Olaf V

Olav V
King of Norway
Reign	September 21, 1957 – January 17, 1991
Coronation	June 22, 1958[1]
Full name	Olav, né Alexander Edward Christian Frederik
Titles	HM The King of Norway HRH The Crown Prince of Norway HH Prince Alexander of Denmark
Born	July 2 1903(1903--)
	Sandringham Estate, Norfolk
Died	January 17 1991 (aged 87)
	Holmenkollen, Oslo
Buried	Akershus Fortress, Oslo
Predecessor	Haakon VII
Successor	Harald V
Wife/wives	Princess Märtha of Sweden
Issue	Princess Ragnhild Princess Astrid Harald V
Royal House	House of Oldenburg (Glücksburg branch)
Royal anthem	Kongesangen
Father	Haakon VII
Mother	Maud of Wales

Olav V (July 2, 1903 – January 17, 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death.

Birth and early life

Born in Norfolk, United Kingdom to Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud, (daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom), he was given the names and title of Alexander Edward Christian Frederik, Prince of Denmark. He was given the name Olav when his father became King Haakon VII of Norway in 1905.

Olav was the first heir to the throne since medieval times to grow up in Norway. He graduated from the Norwegian Military Academy in 1924, and went on to study jurisprudence and economics at Balliol College, Oxford.

He was an accomplished athlete. Olav jumped from the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo, and also competed in sailing regattas. He won a gold medal in sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam and remained an active sailor into old age.

On March 21, 1929, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden with whom he had one son, Harald, and two daughters, Ragnhild and Astrid. 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.

World War II

During World War II Olav stood by his father's side in resisting the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. When the government decided to go into exile he offered to stay behind with the Norwegian people. During his visit to the United States before the war he and his wife had founded a close relationship with president Roosevelt. As crown prince he had received extensive military training and was respected by other allied leaders for his knowledge and leadership skills. During the war he made numerous trips to Norwegian and Allied troops both in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. He was appointed to the post of Norwegian Chief of Defence in 1944 and led the Norwegian disarmament of German occupying forces after the war. His war decorations from different nations such as the War Crosses of Norway, France, Greece and the Netherlands are testament to the international recognition his contribution to the war against Hitler received.

Reign

Succeeding to the Norwegian Throne in 1957 (upon the death of Haakon VII), Olav reigned as a "People's King", and became extremely popular. He liked to drive his own cars and would drive in the regular highway lanes though he was allowed to drive in the public transportation lane. During the 1973 energy crisis Norway banned car-driving on certain weekends, but the king, not wishing to miss an opportunity to go skiing outside Oslo, took the tram. When he tried to pay for his tickets, the conductor told him that people further back had already paid for him.^[2] A journalist once asked him if he was afraid to walk around unprotected, he answered, "Why should I be afraid? I have 4 million bodyguards!"—referring to the Norwegian people.^{[citation needed]}

For his athletic ability and role as king, King Olav V earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1968. He had a strong interest in military matters and took his role as titular commander-in-chief very seriously. As well as his ceremonial roles in the Norwegian Army, he also served as Colonel-in-Chief of the Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Yorkshire Regiment).

The king represented Norway extensively abroad during his reign conducting state visits to both neighbouring countries and more distant destinations such as Ethiopia. A complete list of state visits made by King Olav V has been created.

During the summer of 1990, the king suffered from health problems, but recovered somewhat during Christmas the same year. An interview given by king Harald V, and hints in a biography by the retired politician Jo Benkow, mentions the possibility that king Olav suffered a great trauma during the outbreak of the first Gulf War January 17, 1991. He collapsed during the day and died in the evening. His son claimed that Olav relived the events of the second World War, which he himself had experienced (the Nazi occupation of Norway), and really believed that the transmitted messages from the new war foreboded World War III. This, he could not bear.

The night after he died (at the Royal Lodge, Kongsseteren) and for several days up until the state funeral, Norway saw a great demonstration of mourning as Norwegians lit hundreds of thousands of candles in the courtyard outside the Royal Castle in Oslo, with letters and cards placed amongst them. The National Archives have preserved all these cards.

Olav's son Harald V succeeded him as King.

Honours

• War Cross with sword (Norway)
• Medal for Outstanding Civic Achievement in gold (Norway)
• Grand Cross with Collar of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav (Norway, later Grand Master)
• Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norway, Grand Master)
• St Olav's medal (Norway)
• Coronation Medal of 1906 (Norway)
• War Medal (Norway)
• Haakon VII's 70th Anniversary Medal (Norway)
• Haakon VII's Jubilee Medal 1905 – 1955 (Norway)
• Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of San Martin (Argentina)
• Grand Cross of the Decoration of Honour for Merit (Austria)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
• Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Rose (Brazil)
• Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of La Merito (Chile)
• Knight of the Elephant (Denmark)
• Grand Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark)
• King Christian X's Freedom Medal (Denmark)
• Commemorative medal for King Christian IX's 100th birthday (Denmark)
• Commemorative medal for King Frederik VIII's 100th birthday (Denmark)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Solomon (Ethiopia)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose (Finland)
• Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur (France)
• Croix de guerre (France)
• Médaille Militaire (France)
• Grand Cross 1. class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Germany)
• Knight of the Garter (Great Britain)
• Knight of the Thistle (Great Britain)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (Great Britain)
• Royal Victorian Chain (Great Britain, Commonwealth Realms)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (Great Britain, Commonewalth Realms)
• King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (Great Britain)
• King George VI Silver Jubilee Medal (Great Britain)
• Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (Great Britain)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Saviour (Greece)
• Grand Cross of the Order of St. George og St. Constantine (Greece)
• War Cross 1940 (Greece)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Tadj (Iran)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon (Iceland)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion (Luxembourg)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Dutch Lion (Netherlands)
• Grand Cross of the House Order of Orange (Netherlands)
• War Cross (Netherlands)
• Medaille d'Installation Solennelle 1948 (Netherlands)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (Peru)
• Grand Cross of the Order of St. Bento d'Aviz (Portugal)
• 1st class of the Order of the Star (Romania)
• Grand Cross of the Ernestine Order (Saxony, Germany)
• Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Spain)
• Grand Cross Collar of the Order of Charles III (Spain)
• Knight of the Seraphim (Sweden)
• King Gustaf V's 70th Anniversary Medal (Sweden)
• King Gustaf V's 90th Anniversary Medal (Sweden)
• Grand Cross of the Most Illustrious Order of the Royal House of Chakri (Thailand)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Independence (Tunisia)
• Legion of Merit (USA)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Great Star (Yugoslavia)

^[3]

A 180 000 km² area (Prince Olav Coast) and the Prince Olav Mountains in Antarctica are named in his honour. Prince Olav Harbour on South Georgia is also named for him.

In 1961 the King was a laureate of the Nansen Refugee Award.

In 1968 he was awarded the Holmenkollen medal.

In 2005, Olav was proclaimed the Norwegian of the century, with 41 percent of the tele-votes in a popular competition held by NRK.

Ancestors

A statue of King Olav V in Kristiansand, Norway.

Titles from birth to death

Here is a list of the styles King Olav bore from birth to death, in chronological order:

• His Highness Prince Alexander of Denmark
• His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Norway
• His Majesty The King of Norway

Styles of King Olav V of Norway
Reference style	His Majesty
Spoken style	Your Majesty
Alternative style	Sir

References

1. ^ Coronation discarded by constitutional amendment in 1908. Olav V instead received the benediction in the Nidaros Cathedral.
2. ^ Article from NRK on the king Featuring a photo of the event and explanatory text (Norwegian). Retrieved 24 November 2006
3. ^ Royal House of Norway web page on King Olav V's decorations (Norwegian) Retrieved 5 October 2007

External links

• Official Website of the Norwegian Royal Family
• King Olav - biography (Official Website of the Norwegian Royal Family)
• The Royals – Regularly updated news coverage of the Norwegian royal family (Aftenposten)
• The Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav - H.M. King Olav V the former Grand Master of the Order
• Holmenkollen medalists - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file (Norwegian)

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