WWII King Haakon VII of Norway

Prince Carl of Denmark was born on 3 August 1872 at the Charlottenlund

Palace near Copenhagen. He was the second son of Frederick, Crown

Prince of Denmark and his wife Louise of Sweden. 

Family

Prince Carl of Denmark's paternal grandparents were King Christian IX 

of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel.

His maternal grandparents were King Charles XV of Sweden and

Louise of The Netherlands. 

Prince Carl was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-

Glücksburg, branch of the House of Oldenburg. 

The family had permanent links with Norway beginning from the

late Middle Ages. Several of his paternal ancestors had been

kings of independent Norway (Haakon V of Norway, Christian I

of Norway, Frederick I, etc... ).

Education

Prince Carl was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy from

1889 to 1893, graduating as a second lieutenant in the Royal Danish

Navy. In 1894 he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and

remained in service with the Royal Danish Navy until 1905.

Love and Marriage

On 22 July 1896, Prince Carl married his first cousin! Princess Maud

of Wales, she was the youngest daughter of the future King Edward VII

of the United Kingdom and his wife Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the

eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Princess Louise. 

Their son, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav (who 

later became King Olav of Norway) was born on 2 July 1903.

His way to power

In 1905, the Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved and

a committee of the Norwegian government identified several princes

of European Royal Houses as candidates for the Norwegian Crown.

Although Norway had legally the status of an independent state

since 1814, it didn't have its own king since 1837.

Prince Carl became the leading candidate because he was descended

from independent Norwegian Kings. He also had a son, so an heir-

apparent to the throne. Besides that, Princess Maud was a member of 

the British Royal Family was viewed by many as an advantage to the

newly independent Norwegian nation.

After the referendum overwhelmingly confirmed by a 79 percent

majority that Norwegians desired to retain a monarchy. 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 renamed himself Haakon,

which is an Old Norse name. 

The royal family of Norway left Denmark on the Danish royal yacht 

Danneborg and sailed into Oslofjord. At Oscarsborg Fortress they 

boarded the Norwegian naval ship Heimdal. 

After a three-day journey they arrived in Kristiana, which is now Oslo,

on the morning of 25 November 1905. 

Two days later, Haakon took the oath as Norway's first independent king

in 518 years. The coronation of Haakon and Maud took place in 

Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 22 June 1906.

On 20 November 1938, Queen Maud died unexpectedly during a visit

in the United Kingdom. 

World War II

In the early hours of 9 April 1940, Norway was invaded by naval and 

air forces of Nazi Germany. 

The next day, Curt Bräuer, the German Minister to Norway, demanded

a meeting with Haakon. The diplomat asked Haakon to accept Hitler's

demands to end all reistance and appoint Vidkun Quisling as prime

minister. 

Haakon told Bräuer that he could not make the decision himself, he only

could act on the advice of the Government. 

"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."

On 11 April 1940, the Luftwaffe bombers attacked Nybergsund, destroying

the small town where the Government was staying. Neutral Sweden was 

only 16 miles away, but the Swedish government decided it would detain

and incarcerate King Haakon if he crossed their border (which Haakon 

never forgave). 

First, the Norwegian king and his ministers took refuge in the snow

covered woods and escaped harm, continuing farther north through

the mountains towards 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. Later they exiled to the United Kingdom. 

In the beginning King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav were guests

at Buckingham Palace, but at the start of the London Blitz, they moved

to Bowdown House in Berkshire. However the King's official residence

was the Norwegian Legation at 10 Palace Green in Kensington, which

became the seat of the Norwegian government in exile. 

Haakon attended weekly Cabinet meetings and worked on the speeches

which were regularly broadcasted 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. Many broadcasts were made

from Saint Olav's Norwegian Chruch in Rotherhithe, where the Royal

Family were regular worshippers. 

Meanwhile in Norway, the people 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.

After the war, Haakon and the Norwegian Royal Family returned to

Norway aboard of the cruiser HMS Norfolk. They arrived with the 

First Cruiser Squadron to cheering crowds in Oslo on 7 June 1945. 

Death

On 21 September 1957, Haakon died at the Royal Palace of Oslo.

He became 85 years old. At his death, his son Olav succeeded him

as Olav V. 

Haakon was buried on 1 October 1957, near his wife in the Royal

Mausoleum at Akershus Fortress. 

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 politicial conditions. 

Legacy

It always is nice to know which places or things were named after

this interesting royal. 

* King Haakon VII Sea in East Antarctica is named in his honour

as well as the entire plateau surrounding the South Pole which was

named the King Haakon VII Vidde. 

* In 1914 the Haakon County in the American State of South

Dakota was named in his honour. 

* Two Norwegian Navy Ships were named after him:

- King Haakon VII (1942 - 1951);

- Haakon VII (1958 - 1974).

This was a new blog post in the World War II series about the royals

and their families. It always mentions their background and some of their

family ties. In the blog posts, I always try to give an objective image 

of the royals. 

Source pictures: Wikipedia