In the modern Scandinavian royal landscape, no monarch has carried the joint identity of constitutional king and Olympic-level competitor as completely as King Harald V of Norway. The Skaugum-born only son and youngest child of King Olav V and Princess Märtha of Sweden, who in 1953 won an Olympic sailing bronze medal at the King Olav Trophy regatta as Crown Prince, who married a commoner shipping-merchant's daughter named Sonja Haraldsen in 1968 — a then-controversial decision — and who acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991 following his father's death, is one of Europe's most familiar royal figures. Behind every state ceremony sits one of the most personally complicated modern Scandinavian royal families.

The Family's Roots: The House of Glücksburg in Norway

The Norwegian royal family belongs to the House of Glücksburg (the same dynasty as the Danish royal family). The modern Norwegian monarchy began in 1905, when Prince Carl of Denmark was elected King by Norwegian parliament following Norway's separation from Sweden, taking the name King Haakon VII.

Harald was born at Skaugum, Asker, Norway, on 21 February 1937.

His Father: King Olav V

King Olav V (2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the second King of Norway under the modern monarchy, reigning from 1957 to 1991. He was an Olympic gold-medalist sailor (1928 Amsterdam Games).

His Mother: Crown Princess Märtha

Crown Princess Märtha of Sweden (28 March 1901 – 5 April 1954) was a Swedish princess of the Bernadotte family. She died of cancer in 1954 before her husband became King.

His Sisters

Harald has two older sisters:

Princess Ragnhild (1930 – 2012). Princess Astrid (b. 12 February 1932).

His Wife: Queen Sonja

Queen Sonja, born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937 in Oslo, is the daughter of clothing merchant Karl August Haraldsen. She and Harald dated for nine years before he convinced his father to allow the marriage to a commoner. They married on 29 August 1968.

Their Children

Harald and Sonja have two children:

Princess Märtha Louise, born 22 September 1971, is the elder daughter. She has had a complicated public profile — she married author Ari Behn in 2002 (he died by suicide in 2019), had three daughters with him, and is now married to American shaman Durek Verrett (since 2024).

Crown Prince Haakon, born 20 July 1973, is the heir apparent. He married Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby in 2001, a single mother whose son Marius Borg Høiby (b. 1997) joined the family. Haakon and Mette-Marit have two children together: Princess Ingrid Alexandra (b. 21 January 2004) and Prince Sverre Magnus (b. 3 December 2005).

The Norwegian Royal Family Tree at a Glance

Dynasty

  • House of Glücksburg
  • Modern Norwegian monarchy: 1905

Parents

  • Father: King Olav V (1903 – 17 January 1991)
  • Mother: Crown Princess Märtha of Sweden (1901 – 5 April 1954)

Siblings

  • Princess Ragnhild (1930 – 2012)
  • Princess Astrid (b. 12 February 1932)
  • King Harald V (b. 21 February 1937)

King Harald V

  • Born 21 February 1937, Skaugum, Asker
  • Royal Norwegian Military Academy; Balliol College, Oxford
  • Olympic sailor (Tokyo 1964, Mexico 1968, Munich 1972)
  • King of Norway from 17 January 1991

Wife: Queen Sonja

  • Born Sonja Haraldsen, 4 July 1937, Oslo
  • Daughter of Karl August Haraldsen (clothing merchant)
  • Married Harald on 29 August 1968 after a 9-year courtship

Children

  • Princess Märtha Louise (b. 22 September 1971)
    • First husband: Ari Behn (1972 – 25 December 2019); three daughters: Maud Angelica, Leah Isadora, Emma Tallulah
    • Second husband: Durek Verrett (American shaman); married 2024
  • Crown Prince Haakon (b. 20 July 1973) — heir apparent
    • Wife: Crown Princess Mette-Marit née Tjessem Høiby; married 2001
    • Stepson (Mette-Marit's first son): Marius Borg Høiby (b. 13 January 1997)
    • Children: Princess Ingrid Alexandra (b. 21 January 2004), Prince Sverre Magnus (b. 3 December 2005)

What the Norwegian Royal Family Story Teaches Us

A father who was an Olympic gold-medalist. A mother who died of cancer before her husband became King. A son who waited nine years for permission to marry a commoner. A daughter whose first husband died by suicide and who has built a deeply unconventional second life. A son who married a single mother and brought a stepson into the royal family. A Crown Princess granddaughter who will be Norway's first female sovereign.

For every family — large or small, famous or otherwise — the Norwegian royal story carries the same lesson. Royal families are now, deliberately, building family trees that look more like ordinary families — with stepchildren, second marriages, complex inheritances, and divorces. Write down those structures honestly. Most modern family trees look like the Norwegian royal one.

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