The Marriage of King Haakon VII of Norway

King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway began their lives as the minor royals Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Great Britain. They both would have preferred a quiet life in relative obscurity, but Prince Carl was elected king of Norway and they found themselves the center of international attention. King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway served Norway well, and began a dynasty that is still in power.


The Young Prince Carl of Denmark

Prince Carl of Denmark (1872–1957) had a relatively quiet early life. As the second son of the future King Frederick VIII of Denmark, he was not directly in line for the throne and thought that he would have a simple private life. He joined the navy at age fourteen, beginning as a volunteer cadet and then joining the Naval Officers’ School. It took him a while to work up to the rank of first lieutenant because he insisted that he receive no special treatment despite his royal position.

Prince Carl was a likable if somewhat introverted man. He was attractive, level-headed, unaffected, conscientious, and, like the rest of his family, unsophisticated by royal standards.

The Engagement of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Great Britain

Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Great Britain (1869–1938) were first cousins, as his father and her mother were siblings. Princess Maud’s mother, Queen Alexandra, was particularly in favor of the match.

Princess Maud was very popular in the family. She was a bit of a tomboy, and loved the outdoors and animals. She was cheerful, funny, and high-spirited, but shy when not around relatives. She was also practical and as unsophisticated as her fiancé. It was thought that Princess Maud and Prince Carl would have a successful marriage, and the two married on July 22, 1896, at the Chapel at Buckingham Palace.

The Early Married Life of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Great Britain
Prince Carl and Princess Maud suffered some strain in their early marriage because of frequent separation. Prince Carl was often away in the navy, and Princess Maud preferred Great Britain to Denmark and spent a great deal of her time at Appleton House on her parents’ Sandringham estate in England. After seven years of marriage, Prince Carl and Princess Maud had their first and only child, Prince Alexander of Denmark. They planned on settling into a nice, quiet life in relative obscurity.



King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway

The new independence of Norway ended Prince Carl and Princess Maud’s quiet life. In 1905, Prince Carl was elected king of Norway. Neither royal wanted the attention and responsibility of being a monarch. Prince Carl enjoyed his naval life, and Princess Maud was incredibly shy and did not look forward to the publicity of being a queen. But they both had a keen sense of royal duty and accepted the invitation to be rulers in Norway.

Although reluctant to accept, the new king and queen of Norway were somewhat ideal candidates. Prince Carl was well placed amongst Scandinavian royalty, as his father was the future king of Denmark and his mother was the niece of King Oscar II of Sweden. Princess Maud was equally well connected, being the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and the daughter of King Edward VII of Great Britain.

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Norway liked and appreciated the simple, unpretentious manner of its new king and queen. King Haakon VII, as Prince Carl styled himself, was popular in Norway because he was a king of the people, and made an effort in the first years of his reign to travel around his new country and meet his subjects. Queen Maud, however, was never as popular in Norway as her husband because of her frequent visits back to England and her shyness that prevented her from being the accessible queen that the Norwegians wanted. Nevertheless, the Norwegians appreciated the royal family’s simple way of life, and King Haakon VII and Queen Maud enjoyed their cozy, informal, happy family life with their son, the future King Olav V of Norway.

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King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, the former Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Great Britain, began their marriage in relative obscurity and would have been happy with a quiet life. But as King and Queen of Norway they became internationally known and began a royal dynasty that is still in power and popular in Norway.


Author Paul Linus


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