Haakon VII of Norway

1872 – 1957 · Generation XXXV · King of Norway

Haakon VII of Norway (1872–1957). King of Norway. Married Maud of Wales in 1896. Born Prince Carl of Denmark and trained as a naval officer, he was offered Norway's crown after the union with Sweden dissolved in 1905; he accepted only after a referendum, was elected by the Storting, and took the Old Norse name Haakon — the first king of an independent Norway since 1387. Though the constitution gave him wide powers, he kept to a ceremonial role and rarely touched politics. When Germany invaded in 1940 he refused to legitimise Quisling's puppet regime, vowing to abdicate rather than yield, and from exile in Britain became the rallying figure of Norwegian resistance through five years of occupation. He came home in June 1945, having reigned nearly fifty-two years in all by his death.

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Partners

• Married Maud of Wales (1869 – 1938) in 1896

Life

• 1872 — Born
• 1896 — Married Maud of Wales
• 1957 — Died