Harald V of Norway

Biography

Harald was born at Skaugum in 1937, the only son of Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha. After the German invasion in 1940 the royal family went into exile, and he spent his childhood years in Sweden and then the United States. Back in Norway after 1945, he studied at the University of Oslo, at the Norwegian Military Academy from 1957 to 1959 and from 1960 at Balliol College, Oxford.

He became crown prince when his father succeeded as Olav V in 1957. He was a keen sailor who represented Norway at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics, became founding president of the Norwegian Sailing Federation in 1970 and kept competing in world championships until 2022. In 1968 he married Sonja Haraldsen, a commoner, which was controversial at first; they had two children, Märtha Louise and Haakon. When his father's health failed he acted as regent from June 1990.

He became king on Olav's death in January 1991, the first Norwegian-born monarch to inherit the throne in more than 600 years. He was widely admired for his response to national crises such as the 2011 Norway attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic, which earned him the nickname grandfather of the nation. Health problems led his son to act as regent several times from 2003, and he became Europe's oldest reigning monarch in 2022. He died in Oslo in August 2026 and was succeeded by Haakon.