King Manuel II of Portugal and the Algarves, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George I of the Hellenes and King Albert I of the Belgians. Seated, from left to right: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George V of the United Kingdom and King Frederick VIII of Denmark.

In 1927, the Labour Party became the largest party in parliament and early the following year Norway's first Labour Party government rose to power. The Labour Party was considered to be "revolutionary" by many and the deputy prime minister at the time advised against appointing Christopher Hornsrud as Prime Minister. Haakon, however, refused to abandon parliamentary convention and asked Hornsrud to form a new government. In response to some of his detractors he stated, "I am also the King of the Communists" (Norwegian: "Jeg er også kommunistenes konge").[13]

Crown Prince Olav married his cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden on 21 March 1929. She was the daughter of Haakon's sister Ingeborg and Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland. Olav and Märtha had three children: Ragnhild (1930–2012), Astrid (born 1932) and Harald (born 1937), who was to become king in 1991.

Queen Maud died unexpectedly while visiting the United Kingdom on 20 November 1938.[14] In 1939, King Haakon toured southeast Montana and parts of the proposed secessionist state of Absaroka, with supporters of the succession movement claiming this event as formal recognition of their state.[15]

Resistance during World War II

The German invasion

Norway was invaded by the naval and air forces of Nazi Germany during the early hours of 9 April 1940. The German naval detachment sent to capture Oslo was opposed by Oscarsborg Fortress. The fortress fired at the invaders, sinking the heavy cruiser Blücher and damaging the heavy cruiser Lützow, with heavy German losses that included many soldiers, Gestapo agents, and administrative personnel who were to have occupied the Norwegian capital. This led to the withdrawal of the rest of the German flotilla, preventing the invaders' planned dawn occupation of Oslo. The German delay in occupying Oslo, along with swift action by the President of the Storting, C. J. Hambro, created the opportunity for the Norwegian Royal Family, the cabinet, and most of the 150 members of the Storting (parliament) to make a hasty departure from the capital by special train.

The Storting first convened at Hamar the same afternoon, but with the rapid advance of German troops, the group moved on to Elverum. The assembled Storting unanimously enacted a resolution, the so-called Elverum Authorization, granting the cabinet full powers to protect the country until such time as the Storting could meet again.

The next day, Curt Bräuer, the German Ambassador to Norway, demanded a meeting with Haakon. The German diplomat called on Haakon to accept Adolf Hitler's demands to end all resistance and appoint Vidkun Quisling as prime minister. Quisling, the leader of Norway's fascist party, the Nasjonal Samling, had declared himself prime minister hours earlier in Oslo as head of what would be a German puppet government; had Haakon formally appointed him, it would effectively have given legal sanction to the invasion.[16] Bräuer suggested that Haakon follow the example of the Danish government and his brother, Christian X, which had surrendered almost immediately after the previous day's invasion, and threatened Norway with harsh reprisals if it did not surrender. Haakon told Bräuer that he could not make the decision himself, but could only act on the advice of the Government.[citation needed]

In a meeting in Nybergsund, the King reported the German ultimatum to the cabinet sitting as a council of state. Haakon told the cabinet:

I am deeply affected by the responsibility laid on me if the German demand is rejected. The responsibility for the calamities that will befall people and country is indeed so grave that I dread to take it. It rests with the government to decide, but my position is clear.

For my part I cannot accept the German demands. It would conflict with all that I have considered to be my duty as King of Norway since I came to this country nearly thirty-five years ago.[17]

Haakon went on to say that he could not appoint Quisling as prime minister, since he knew neither the people nor the Storting had confidence in him. However, if the cabinet felt otherwise, the King said he would abdicate so as not to stand in the way of the Government's decision.

Nils Hjelmtveit, Minister of Church and Education, later wrote:

This made a great impression on us all. More clearly than ever before, we could see the man behind the words; the king who had drawn a line for himself and his task, a line from which he could not deviate. We had through the five years [in government] learned to respect and appreciate our king, and now, through his words, he came to us as a great man, just and forceful; a leader in these fatal times to our country.[18]

Inspired by Haakon's stand, the government unanimously advised him not to appoint any government headed by Quisling.[19] Within hours, it telephoned its refusal to Bräuer. That night, NRK broadcast the government's rejection of the German demands to the Norwegian people. In that same broadcast, the government announced that it would resist the German invasion as long as possible, and expressed their confidence that Norwegians would lend their support to the cause.[citation needed]

After Norway was eventually conquered, Quisling "transformed [the country] into a one-party fascist state and recruited 6,000 Norwegians to fight alongside the Germans on the Russian front".[20] A very small percentage of the population supported Quisling and many joined the Norwegian resistance movement. After the war, Quisling was convicted of treason and executed.[20]

Norwegian campaign

 
King Haakon VII and Crown Prince Olav seeking shelter on the outskirts of Molde during a German bombing raid on the city in April 1940.

The following morning, 11 April 1940, in an attempt to wipe out Norway's unyielding king and government, Luftwaffe bombers attacked Nybergsund, destroying the small town where the Government was staying. Neutral Sweden was only 26 kilometres (16 mi) away, but the Swedish government decided it would "detain and incarcerate" King Haakon if he crossed their border (which Haakon never forgave).[21] The Norwegian king and his ministers took refuge in the snow-covered woods and escaped harm, continuing farther north through the mountains toward Molde on Norway's west coast. As the British forces in the area lost ground under Luftwaffe bombardment, the King and his party were taken aboard the British cruiser HMS Glasgow at Molde and conveyed a further 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) north to Tromsø, where a provisional capital was established on 1 May. Haakon and Crown Prince Olav took up residence in a forest cabin in Målselvdalen valley in inner Troms County, where they would stay until evacuation to the United Kingdom.

The Allies had a fairly secure hold over northern Norway until late May. The situation was dramatically altered, however, by their deteriorating situation in the Battle of France. With the Germans rapidly overrunning France, the Allied high command decided that the forces in northern Norway should be withdrawn. The Royal Family and Norwegian Government were evacuated from Tromsø on 7 June aboard HMS Devonshire with a total of 461 passengers. This evacuation became extremely costly for the Royal Navy when the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau attacked and sank the nearby aircraft carrier HMS Glorious with its escorting destroyers HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent. Devonshire did not rebroadcast the enemy sighting report made by Glorious as it could not disclose its position by breaking radio silence. No other British ship received the sighting report, and 1,519 British officers and men and three warships were lost. Devonshire arrived safely in London and King Haakon and his Cabinet set up a Norwegian government in exile in the British capital.[22][23]

Government in exile

 
The King's monogram became a symbol of resistance during the Second World War

Initially, King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav were guests at Buckingham Palace, but at the start of the London Blitz in September 1940, they moved to Bowdown House in Berkshire. The construction of the adjacent RAF Greenham Common airfield in March 1942 prompted another move to Foliejon Park in Winkfield, near Windsor, in Berkshire, where they remained until the liberation of Norway.[24] The King's official residence was the Norwegian Legation at 10 Palace Green, Kensington, which became the seat of the Norwegian government in exile. Here Haakon attended weekly Cabinet meetings and worked on the speeches which were regularly broadcast by radio to Norway by the BBC World Service. These broadcasts helped to cement Haakon's position as an important national symbol to the Norwegian resistance.[25] Many broadcasts were made from Saint Olav's Norwegian Church in Rotherhithe, where the Royal Family were regular worshippers.[26]

 
The Royal Family of Norway waving to the welcoming crowds from HMS Norfolk at Oslo, June 1945.

Meanwhile, Hitler had appointed Josef Terboven as Reichskommissar for Norway. On Hitler's orders, Terboven attempted to coerce the Storting to depose the King; the Storting declined, citing constitutional principles. A subsequent ultimatum was made by the Germans, threatening to intern all Norwegians of military age in German concentration camps.[27] With this threat looming, the Storting's representatives in Oslo wrote to their monarch on 27 June, asking him to abdicate. The King declined, politely replying that the Storting was acting under duress. The King gave his answer on 3 July, and proclaimed it on BBC radio on 8 July.[28]

After one further German attempt in September to force the Storting to depose Haakon failed, Terboven finally decreed that the Royal Family had "forfeited their right to return" and dissolved the democratic political parties.[29]

During Norway's five years under German control, many Norwegians surreptitiously wore clothing or jewellery made from coins bearing Haakon's "H7" monogram as symbols of resistance to the German occupation and of solidarity with their exiled King and Government, just as many people in Denmark wore his brother's monogram on a pin. The King's monogram was also painted and otherwise reproduced on various surfaces as a show of resistance to the occupation.[30]

After the end of the war, Haakon and the Norwegian royal family returned to Norway aboard the cruiser HMS Norfolk, arriving with the First Cruiser Squadron to cheering crowds in Oslo on 7 June 1945,[31] exactly five years after they had been evacuated from Tromsø.[32] Crown Prince Olav had returned a few weeks earlier, on 13 May 1945.[33]

Post-war years

 
King Haakon VII reading the Speech from the Throne to the Storting in 1950, Crown Prince Olav on his right side

After his return, Haakon did not continue the political role that he had played during the war, and limited himself to his constitutional duties as head of state. In the late summer of 1945 he went on an extensive tour of Norway to examine the war damage and to give consolation to the population. Because of his role during the war and his personal integrity, Haakon VII was considered the highest moral authority in the country and enjoyed great esteem in all classes of the population.

In 1947, the Norwegian people, by public subscription, purchased the royal yacht Norge for the King.[34]

In 1952, he attended the funeral of his wife's nephew King George VI and openly wept.

The King's granddaughter, Princess Ragnhild, married businessman Erling Lorentzen (of the Lorentzen family) on 15 May 1953, being the first member of the new Norwegian royal family to marry a commoner.[35]

Haakon lived to see two of his great-grandchildren born; Haakon Lorentzen (b. 23 August 1954) and Ingeborg Lorentzen (b. 3 February 1957).

Crown Princess Märtha died of cancer on 5 April 1954.[36]

King Haakon VII fell in his bathroom at the Bygdøy Royal Estate (Bygdøy kongsgård) in July 1955. This fall, which occurred just a month before his eighty-third birthday, resulted in a fracture to the thighbone and, although there were few other complications resulting from the fall, the King was left using a wheelchair. The once-active King was said to have been depressed by his resulting helplessness and began to lose his customary involvement and interest in current events. With Haakon's loss of mobility, and as his health deteriorated further in the summer of 1957, Crown Prince Olav appeared on behalf of his father on ceremonial occasions and took a more active role in state affairs. [37]

Death and succession

 
Funeral procession of King Haakon VII with King Olav V and Crown prince Harald at the front and King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden to the left

Haakon died at the Royal Palace in Oslo on 21 September 1957. He was 85 years old. At his death, Olav succeeded him as Olav V. Haakon was buried on 1 October 1957 alongside his wife in the white sarcophagus in the Royal Mausoleum at Akershus Fortress. He was the last surviving son of King Frederick VIII of Denmark.

Legacy

Haakon VII is regarded by many as one of the greatest Norwegian leaders of the pre-war period, managing to hold his young and fragile country together in unstable political conditions. He was ranked highly in the Norwegian of the Century poll in 2005.[38]

Honours

The King Haakon VII Sea in East Antarctica is named in the king's honour as well as the entire plateau surrounding the South Pole was named King Haakon VII Vidde by Roald Amundsen when he in 1911 became the first human to reach the South Pole. See Polheim.[39]

In 1914 Haakon County in the American state of South Dakota was named in his honour.[40]

Two Royal Norwegian Navy ships—King Haakon VII, an escort ship in commission from 1942 to 1951, and Haakon VII, a training ship in commission from 1958 to 1974—have been named after King Haakon VII.[41]

For his struggles against the Nazi regime and his effort to revive the Holmenkollen ski festival following World War II, King Haakon VII earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1955 (Shared with Hallgeir Brenden, Veikko Hakulinen, and Sverre Stenersen), one of only 11 people not famous for Nordic skiing to receive this honour. (The others are Norway's Stein Eriksen, Borghild Niskin, Inger Bjørnbakken, Astrid Sandvik, King Olav V (his son), Erik Håker, Jacob Vaage, King Harald V (his paternal grandson), and Queen Sonja (his paternal granddaughter-in-law), and Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark).[42]

His father-in-law King Edward VII appointed him Honorary Lieutenant in the British Fleet shortly after succeeding in February 1901.[43] His father King Frederick VIII appointed him Admiral of the Royal Danish Navy on 20 November 1905.[44]

National[45]
Foreign[45]

In popular culture

Haakon was portrayed by Jakob Cedergren in the 2009 NRK drama series Harry & Charles, a series that focused on the events leading up to the election of King Haakon in 1905. Jesper Christensen portrayed the King in the 2016 film The King's Choice (Kongens nei) which was based on the events surrounding the German invasion of Norway and the King's decision to resist. The film won widespread critical acclaim, and was Norway's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards. The film made the shortlist of nine finalists in December 2016.[61][62][63][64] Haakon was portrayed by Søren Pilmark in the 2020 NRK drama series Atlantic Crossing, a series regarding Crown Princess Märtha's handling of the royal family exile from 1939 to 1945.

Ancestry

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Carl (Haakon VII)". kongernessamling.dk. The Royal Danish Collection. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  2. ^ "Kong Olav 5". nrk.no. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, ed. (1977). Burke's Royal Families of the World. Vol. 1. London, UK: Burke's Peerage Ltd. p. 71.
  4. ^ Bramsen 1992, p. 274.
  5. ^ Grimnes, Ole Kristian (13 February 2009). "Haakon 7". Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  6. ^ a b c . Time. 18 June 1923. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  7. ^ "Appleton House". kongehuset.no. The Royal House of Norway. 5 March 2011.
  8. ^ Berg, Roald (1995). Norge på egen hånd 1905–1920 (Norsk utenrikspolitikks historie, volume 2) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. p. 309. ISBN 8200223949.
  9. ^ . Time. 8 December 1930. p. 1. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  10. ^ English Heritage (2005). "Blue Plaque for King Haakon VII of Norway". English Heritage. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
  11. ^ "Alt for Norge - Kongens "Ja"". kongehuset.no (in Norwegian). The Royal House of Norway. 20 November 1905. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Kongevalget". kongehuset.no (in Norwegian). The Royal House of Norway. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  13. ^ (Official site of the Norwegian Royal House, in Norwegian)
  14. ^ "Queen Maud of Norway". talknorway.no. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  15. ^ Pedersen, Nate. "The State of Absaroka". www.southdakotamagazine.com. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  16. ^ "Breivik, Quisling and the Norwegian spirit". CBC. Retrieved 13 April 2021. When the Germans demanded that the Norwegian king, Haakon VII, surrender and appoint Quisling as head of a puppet government, the king refused, even after the Nazis threatened to send all Norwegian men of military age to concentration camps.
  17. ^ The account and quotation were recorded by one of the cabinet members and were recounted in William L. Shirer's The Challenge of Scandinavia.[page needed]
  18. ^ Haarr, Geirr H. (2009). The German Invasion of Norway. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1848320321.[page needed]
  19. ^ "Breivik, Quisling and the Norwegian spirit". CBC. Retrieved 13 April 2021. His cabinet and the Storting, the Norwegian parliament, supported the king.
  20. ^ a b "Breivik, Quisling and the Norwegian spirit". CBC. Retrieved 13 April 2021. But Quisling supporters were only a tiny minority: two per cent of the population. Norwegians showed their opposition to the occupiers in many ways. active resistance continued with widespread sabotage.
  21. ^ Sir Gustaf von Platen in Bakom den gyllene fasaden Bonniers ISBN 9100580481 pp. 445–446
  22. ^ "Mine plikter – "Kongens andre nei"". kongehuset.no. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  23. ^ "The Tragedy of HMS Glorious". cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  24. ^ . Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  25. ^ Norway: the official site in the UK – News 27 October 2012 – Princess Astrid unveils blue plaque
  26. ^
  27. ^ William Lawrence Shirer: The challenge of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland in our time, Robert Hale, 1956[page needed]
  28. ^ Dahl; Hjeltnes; Nøkleby; Ringdal; Sørensen, eds. (1995). "Norge i krigen 1939–45. Kronologisk oversikt". Norsk krigsleksikon 1940–45 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Cappelen. p. 11. ISBN 8202141389.
  29. ^ "Krigsårene 1940–1945". Royal House of Norway (in Norwegian). 31 January 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  30. ^ , Time, Monday, 30 September 1957
  31. ^ . Time. 11 June 1945. Archived from the original on 21 December 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
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Bibliography

External links

  • Official Website of the Royal House of Norway
  • King Haakon − biography (Official Website of the Royal House of Norway)
  • Prince Carl (Haakon VII) at the website of the Royal Danish Collection at Amalienborg Palace
Haakon VII
Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg
Born: 3 August 1872 Died: 21 September 1957
Regnal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Oscar II
King of Norway
1905–1957
Succeeded by

haakon, norway, king, haakon, haakon, redirect, here, other, uses, haakon, disambiguation, haakon, norwegian, pronunciation, ˈhôːkʊn, born, prince, carl, denmark, august, 1872, september, 1957, king, norway, from, november, 1905, until, death, september, 1957,. King Haakon VII and Haakon VII redirect here For other uses see Haakon VII disambiguation Haakon VII Norwegian pronunciation ˈhoːkʊn born Prince Carl of Denmark 3 August 1872 21 September 1957 was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957 Haakon VIIKing Haakon VII in 1942King of NorwayReign18 November 1905 21 September 1957Coronation22 June 1906Nidaros Cathedral Trondheim NorwayPredecessorOscar IISuccessorOlav VPrime MinistersSee list Christian MichelsenJorgen LovlandGunnar KnudsenWollert KonowJens BratlieOtto Bahr HalvorsenOtto BlehrAbraham BergeJohan Ludwig MowinckelIvar LykkeChristopher HornsrudPeder KolstadJens HundseidJohan NygaardsvoldEinar GerhardsenOscar TorpBornPrince Carl of Denmark 1872 08 03 3 August 1872Charlottenlund Palace Copenhagen DenmarkDied21 September 1957 1957 09 21 aged 85 Royal Palace Oslo NorwayBurial1 October 1957Akershus Castle Oslo NorwaySpouseMaud of Wales m 1896 died 1938 wbr IssueOlav V of NorwayNamesHaakon ne Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar AxelHouseGlucksburgFatherFrederick VIII of DenmarkMotherLouise of SwedenSignatureOriginally a Danish prince he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VIII of Denmark and Louise of Sweden Prince Carl was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and served in the Royal Danish Navy After the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway Prince Carl was offered the Norwegian crown Following a November plebiscite he accepted the offer and was formally elected King of Norway by the Storting He took the Old Norse name Haakon and ascended to the throne as Haakon VII becoming the first independent Norwegian monarch since 1387 1 As king Haakon gained much sympathy from the Norwegian people Although the Constitution of Norway vests the King with considerable executive powers in practice Haakon confined himself to non partisan roles without interfering in politics a practice continued by his son and grandson Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1940 Haakon rejected German demands to legitimise the Quisling regime s puppet government and refused to abdicate after going into exile in Great Britain As such he played a pivotal role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its resistance to the invasion and the subsequent five year long occupation during the Second World War He returned to Norway in June 1945 after the defeat of Germany He became King of Norway when his grandfather Christian IX was still reigning in Denmark and before his father and elder brother became kings of Denmark During his reign he saw his father Frederick VIII his elder brother Christian X and his nephew Frederick IX ascend the throne of Denmark in 1906 1912 also of Iceland from 1918 to 1944 and 1947 respectively Haakon died at the age of 85 in September 1957 after having reigned for nearly 52 years He was succeeded by his only son who ascended to the throne as Olav V 2 Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Birth and family 1 2 Childhood and education 1 3 Marriage 2 Accession to the Norwegian throne 2 1 Background and election 2 2 Arrival in Norway 2 3 Coronation 3 Early reign 4 Resistance during World War II 4 1 The German invasion 4 2 Norwegian campaign 4 3 Government in exile 5 Post war years 5 1 Death and succession 6 Legacy 7 Honours 8 In popular culture 9 Ancestry 10 See also 11 References 11 1 Citations 11 2 Bibliography 12 External linksEarly life EditBirth and family Edit Prince Carl s birthplace Charlottenlund Palace north of Copenhagen c 1895 Prince Carl was born on 3 August 1872 at his parents country residence Charlottenlund Palace north of Copenhagen during the reign of his paternal grandfather King Christian IX 3 He was the second son of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark the future King Frederick VIII and his wife Louise of Sweden 3 His father was the eldest son of King Christian IX and Louise of Hesse Kassel and his mother was the only daughter of King Charles XV of Sweden who was also king of Norway as Charles IV and Louise of the Netherlands At birth he was third in the succession to the Danish throne after his father and older brother but without any real prospect of inheriting the throne The young prince was baptised at Charlottenlund Palace on 7 September 1872 by the Bishop of Zealand Hans Lassen Martensen He was baptised with the names Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel and was known as Prince Carl namesake of his maternal grandfather the King of Sweden Norway 3 Prince Carl belonged to the Schleswig Holstein Sonderburg Glucksburg often shortened to Glucksburg branch of the House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg had been the Danish royal family since 1448 between 1536 and 1814 it also ruled Norway which was then part of the Kingdom of Denmark Norway The house was originally from northern Germany where the Glucksburg Lyksborg branch held their small fief The family had links with Norway beginning from the 15th century Several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of Norway in union with Denmark and at times Sweden They included Christian I of Norway Frederick I Christian III Frederick II Christian IV as well as Frederick III of Norway who integrated Norway into the Oldenburg state with Denmark Schleswig and Holstein His subsequent paternal ancestors had been dukes in Schleswig Holstein Christian Frederick who was King of Norway briefly in 1814 the first king of the Norwegian 1814 constitution and struggle for independence was his great granduncle Childhood and education Edit Prince Carl of Denmark as a naval cadet in 1889 Prince Carl was raised with his siblings in the royal household in Copenhagen and grew up between his parents residence in Copenhagen the Frederick VIII s Palace an 18th century palace which forms part of the Amalienborg Palace complex in central Copenhagen and their country residence Charlottenlund Palace located by the coastline of the Oresund strait north of the city In contrast to the usual practise of the period where royal children were brought up by governesses the children were raised by Crown Princess Louise herself Under the supervision of their mother the children of the Crown Princess received a rather strict Christian dominated upbringing which was characterized by severity the fulfillment of duties care and order 4 As a younger son of the Crown Prince there was little expectation that Carl would become king He was third in line to the throne after his father and elder brother Prince Christian and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother Carl was less than two years younger than Christian and the two princes were educated together and had a joint confirmation at Christiansborg Palace Chapel in 1887 After his confirmation as was customary for princes at that time Prince Carl was expected to start a military education dubious discuss It was decided that he in accordance with his own wishes should enter the Royal Danish Navy He was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy from 1889 to 1893 graduating as a second lieutenant In 1894 he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and remained in service with the Royal Danish Navy until 1905 5 Marriage Edit Wedding of Princess Maud and Prince Carl at Buckingham Palace On 22 July 1896 6 in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace Prince Carl married his first cousin Princess Maud of Wales Princess Maud was the youngest daughter of the Prince of Wales the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife Princess Alexandra of Denmark eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise The wedding was attended by the bride s grandmother the 77 year old Queen Victoria After the wedding the couple settled in Copenhagen where Prince Carl continued his career as a naval officer The bride s father gave them Appleton House on the Sandringham Estate as a country residence for his daughter s frequent visits to England 7 It was there that the couple s only child Prince Alexander the future Crown Prince Olav and eventually King Olav V of Norway was born on 2 July 1903 6 Accession to the Norwegian throne EditBackground and election Edit See also Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden Ballots with yes and no from the 1905 Norwegian monarchy referendum After the Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved in 1905 a committee of the Norwegian government identified several princes of European royal houses as candidates for the Norwegian crown Although Norway had legally had the status of an independent state since 1814 it had not had its own king since 1387 Gradually Prince Carl became the leading candidate largely because he was descended from independent Norwegian kings He also had a son providing an heir apparent to the throne and the fact that his wife Princess Maud was a member of the British Royal Family was viewed by many as an advantage to the newly independent Norwegian nation 8 The democratically minded Carl aware that Norway was still debating whether to remain a kingdom or to switch instead to a republican system of government was flattered by the Norwegian government s overtures but he made his acceptance of the offer conditional on the holding of a referendum to show whether monarchy was the choice of the Norwegian people After the referendum overwhelmingly confirmed by a 79 percent majority 259 563 votes for and 69 264 against that Norwegians desired to retain a monarchy 9 Prince Carl was formally offered the throne of Norway by the Storting parliament and was elected on 18 November 1905 When Carl accepted the offer that same evening after the approval of his grandfather Christian IX of Denmark he immediately endeared himself to his adopted country by taking the Old Norse name of Haakon a name which had not been used by kings of Norway for over 500 years 10 In so doing he succeeded his maternal great uncle Oscar II of Sweden who had abdicated the Norwegian throne in October following the agreement between Sweden and Norway on the terms of the separation of the union A delegation from the Norwegian Parliament is received on 20 November 1905 at Amalienborg by King Christian IX of Denmark who gives his consent to the election of his grandson Prince Carl as King of Norway Painting by Paul Fischer On the morning of 20 November a large crowd gathered outside King Haakon and Queen Maud s residence in Bernstorff s Palace in Copenhagen The attendees greeted the royal couple as they appeared in the window and started singing Ja vi elsker dette landet Later the same day King Christian IX of Denmark received a delegation from the Storting in an audience in Christian VII s Palace at Amalienborg The delegation conveyed the message that the king s grandson had been elected King of Norway while Christian IX expressed his consent to the election of Prince Carl The head of the delegation the President of the Storting Carl Berner conveyed a greeting and congratulations from the Norwegian people and expressed the people s wishes for a happy cooperation The king replied Mr President of the Storthing gentlemen The first greeting from the Representatives of the Norwegian People who in their unanimous Storthing decision on 18 November has elected me their King has touched me deeply The people have thereby shown me a confidence which I know how to appreciate and which I hope will still grow stronger as it gets to know my wife and me As it will be known to you gentlemen it was at my request that the newly concluded referendum took place I wanted to be sure that it was a people and not a party that wanted me to be king as my task above all should be to unite not divide My life I will devote to the good of Norway and it is the fervent wish of my wife and I that the people who have chosen us will unite to cooperate and strive towards this great goal and with full confidence I can then take as my motto ALL FOR NORWAY 11 Arrival in Norway Edit King Haakon VII arrives in Norway with Crown Prince Olav on his arm and is greeted on board the ship Heimdal by Prime Minister Christian Michelsen On 23 November the new royal family of Norway left Copenhagen on the Danish royal yacht the paddle steamer Dannebrog and sailed into the Oslofjord At Oscarsborg Fortress they boarded the Norwegian naval ship Heimdal After a three day journey they arrived in Kristiania now Oslo early on the morning of 25 November 1905 where the king was received at the harbour by the Prime Minister of Norway Christian Michelsen On the deck of the Heimdal the Prime Minister gave the following speech to the king For almost 600 years the Norwegian people have not had their own king Never has he been completely our own Always have we had to share him with others Never has he had his home with us But where the home is there will also be the fatherland Today it is different Today Norway s young king comes to build his future home in Norway s capital Named by a free people as a free man to lead his country he will be completely our own Once again the Norwegians king will be the strong unifying mark for all national deeds in the new independent Norway 12 Two days later on 27 November Haakon VII took his constitutional oath before parliament as Norway s first independent king in 518 years However Norway counts 18 November the day of his election as the formal beginning of his reign Coronation Edit See also Coronations in Norway Coronation portrait of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud 22 June 1906 On 22 June 1906 King Haakon and Queen Maud were solemnly crowned and anointed in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim by the Bishop of Trondheim Vilhelm Andreas Wexelsen 6 The coronation was in keeping with the constitutional mandate but many Norwegian statesmen had come to regard coronation rites as undemocratic and archaic The coronation clause was deleted from Norway s constitution in 1908 and although coronations are not expressly banned under current Norwegian legislation this became the last coronation of a Norwegian monarch In the period before and after the coronation the king and Queen made an extensive coronation journey through Norway The King and Queen moved into the Royal Palace in Oslo Haakon became the first monarch to use the palace permanently and the palace was therefore refurbished for two years before he Queen Maud and Crown Prince Olav could move in After the coronation King Haakon and Queen Maud also received the estate Kongesaeteren at Voksenkollen in Oslo as a gift from the Norwegian people Early reign Edit King Haakon VII Crown Prince Olav and Queen Maud on 17 July 1913 in Norway King Haakon gained much sympathy from the Norwegian people He travelled extensively through Norway As king Haakon endeavored to redefine the role of the monarchy in egalitarian Norway and to find a balance between the informal Norwegian way of life and the monarchy s need for formal representation Although the Constitution of Norway vests the King with considerable executive powers in practice nearly all major governmental decisions were made by the Government the Council of State in his name Haakon confined himself to non partisan roles without interfering in politics a practice continued by his son and grandson However his long rule gave him considerable moral authority as a symbol of the country s unity The Norwegian explorer and Nobel Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen became a friend of the Royal Family citation needed King Haakon with other European sovereigns at the funeral of King Edward VII photographed on 20 May 1910 Standing from left to right King Haakon VII of Norway Tsar Ferdinand of the Bulgarians King Manuel II of Portugal and the Algarves Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany King George I of the Hellenes and King Albert I of the Belgians Seated from left to right King Alfonso XIII of Spain King George V of the United Kingdom and King Frederick VIII of Denmark In 1927 the Labour Party became the largest party in parliament and early the following year Norway s first Labour Party government rose to power The Labour Party was considered to be revolutionary by many and the deputy prime minister at the time advised against appointing Christopher Hornsrud as Prime Minister Haakon however refused to abandon parliamentary convention and asked Hornsrud to form a new government In response to some of his detractors he stated I am also the King of the Communists Norwegian Jeg er ogsa kommunistenes konge 13 Crown Prince Olav married his cousin Princess Martha of Sweden on 21 March 1929 She was the daughter of Haakon s sister Ingeborg and Prince Carl Duke of Vastergotland Olav and Martha had three children Ragnhild 1930 2012 Astrid born 1932 and Harald born 1937 who was to become king in 1991 Queen Maud died unexpectedly while visiting the United Kingdom on 20 November 1938 14 In 1939 King Haakon toured southeast Montana and parts of the proposed secessionist state of Absaroka with supporters of the succession movement claiming this event as formal recognition of their state 15 Resistance during World War II EditSee also German occupation of Norway The German invasion Edit Main article Operation Weserubung Norway was invaded by the naval and air forces of Nazi Germany during the early hours of 9 April 1940 The German naval detachment sent to capture Oslo was opposed by Oscarsborg Fortress The fortress fired at the invaders sinking the heavy cruiser Blucher and damaging the heavy cruiser Lutzow with heavy German losses that included many soldiers Gestapo agents and administrative personnel who were to have occupied the Norwegian capital This led to the withdrawal of the rest of the German flotilla preventing the invaders planned dawn occupation of Oslo The German delay in occupying Oslo along with swift action by the President of the Storting C J Hambro created the opportunity for the Norwegian Royal Family the cabinet and most of the 150 members of the Storting parliament to make a hasty departure from the capital by special train The Storting first convened at Hamar the same afternoon but with the rapid advance of German troops the group moved on to Elverum The assembled Storting unanimously enacted a resolution the so called Elverum Authorization granting the cabinet full powers to protect the country until such time as the Storting could meet again The next day Curt Brauer the German Ambassador to Norway demanded a meeting with Haakon The German diplomat called on Haakon to accept Adolf Hitler s demands to end all resistance and appoint Vidkun Quisling as prime minister Quisling the leader of Norway s fascist party the Nasjonal Samling had declared himself prime minister hours earlier in Oslo as head of what would be a German puppet government had Haakon formally appointed him it would effectively have given legal sanction to the invasion 16 Brauer suggested that Haakon follow the example of the Danish government and his brother Christian X which had surrendered almost immediately after the previous day s invasion and threatened Norway with harsh reprisals if it did not surrender Haakon told Brauer that he could not make the decision himself but could only act on the advice of the Government citation needed In a meeting in Nybergsund the King reported the German ultimatum to the cabinet sitting as a council of state Haakon told the cabinet I am deeply affected by the responsibility laid on me if the German demand is rejected The responsibility for the calamities that will befall people and country is indeed so grave that I dread to take it It rests with the government to decide but my position is clear For my part I cannot accept the German demands It would conflict with all that I have considered to be my duty as King of Norway since I came to this country nearly thirty five years ago 17 Haakon went on to say that he could not appoint Quisling as prime minister since he knew neither the people nor the Storting had confidence in him However if the cabinet felt otherwise the King said he would abdicate so as not to stand in the way of the Government s decision Nils Hjelmtveit Minister of Church and Education later wrote This made a great impression on us all More clearly than ever before we could see the man behind the words the king who had drawn a line for himself and his task a line from which he could not deviate We had through the five years in government learned to respect and appreciate our king and now through his words he came to us as a great man just and forceful a leader in these fatal times to our country 18 Inspired by Haakon s stand the government unanimously advised him not to appoint any government headed by Quisling 19 Within hours it telephoned its refusal to Brauer That night NRK broadcast the government s rejection of the German demands to the Norwegian people In that same broadcast the government announced that it would resist the German invasion as long as possible and expressed their confidence that Norwegians would lend their support to the cause citation needed After Norway was eventually conquered Quisling transformed the country into a one party fascist state and recruited 6 000 Norwegians to fight alongside the Germans on the Russian front 20 A very small percentage of the population supported Quisling and many joined the Norwegian resistance movement After the war Quisling was convicted of treason and executed 20 Norwegian campaign Edit Main article Norwegian campaign King Haakon VII and Crown Prince Olav seeking shelter on the outskirts of Molde during a German bombing raid on the city in April 1940 The following morning 11 April 1940 in an attempt to wipe out Norway s unyielding king and government Luftwaffe bombers attacked Nybergsund destroying the small town where the Government was staying Neutral Sweden was only 26 kilometres 16 mi away but the Swedish government decided it would detain and incarcerate King Haakon if he crossed their border which Haakon never forgave 21 The Norwegian king and his ministers took refuge in the snow covered woods and escaped harm continuing farther north through the mountains toward Molde on Norway s west coast As the British forces in the area lost ground under Luftwaffe bombardment the King and his party were taken aboard the British cruiser HMS Glasgow at Molde and conveyed a further 1 000 kilometres 620 mi north to Tromso where a provisional capital was established on 1 May Haakon and Crown Prince Olav took up residence in a forest cabin in Malselvdalen valley in inner Troms County where they would stay until evacuation to the United Kingdom The Allies had a fairly secure hold over northern Norway until late May The situation was dramatically altered however by their deteriorating situation in the Battle of France With the Germans rapidly overrunning France the Allied high command decided that the forces in northern Norway should be withdrawn The Royal Family and Norwegian Government were evacuated from Tromso on 7 June aboard HMS Devonshire with a total of 461 passengers This evacuation became extremely costly for the Royal Navy when the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau attacked and sank the nearby aircraft carrier HMS Glorious with its escorting destroyers HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent Devonshire did not rebroadcast the enemy sighting report made by Glorious as it could not disclose its position by breaking radio silence No other British ship received the sighting report and 1 519 British officers and men and three warships were lost Devonshire arrived safely in London and King Haakon and his Cabinet set up a Norwegian government in exile in the British capital 22 23 Government in exile Edit The King s monogram became a symbol of resistance during the Second World War Main article Nygaardsvold s Cabinet Initially King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav were guests at Buckingham Palace but at the start of the London Blitz in September 1940 they moved to Bowdown House in Berkshire The construction of the adjacent RAF Greenham Common airfield in March 1942 prompted another move to Foliejon Park in Winkfield near Windsor in Berkshire where they remained until the liberation of Norway 24 The King s official residence was the Norwegian Legation at 10 Palace Green Kensington which became the seat of the Norwegian government in exile Here Haakon attended weekly Cabinet meetings and worked on the speeches which were regularly broadcast by radio to Norway by the BBC World Service These broadcasts helped to cement Haakon s position as an important national symbol to the Norwegian resistance 25 Many broadcasts were made from Saint Olav s Norwegian Church in Rotherhithe where the Royal Family were regular worshippers 26 The Royal Family of Norway waving to the welcoming crowds from HMS Norfolk at Oslo June 1945 Meanwhile Hitler had appointed Josef Terboven as Reichskommissar for Norway On Hitler s orders Terboven attempted to coerce the Storting to depose the King the Storting declined citing constitutional principles A subsequent ultimatum was made by the Germans threatening to intern all Norwegians of military age in German concentration camps 27 With this threat looming the Storting s representatives in Oslo wrote to their monarch on 27 June asking him to abdicate The King declined politely replying that the Storting was acting under duress The King gave his answer on 3 July and proclaimed it on BBC radio on 8 July 28 After one further German attempt in September to force the Storting to depose Haakon failed Terboven finally decreed that the Royal Family had forfeited their right to return and dissolved the democratic political parties 29 During Norway s five years under German control many Norwegians surreptitiously wore clothing or jewellery made from coins bearing Haakon s H7 monogram as symbols of resistance to the German occupation and of solidarity with their exiled King and Government just as many people in Denmark wore his brother s monogram on a pin The King s monogram was also painted and otherwise reproduced on various surfaces as a show of resistance to the occupation 30 After the end of the war Haakon and the Norwegian royal family returned to Norway aboard the cruiser HMS Norfolk arriving with the First Cruiser Squadron to cheering crowds in Oslo on 7 June 1945 31 exactly five years after they had been evacuated from Tromso 32 Crown Prince Olav had returned a few weeks earlier on 13 May 1945 33 Post war years Edit King Haakon VII reading the Speech from the Throne to the Storting in 1950 Crown Prince Olav on his right side After his return Haakon did not continue the political role that he had played during the war and limited himself to his constitutional duties as head of state In the late summer of 1945 he went on an extensive tour of Norway to examine the war damage and to give consolation to the population Because of his role during the war and his personal integrity Haakon VII was considered the highest moral authority in the country and enjoyed great esteem in all classes of the population In 1947 the Norwegian people by public subscription purchased the royal yacht Norge for the King 34 In 1952 he attended the funeral of his wife s nephew King George VI and openly wept The King s granddaughter Princess Ragnhild married businessman Erling Lorentzen of the Lorentzen family on 15 May 1953 being the first member of the new Norwegian royal family to marry a commoner 35 Haakon lived to see two of his great grandchildren born Haakon Lorentzen b 23 August 1954 and Ingeborg Lorentzen b 3 February 1957 Crown Princess Martha died of cancer on 5 April 1954 36 King Haakon VII fell in his bathroom at the Bygdoy Royal Estate Bygdoy kongsgard in July 1955 This fall which occurred just a month before his eighty third birthday resulted in a fracture to the thighbone and although there were few other complications resulting from the fall the King was left using a wheelchair The once active King was said to have been depressed by his resulting helplessness and began to lose his customary involvement and interest in current events With Haakon s loss of mobility and as his health deteriorated further in the summer of 1957 Crown Prince Olav appeared on behalf of his father on ceremonial occasions and took a more active role in state affairs 37 Death and succession Edit Funeral procession of King Haakon VII with King Olav V and Crown prince Harald at the front and King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden to the left Haakon died at the Royal Palace in Oslo on 21 September 1957 He was 85 years old At his death Olav succeeded him as Olav V Haakon was buried on 1 October 1957 alongside his wife in the white sarcophagus in the Royal Mausoleum at Akershus Fortress He was the last surviving son of King Frederick VIII of Denmark Legacy EditHaakon VII is regarded by many as one of the greatest Norwegian leaders of the pre war period managing to hold his young and fragile country together in unstable political conditions He was ranked highly in the Norwegian of the Century poll in 2005 38 Honours EditThe King Haakon VII Sea in East Antarctica is named in the king s honour as well as the entire plateau surrounding the South Pole was named King Haakon VII Vidde by Roald Amundsen when he in 1911 became the first human to reach the South Pole See Polheim 39 In 1914 Haakon County in the American state of South Dakota was named in his honour 40 Two Royal Norwegian Navy ships King Haakon VII an escort ship in commission from 1942 to 1951 and Haakon VII a training ship in commission from 1958 to 1974 have been named after King Haakon VII 41 For his struggles against the Nazi regime and his effort to revive the Holmenkollen ski festival following World War II King Haakon VII earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1955 Shared with Hallgeir Brenden Veikko Hakulinen and Sverre Stenersen one of only 11 people not famous for Nordic skiing to receive this honour The others are Norway s Stein Eriksen Borghild Niskin Inger Bjornbakken Astrid Sandvik King Olav V his son Erik Haker Jacob Vaage King Harald V his paternal grandson and Queen Sonja his paternal granddaughter in law and Sweden s Ingemar Stenmark 42 His father in law King Edward VII appointed him Honorary Lieutenant in the British Fleet shortly after succeeding in February 1901 43 His father King Frederick VIII appointed him Admiral of the Royal Danish Navy on 20 November 1905 44 National 45 Denmark 46 Knight of the Elephant 3 August 1890 Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog 3 August 1890 Grand Commander of the Dannebrog 28 July 1912 King Christian X s Freedom Medal Commemorative Medal for King Christian IX and Queen Louise s Golden Wedding anniversary Commemorative Medal for King Christian IX s 100th birthday Commemorative Medal for King Frederik VIII s 100th birthday Norway War Cross with Sword Gold Medal for Outstanding Civic Achievement Grand Master of the Order of St Olav 18 November 1905Foreign 45 Austria Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria Belgium Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold military 2 October 1906 47 Brazil Grand Cross of the Southern Cross with Collar Czechoslovakia Grand Cross of the White Lion 1937 48 Czechoslovak War Cross 1939 1945 Ethiopian Imperial Family Collar of the Order of Solomon Finland Grand Cross of the White Rose with Collar 1926 49 France Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Cross of War 1939 1945 Medaille Militaire Greek Royal Family War Cross 1940 Grand Cross of the Redeemer 1947 Iceland Grand Cross of the Falcon with Collar 1955 50 Italian Royal Family Knight of the Annunciation 12 April 1909 51 Japan Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum German Imperial and Royal Family Knight of the Black Eagle Grand Cross of the Red Eagle Mecklenburg Grand Ducal Family Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown with Crown in Ore Netherlands Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion Peru Grand Cross of the Sun of Peru in Diamonds 1922 Poland Knight of the White Eagle 1930 Portuguese Royal Family Grand Cross of the Sash of the Three Orders Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword Romanian Royal Family Grand Cross of the Order of Carol I with Collar Russian Imperial Family Knight of St Andrew Knight of St Alexander Nevsky Knight of the White Eagle Knight of St Anna 1st Class Knight of St Stanislaus 1st Class Spain Knight of the Golden Fleece with Collar 16 July 1910 52 Sweden Knight of the Seraphim 30 May 1893 53 Thailand Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri Turkish Imperial Family Order of Osmanieh 1st Class in Diamonds United Kingdom Honorary Grand Cross of the Bath civil 21 July 1896 54 Honorary Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order 2 February 1901 on the day of the funeral of Queen Victoria 55 Honorary Colonel of the Norfolk Yeomanry 11 June 1902 56 Royal Victorian Chain 9 August 1902 57 Stranger Knight of the Garter 9 November 1906 58 Bailiff Grand Cross of St John 12 June 1926 59 Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal King Edward VII Coronation Medal Honorary Citizen of Largs Scotland 60 In popular culture EditHaakon was portrayed by Jakob Cedergren in the 2009 NRK drama series Harry amp Charles a series that focused on the events leading up to the election of King Haakon in 1905 Jesper Christensen portrayed the King in the 2016 film The King s Choice Kongens nei which was based on the events surrounding the German invasion of Norway and the King s decision to resist The film won widespread critical acclaim and was Norway s submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards The film made the shortlist of nine finalists in December 2016 61 62 63 64 Haakon was portrayed by Soren Pilmark in the 2020 NRK drama series Atlantic Crossing a series regarding Crown Princess Martha s handling of the royal family exile from 1939 to 1945 Ancestry EditAncestors of Haakon VII of Norway8 Friedrich Wilhelm Duke of Schleswig Holstein Sonderburg Glucksburg4 Christian IX of Denmark9 Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse Kassel2 Frederick VIII of Denmark10 Prince William of Hesse Kassel5 Princess Louise of Hesse Kassel11 Princess Charlotte of Denmark and Norway1 Haakon VII of Norway12 Oscar I of Sweden and Norway6 Charles XV of Sweden and Norway13 Princess Josephine of Leuchtenberg3 Princess Louise of Sweden and Norway14 Prince Frederick of the Netherlands7 Princess Louise of the Netherlands15 Princess Louise of PrussiaSee also EditList of state visits made by Haakon VII of Norway List of covers of Time magazine 1920s 1930s References EditCitations Edit Carl Haakon VII kongernessamling dk The Royal Danish Collection Retrieved 1 November 2019 Kong Olav 5 nrk no Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 1 November 2019 a b c Montgomery Massingberd Hugh ed 1977 Burke s Royal Families of the World Vol 1 London UK Burke s Peerage Ltd p 71 Bramsen 1992 p 274 Grimnes Ole Kristian 13 February 2009 Haakon 7 Norsk biografisk leksikon in Norwegian Oslo Kunnskapsforlaget Retrieved 19 May 2017 a b c The Queen Receives Time 18 June 1923 Archived from the original on 22 December 2008 Retrieved 17 January 2009 Appleton House kongehuset no The Royal House of Norway 5 March 2011 Berg Roald 1995 Norge pa egen hand 1905 1920 Norsk utenrikspolitikks historie volume 2 in Norwegian Oslo Universitetsforlaget p 309 ISBN 8200223949 Jubilee Time 8 December 1930 p 1 Archived from the original on 13 August 2009 Retrieved 17 December 2008 English Heritage 2005 Blue Plaque for King Haakon VII of Norway English Heritage Retrieved 12 April 2008 Alt for Norge Kongens Ja kongehuset no in Norwegian The Royal House of Norway 20 November 1905 Retrieved 28 December 2021 Kongevalget kongehuset no in Norwegian The Royal House of Norway 9 July 2013 Retrieved 28 December 2021 Official site of the Norwegian Royal House in Norwegian Queen Maud of Norway talknorway no Retrieved 1 November 2019 Pedersen Nate The State of Absaroka www southdakotamagazine com Retrieved 6 November 2022 Breivik Quisling and the Norwegian spirit CBC Retrieved 13 April 2021 When the Germans demanded that the Norwegian king Haakon VII surrender and appoint Quisling as head of a puppet government the king refused even after the Nazis threatened to send all Norwegian men of military age to concentration camps The account and quotation were recorded by one of the cabinet members and were recounted in William L Shirer s The Challenge of Scandinavia page needed Haarr Geirr H 2009 The German Invasion of Norway Barnsley UK Seaforth ISBN 978 1848320321 page needed Breivik Quisling and the Norwegian spirit CBC Retrieved 13 April 2021 His cabinet and the Storting the Norwegian parliament supported the king a b Breivik Quisling and the Norwegian spirit CBC Retrieved 13 April 2021 But Quisling supporters were only a tiny minority two per cent of the population Norwegians showed their opposition to the occupiers in many ways active resistance continued with widespread sabotage Sir Gustaf von Platen in Bakom den gyllene fasaden Bonniers ISBN 9100580481 pp 445 446 Mine plikter Kongens andre nei kongehuset no Retrieved 1 November 2019 The Tragedy of HMS Glorious cam ac uk Retrieved 1 November 2019 British Government News amp Press Releases 25 October 2005 Blue Plaque for King Haakon VII of Norway Archived from the original on 3 December 2013 Retrieved 8 April 2013 Norway the official site in the UK News 27 October 2012 Princess Astrid unveils blue plaque The Diocese of Southwark The Bridge December 2009 January 2010 Scandinavia in Rotherhithe William Lawrence Shirer The challenge of Scandinavia Norway Sweden Denmark and Finland in our time Robert Hale 1956 page needed Dahl Hjeltnes Nokleby Ringdal Sorensen eds 1995 Norge i krigen 1939 45 Kronologisk oversikt Norsk krigsleksikon 1940 45 in Norwegian Oslo Cappelen p 11 ISBN 8202141389 Krigsarene 1940 1945 Royal House of Norway in Norwegian 31 January 2009 Retrieved 17 September 2009 H7 Time Monday 30 September 1957 First Out First In Time 11 June 1945 Archived from the original on 21 December 2011 Retrieved 17 January 2009 The Norwegian Royal House s official page about the escape the five years in exile and the return after World War II in English Olav V king of Norway Britannica Retrieved 13 April 2021 Drommen om Norge kongehuset no Retrieved 1 November 2019 Erling Sven Lorentzen paperdiscoverycenter org Archived from the original on 17 November 2019 Retrieved 1 November 2019 Crown Princess Martha 1901 1954 kongehuset no Retrieved 1 November 2019 Jon Gunnar Arntzen Bygdoy kongsgard Store norske leksikon Retrieved 1 November 2019 Han er Norges beste konge gjennom tidene www vg no in Norwegian Bokmal Retrieved 22 September 2019 Amundsen s original South Pole Station southpolestation com Retrieved 1 November 2019 Haakon County South Dakota genealogytrails com Retrieved 1 November 2019 Skoleskip KNM Haakon VII sjohistorie no Retrieved 1 November 2019 Olympians Who Received the Holmenkollmedaljen sports reference com Archived from the original on 17 April 2020 Retrieved 1 November 2019 No 27285 The London Gazette 15 February 1901 p 1147 Marineministeriets foranstaltning 1912 Haandbog for Sovaernet for 1912 PDF in Danish Copenhagen H H Thieles Bogtrykkeri p 9 Retrieved 30 April 2019 a b Royal House of Norway web page on King Haakon VII s decorations Norwegian Retrieved 5 October 2007 Bille Hansen A C Holck Harald eds 1953 1st pub 1801 Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1953 State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1953 PDF Kongelig Dansk Hof og Statskalender in Danish Copenhagen J H Schultz A S Universitetsbogtrykkeri pp 16 18 Retrieved 16 September 2019 via da DIS Danmark Liste des Membres de l Ordre de Leopold Almanach Royale Belgique in French Bruxelles 1907 p 86 via hathitrust org Kolana Radu Bileho lva aneb hlavy statu v retezech in Czech Czech Medals and Orders Society Retrieved 9 August 2018 Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun Suurristi Ketjuineen ritarikunnat fi in Finnish Retrieved 7 May 2020 Icelandese Presidency Website Archived 17 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine Hakon VII konungur Noregur 25 May 1955 Storkross med kedju Haakon VII King Norway 25 May 1955 Grand Cross with Collar Italy Ministero dell interno 1920 Calendario generale del regno d Italia p 57 Caballeros de la insigne orden del toison de oro Guia Oficial de Espana in Spanish 1929 p 216 Retrieved 21 March 2019 Sveriges statskalender in Swedish 1905 p 440 retrieved 20 February 2019 via runeberg org Shaw Wm A 1906 The Knights of England I London p 214 No 27285 The London Gazette 15 February 1901 p 1145 No 27441 The London Gazette 10 June 1902 p 3756 Shaw p 415 The Edinburgh Gazette issue 11881 p 1153 No 33284 The London Gazette 14 June 1927 p 3836 Miscellany Time 25 December 1944 Archived from the original on 15 December 2008 Retrieved 17 January 2009 Johansen Oystein David 8 September 2016 Kongens nei er Norges Oscar kandidat Verdens Gang Retrieved 8 September 2016 Sandwell Ian 8 September 2016 Oscars Norway picks The King s Choice ScreenDaily Retrieved 8 September 2016 Oscars Nine Films Advance in Foreign Language Race Variety 15 December 2016 Retrieved 15 December 2016 Kongens nei er Norges Oscar kandidat VG Retrieved 1 November 2019 Bibliography Edit Bomann Larsen Tor 2004 Haakon og Maud I Kongstanken in Norwegian Oslo Cappelen ISBN 82 02 22527 2 Bomann Larsen Tor 2004 Haakon og Maud II Folket in Norwegian Oslo Cappelen ISBN 978 82 02 22529 2 Bomann Larsen Tor 2006 Haakon og Maud III Vintertronen in Norwegian Oslo Cappelen ISBN 978 82 02 24665 5 Bramsen Bo 1992 Huset Glucksborg Europas svigerfader og hans efterslaegt The House of Glucksburg The Father in law of Europe and his descendants in Danish 2nd ed Copenhagen Forlaget Forum ISBN 87 553 1843 6 Dahl Hans Fredrik 1995 Norsk krigsleksikon 1940 45 in Norwegian Oslo Cappelen ISBN 8202141389 Greve Tim 1983 Haakon VII of Norway Founder of a New Monarchy Hurst ISBN 978 0905838663 Lerche Anna Mandal Marcus 2003 A royal family the story of Christian IX and his European descendants Copenhagen Aschehoug ISBN 9788715109577 Shirer William L 1956 The Challenge of Scandinavia London Robert Hale OCLC 930493567 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Haakon VII of Norway Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article about Haakon VII of Norway Official Website of the Royal House of Norway King Haakon biography Official Website of the Royal House of Norway Prince Carl Haakon VII at the website of the Royal Danish Collection at Amalienborg Palace The Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav H M King Haakon VII the former Grand Master of the OrderHaakon VIIHouse of Schleswig Holstein Sonderburg GlucksburgCadet branch of the House of OldenburgBorn 3 August 1872 Died 21 September 1957Regnal titlesVacantTitle last held byOscar II King of Norway1905 1957 Succeeded byOlav V Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Haakon VII of Norway amp oldid 1132765837, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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