Sonja and Harald's long courtship

[Her_Majesty]

Weren't there also speculations about an engagement of Harald and Irene of Greece?
(in press only, I mean)

[Lady Bluffton]

I recently heard something about Harald wanting to divorce Sonja sometime in the 1980s before he became king; was this related somehow to their long courtship, or perhaps interference from King Olav???

[sm1939]

Originally Posted by Lady Bluffton

I recently heard something about Harald wanting to divorce Sonja sometime in the 1980s before he became king; was this related somehow to their long courtship, or perhaps interference from King Olav???

I read it in the "afterporters" they said that the palace no nothing about it ???
I always thought they were happy??

[Maura724]

I have read that King Olav agreed to let Harald marry Sonja after Harald told him he would never marry another woman. Since Harald was the only heir at the time, this obviously have been a serious issue for the future succession.

I have always wondered why it took Harald so long to tell his father this? Couldn't he have given Olav this same ultimatum after he and Sonja had been together for four or five years and been allowed to marry her then, rather than waiting until they had been together nine years?

[Odette]

I have read numerous times that Harald was trying to convince King Olav. However when Sonja went to some friends in France and while there tried to commit suicide, Harald became more insistent and gave the ultimatum to K.O who finally not only accepted her, but walked her up the aisle.
I had never heard about the divorce rumours though. What would have been the reason?

[norwegianne]

Originally Posted by Maura724

I have read that King Olav agreed to let Harald marry Sonja after Harald told him he would never marry another woman. Since Harald was the only heir at the time, this obviously have been a serious issue for the future succession.

I have always wondered why it took Harald so long to tell his father this? Couldn't he have given Olav this same ultimatum after he and Sonja had been together for four or five years and been allowed to marry her then, rather than waiting until they had been together nine years?

King Olav knew pretty early, but it wasn't just his opinion, but the general opinion of the Norwegian people he had to take into account when he gave his consent. There were also discussions with the various prime ministers during the time, as to *if/when* it could happen.

Hence, it took until after Margrethe in Denmark had also married a commoner, and it looked like Harald would stay a bachelor forever, to sway the opinion enough. And still there were plenty of newspapers/radio shows that were negative about it when the engagement was announced.

I have never read that Sonja tried to commit suicide, but rather that she threw herself into learning French - and that she and Harald tried to stay apart for a while now and then, to see if they could do without each other. Her official biography says something along the lines of that there were some years, that when Harald was in Norway, sonja was abroad, and the opposite.

[Odette]

Originally Posted by norwegianne

I have never read that Sonja tried to commit suicide, but rather that she threw herself into learning French - and that she and Harald tried to stay apart for a while now and then, to see if they could do without each other. Her official biography says something along the lines of that there were some years, that when Harald was in Norway, sonja was abroad, and the opposite.

I have read about it more than once in different publications. I guess I can google this and find out more.

[Maura724]

Originally Posted by Odette

I have read about it more than once in different publications. I guess I can google this and find out more.

Do you know where you read it? I've never heard it before.

[Her_Majesty]

I never heard about that either. I somehow don't belive it's true.
Just like norwegianne said; I heard that the couple tried to seperate a few times, but always got together again.

[Maura724]

It does sound hard to believe. On the other hand, if it's true, it's obviously not the sort of thing that you would expect to be widely publicized.

[Odette]

Originally Posted by Her_Majesty

I never heard about that either. I somehow don't belive it's true.
Just like norwegianne said; I heard that the couple tried to seperate a few times, but always got together again.

I am so sorry I cannot come up with the exact publications I read about it. It was more than once that I read it. Can any one else help me out? It is something I could not forget since it showed her desperation about the situation and her chagrin over the long fight she had to put up until she was accepted.
I have tried to google and see if I can buy a book about her life but I cannot find anything for sale.
I hope someone can come up with the information.

[Odette]

Originally Posted by Maura724

Do you know where you read it? I've never heard it before.

I would suspect one of the publications had to be a Point De Vue issue but cannot be sure. The only thing I am sure of is that I read about it more than once.
The only thing I never heard of were the divorce rumours, mentioned a few threads ago.

[Maura724]

Originally Posted by Odette

It is something I could not forget since it showed her desperation about the situation and her chagrin over the long fight she had to put up until she was accepted.

Definitely. I certainly hope it's just something the press made up at some point because that's really sad if it's true. Do you remember what year it was or how close she came to death?

[Odette]

Originally Posted by Maura724

Definitely. I certainly hope it's just something the press made up at some point because that's really sad if it's true. Do you remember what year it was or how close she came to death?

It had to be late 1967 or early 1968. She was supposedly visiting friends in France where she went to get away.
Mind you at the time of their romance there were always headlines about Harald and Princesses Sofia and Irene.......Wishful thinking on K O and Q F parts since all three had other ideas.........still it must have been hurtful since he always had to accompany someone at official functions while she was in the shadows.
Perhaps something may have been repeated at the time of MM's engagement to compare the roads both of them travelled and why Q S was so much more accepting of MM that the court was of her. Somewhere along the line one of KH sisters wrote a book that was not at all flattering towards KS...........Oh how I hate senior moments....a few years ago I would know exactly where to look for information.......

[Maura724]

Originally Posted by Odette

It had to be late 1967 or early 1968.

So shortly (no more than a few months) before the engagement was announced in March 1968. Was this what prompted King Olav to finally go ahead and give them permission to marry (or what prompted Harald to demand that they be allowed to marry)? Do you have any idea how serious it was? Not that any suicide attempt wouldn't be "serious," but how close did she come to "succeeding"? (Also not the right word.) That would have been so tragic!

[Odette]

Maura724 I have no idea how serious it was. (Again if we can use this description about it) Thank God all went well and no harm was done.

[Maura724]

Absolutely - I can't imagine a more horrible end to their story!

[Odette]

I am still wondering though about the divorce rumours mentiond above. They seemed to me like one of the strongest royal couples.

[Maura724]

In one of the other threads in this forum, Larzen wrote:

"The King and Queen has admitted they have had their ups and downs in the marriage like most couple but that they work trough it, in the 80/90s they were not living in different parts of the palace as they were living at Skaugum . Se og Hør today in VG retracts the statement that it was Crown Prince Harald who sent his Head Aide de campe to the president of Stortinget to hear about a divorce. Friends of Harald and Sonja says to VG today that divorce never was an issue, but that the public lifestyle put strains on their marriage. There are noithing written about anyone else involved, just the public preassure on them and how they did their work and the rather old fashioned way the Crown Prince was raised. Sonja once said something like he discussed it with himself and then it woul be that way, and that it took some getting used to."

"Per Egil Hegge who is very credible and is writing the auhtorised book on the King which will come out in two weeks or so, to mark his 70th birthday has no comment, the president of Stortinget back then Jo Benkow has no comment, The then Prime Minister Kåre Willoch says he has never heared about any divorce rumours, and the palace spokesperson says the King and Queen does not know if someone talked to the President of Stortinget about a divorce. Accoding to VG the King and Queen was more than suprised when they saw the cover of Se og Hør yesterday."

I've never believed the divorce rumors myself, but I think it's easy to imagine Harald and Sonja having problems at certain points given their history and the public life they have to lead. It's easy enough for that sort of information to get out, and I can see false rumors of divorce starting from there. They're obviously really committed to each other--that's why they lasted for nine years before marriage, and that's why divorce would never have been an issue in spite of any problems they might have had.

[Her_Majesty]

You know, I've always been interested in the Norwegian Royals and especially Queen Sonja. I've been reading many stories about them and I never heard about that suicide-rumors. If there were a grain of truth in that would have read about that in any of the many articles. Honestly.

Furtermore I really don't think that goes well with the Queen's personality. Just look at her at engagement videos from that time. To me she looks like quite a tough and strong Lady. Happy, and not like a woman who just tried to commit suicide.
I suppose the engagement has been a done deal already around early 1968. So.. extremely unlikely.

To me this sounds like a fantastic gossip story written by "reliable" sources like Bild or S&H. It's like the story (published by a German gossip mag once) that Sonja wanted to divorce after she had lost her first child. The yellow press just needs such stories from time to time. Just crap.

Well, honestly. I read many stories about them, but I don't belive in this at all.



The divorcing rumors came up in the early 90s.
According to some source (I have no idea who it was... I think this guy who wrote the Harald biography) the Crown Prince asked the Parliament what would happen if his parents divorced. Well, according to this guy the couple went to a marriage-therapie or something and now they are happier then ever... blabla.
Like Larzen I don't know if I should belive that. ... however, I don't really care as they are still married nowadays.