Harald V was instilled with a strong sense of purpose, a single-mindedness that manifested throughout his reign. The King of Norway since 1991, who has died aged 89, was known for his part in the historic Oslo Accords of 1993.
As a prince determined to marry Sonja, a “commoner”, he provoked the consternation of his father Olav V and traditionalist Norwegians, but this resistance ultimately proved fruitless. The future king vowed never to marry anyone else should the wedding be blocked. Eventually, he got his way. After a nine-year courtship, Harald and Sonja were married in August 1968.
When King Olav took ill early in 1990, Harald, then Crown Prince Regent, took on his duties, and in this acting role he remained until his father passed away in January 1991 and he acceded the throne, adopting the motto: “We give our all for Norway.” Sonja duly became Queen.
Although he was dogged by ill health in his latter years – he had a pacemaker fitted in March 2024 after falling ill in Malaysia – at the time of his death Harald was Europe's longest-serving monarch. He was forced to use crutches when walking and his visits to hospital became more frequent but he steadfastly refused to abdicate. Heading into 2024, in his traditional New Year's Eve speech he spoke of his "defiant hope" in unity and encouraged his people to light candles "for all who suffer in wars and conflicts. A light for people we miss. And a light for hope.”
Ties to Middle East
King Harald was known to have strong relations with Israel. In 2014, he received then-president Shimon Peres, who was met on his state visit by protesters demonstrating against his country’s policies in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Together, the king and Peres laid wreaths commemorating Norwegians killed in the Second World War.
Harald also attended a public lecture presented by Peres at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, the Israeli president having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a decade earlier, shared with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat for their peace efforts in the Middle East, and culminating in the Oslo Accords. King Harald was firmly in favour of a peaceful solution. The Norwegian government had brokered the deal and while Harald had no direct involvement in the creation of the Accords, the symbolic role of the royal family was crucial in supporting Norway’s diplomacy.
Norway's royal couple undertook their first visit to the Middle East in March 2020, to Jordan. A warm welcome awaited them in Amman, where an elaborate ceremony was laid on by the Jordanians, replete with a guard of honour, and they were received by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania. On the agenda was an official meeting at Al Husseiniya Palace in the capital and a trip to Al Maghtas on the Jordan river, the site where Christians believe Jesus was baptised.
Harald and Sonja visited a girls’ school in Salt, on the grounds of which the Norwegian Football Association had built a pitch. The goal of the project was to promote sport and outdoor activity – pastimes close to the king’s heart – among the many Syrian refugee children in the country, to help with their integration into Jordanian society.
The basis of the state visit, which ended with Harald and Sonja being shown around historic Petra, was the 50th anniversary of cordial, diplomatic relations between the two countries, marked the previous year, and 25 years of the Norwegian embassy in Amman. Jordan, which in turn opened its embassy in Oslo in 2017, is Norway’s closest ally in the region, and the mutual friendship was reflected by the royals’ demeanour throughout the Norwegian delegation’s trip.
Early years
Harald was born on February 21, 1937, the first prince born in Norway in 567 years. In early childhood he spent most of the Second World War away from his homeland, which had been occupied by the Nazis, firstly with his mother and his sisters across the border in Sweden and then near Washington, DC, where they remained until peace was declared in 1945. They returned home to great scenes of joy on the streets of Oslo, the Norwegian royal family reunited once again.
He was a gifted and bookish pupil. He attended school in Oslo, where the royals strove to provide him with a semblance of an ordinary education, which it was, save for the security guard always on hand. The family believed integration with regular citizens would serve Harald well and his own measured intelligence carried him through school to his mandatory military service, after which he attended the University of Oxford, studying science, economics and history at the illustrious Balliol College.
He was the youngest of Olav and Martha’s three children, but crucially, their only son, duly becoming Crown Prince when his father took to Norway’s throne in 1957. His role was more hands-on than might be imagined and, encouraged to participate in royal duties as much as possible, he travelled overseas with trade delegations to promote Norwegian commerce and industry.
Homeland popularity
Harald was a popular monarch in his homeland, across which he and Sonja travelled extensively to meet their people, sometimes using the Royal Yacht Norge to negotiate the fjords of the rugged Norwegian coast. He regarded the population with an emotional intelligence and utmost respect: “Above all, Norway is its people,” he said in 2016. “Norway is you. Norway is us.”
Though the Norwegian Constitution to this day states that the executive power lies with the king, in real terms it is held by the government. Still, Harald had a direct role in the composition of the administration, as any prime minister stepping down would advise him on who they felt should be their replacement.
In his later years especially, Harald took a deeper interest in the welfare of Norway's children, believing an unbalanced society of haves and have-nots was an unjust one. He would readily partake in correspondence with children who were experiencing problems, and sought to address these in the hope of creating a brighter future, at times inviting young visitors whose circumstances were difficult for talks at palace functions.
Despite the patriotism, his horizons spanned way beyond his beloved homeland: “Home is where our heart is – and that cannot always be confined within national borders,” he once said. Still, Harald’s statesmanship came to the fore during a number of crises to befall Norway, most notably the dreadful New Year’s Day storm of 1992, the domestic terrorist attacks launched by far right extremist Anders Behring Breivik in which 77 people were killed, a landslide in Gjerdrum in 2020 which resulted in a death toll of 10 and the Covid pandemic. After he himself suffered from a bout of Covid-19, Norway's royal household said Harald would be taking a break from his duties and that his son and heir Crown Prince Haakon would take over temporarily.
The keen sportsman
Harald was particularly active and his love of outdoor pursuits was rooted in respect for conservation and the environment. He was a keen angler, hunter, winter sports enthusiast, accomplished yachtsman and an avid supporter of the Olympic movement. When Norway hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Harald was chairman of the organising committee. He also served on the board of international skiing events held in Norway and received awards for his promotion of the sport.
It was as a sailor that he excelled, carrying the Norwegian flag in this capacity at the opening ceremony for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. In 1987, King Harald and his crew won the World Championships in their one-tonne yacht and the European Championships in 2005.
His outlook is best summarised in his own words, when asked about the role of Norway’s royal household in 2005. “We have been given an assignment as a monarchy, and we do as well as we can … we try to be as little populistic as possible. We don't do anything on the spur of the moment to win an opinion poll, or short-term popularity.” Harald is survived by Queen Sonja and their two children, Princess Martha Louise and Crown Prince Haakon.
