King Olav (1903 - 1991)

[JR76]

The photo almost certainly has to be 1936 due to the very small ages of Princesses Ragnhild and Astrid and no Queen Astrid or Prince Harald.

If you were specifying Olav never met his brother-in-law after WWII, I don't have information at hand about that. Their lives went in very different directions and perhaps they didn't care to remind each other of their painful losses.

Did Leopold go to Crown Princess Märtha's funeral?

I know that Baudouin, Josephine-Charlotte and Jean represented the family at the funeral, but haven't seen anything about Leopold attending.

 

[Prinsara]

I know that Baudouin, Josephine-Charlotte and Jean represented the family at the funeral, but haven't seen anything about Leopold attending.

As Baudouin and his sister were blood relatives rather than marriage, that's probably more appropriate than a sign of anything, but it would have been nice if Leopold could have managed it, too. Since Olav went to his funeral, it doesn't seem to have engendered much ill feeling.

Leopold was also Harald's godfather iirc, but I don't think he made it to the christening.

 

[Stefan]

Crown Prince/King Olav attended the Weddings of Princess Joséphine-Charlotte and King Baudouin so they should meet there

 

[An Ard Ri]

Did Leopold go to Crown Princess Märtha's funeral?

I thought that King Baudouin of Belgium attended?

 

[maria-olivia]

Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte was there and received flowers.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

King Olav was originally Prince Alexander of Denmark.
I wonder if he disliked having his name changed from Alexander to Olav.

 

[Prinsara]

King Olav was originally Prince Alexander of Denmark.
I wonder if he disliked having his name changed from Alexander to Olav.

He was only two years old... so I imagine he disliked it greatly and it was probably very confusing and I assume his parents had to keep calling him Alex privately, at least for a while.

But it's not a matter that's made it into English, so it's just a guess. I've seen one secondhand news clipping of the time that says he was not happy about it, but that's not an ironclad source.

If you want to get psychological about it, the identity switch might have contributed to some of the nerves in his laughing tic later.

 

[An Ard Ri]

King Olav was originally Prince Alexander of Denmark.
I wonder if he disliked having his name changed from Alexander to Olav.

His name was changed in honour of Olaf II

 

[sm1939]

His name was changed in honour of Olaf II

Didnt that happen to his father to King Haakon? He was Carl

 

[Stefan]

Didnt that happen to his father to King Haakon? He was Carl

Yes they both changed to names which had been used by the old norwegian Kings in vikinger time. Only Queen Maud kept her original name

 

[Prinsara]

His name was changed in honour of Olaf II

I think it was also changed because of Olav IV Haakonsson, the son of the last independent king Haakon VI. Wikipedia says he was named after Olav IV, although the sources are missing.

It was thought likely to be Harald. Maud apparently said "no way".

It's also interesting as to whether he was Alexander Edward for her parents or her dead brothers, or both.

Yes they both changed to names which had been used by the old norwegian Kings in vikinger time. Only Queen Maud kept her original name

All of them were still using other names, though, so it was Charles, Harry, and (presumably) Alex vs. Haakon, Maud, and Olav in public.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Were his names of Alexander Edward Christian Frederik added after his new name of Olav?

 

[Prinsara]

Were his names of Alexander Edward Christian Frederik added after his new name of Olav?

No, like "Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel" wasn't added to Haakon.

Just Olav. Like King Harald is just Harald.

 

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Since King Harald has had a lot of health issues in recent years, I have thought a bit about the health of the two monarchs before him, so let's therefore write about the health of one of them here, i.e. King Olav V:

Was generally healthy throughout his life.
But was operated for acute stomach ulcers in April 1970. - CP Harald was regent for several weeks, and the King did not appear on the balcony on the national day, May 17.

He went skiing until he was 82 or 83. After that, he had some problems walking but managed to still walk pretty well with his walking stick.

On May 29, 1990, some of the King's staff members discovered that the almost 87-year-old monarch was ill, and he was therefore admitted to the national hospital Rikshospitalet. There, he was diagnosed with inflammation of the pericardium.
On June 2, while he was at the hospital, he suffered a stroke, which left him severely weakened.

I have read in the digital newspaper archives that the Norwegian media criticized the court for not providing enough information on how the King was doing.

On June 21, he left the hospital and started to make a few appearances in the autumn, but CP Harald remained regent for the rest of the King's life.
On January 17, 1991, after having been upset about the outbreak of the Gulf War, the already weakened King Olav suffered a heart attack at The Royal Lodge Kongsseteren.
It was decided not to move him to a hospital and instead let him die in peace.

(The above information is taken from what I have read in various places, such as books and print newspapers, which are only available in the digital newspaper archives, which are not possible to copy links from.)