Olav V (born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was King of Norway from 1957 until his death.
Olav was the only child of Haakon VII and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norwegian throne when his father was elected King of Norway in 1905. He was the first heir to the Norwegian throne to be brought up in Norway since Olav IV, and his parents made sure 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. At his death in 1991, he was the last surviving grandchild of Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark.
Olav was thus the first heir to the throne since the Middle Ages to have been raised in Norway. 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 went on to study jurisprudence and economics for two years at Balliol College, Oxford.[4]
During the 1930s, Crown Prince Olav was a naval cadet serving on the minelayer/cadet training ship Olav Tryggvason.[5] Olav moved up the ranks of the Norwegian armed forces, rising in the army from an initial rank of first lieutenant to captain in 1931 and colonel in 1936.[6]
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[7] 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, D.C., where she struck up a close friendship with Franklin D. 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.[8] 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.[9]
World War II
King Haakon VII and Crown Prince Olav in Scotland during World War II
As Crown Prince, Olav had received extensive military training and had participated in most major Norwegian military exercises. Because of this he was perhaps one of the most knowledgeable Norwegian military leaders and 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. These 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.[6]
During World War II, Olav stood by his father's side in resisting the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. 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 this 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. It is a popular legend among his countrymen that he did not allow himself any dessert or sweets for the duration of the Norwegian occupation.[citation needed]
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. 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 Hitler.
Succeeding to the Norwegian throne in 1957 upon his father's death, Olav reigned as a "People's King," and became extremely popular. He liked to drive his own cars, and would drive in the public lanes, even though as a monarch he was allowed to drive in bus lanes. During the 1973 energy crisis driving was banned on certain weekends. King Olav never wanted to miss an opportunity to go skiing, and while he could have driven legally, he wanted to lead by example. So he dressed up in his skiing outfit, and boarded the Holmenkollbanen suburban railway carrying his skis on his shoulder.[10]
He was later asked how he dared to go out in public without bodyguards. He replied that "he had 4 million bodyguards" —the population of Norway was at the time 4 million.
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.
Illness and death
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 myocardial infarction. 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, which began the day of his death. Olav's son Harald V succeeded him as King.
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.[11] The National Archives have preserved all these cards.
Funeral
The funeral of King Olav was held on January 30. 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.[12] Prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland gave the eulogy at the state funeral before the casket was moved to Akershus Fortress where a private service was held.[13]
Olav was finally laid to rest next to his wife Märtha in the green sarcophagus of the Royal mausoleum.
Suits, Julia (2011). The Extraordinary Catalog of Peculiar Inventions: The Curious World of the Demoulin Brothers and Their Fraternal Lodge Prank Machi nes - from Human Centipedes and Revolving Goats to ElectricCarpets and SmokingC. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 53. ISBN978-1-101-54576-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
1 Also prince of Norway 2 Also prince of Greece 3 Also prince of Iceland 4 Also prince of the United Kingdom 5 Not Danish prince by birth, but created prince of Denmark Princes that lost their title are shown in italics
Norway
.jpg)
Norway War Cross
Argentina Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin
Austria Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
Belgium Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold
Brazil Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Rose
Chile Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Merit of Chile
Denmark Knight of the Elephant
Ethiopia Grand Cross of the Order of Solomon
Finland Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose
France Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur
Germany Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Great Britain Stranger Knight of the Garter (923rd member)
Greece Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer
Iran Grand Cordon of the Order of Pahlavi
Iceland Grand Cross (1955) with Collar (1961) of the Order of the Falcon
Japan Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum
Luxembourg Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
Mexico Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle
Netherlands Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Peru Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun
Portugal Grand Cross of the Order of St. Bento d'Aviz
Romania Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star
Saxony Grand Cross of the Ernestine Order (Saxony, Germany)
Spain Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Sweden Knight of the Seraphim
Thailand Knights of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri
Tunisia Grand Cross of the Order of Independence
USA Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit
Yugoslavia Order of the Yugoslav Great Star[16]
United Kingdom In 1959, Olav was granted the honorary rank of Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Air Force.[17]
United Kingdom In 1988, Olav was granted the honorary rank of Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Prince Olav Harbour on South Georgia is also named in his honour.
Märtha and Olav on the cover of Time on the occasion of their wedding
Haakon VII of Norway, Maud of Wales and Crown Prince Olav on 17 July 1913 in Norway
