Olav V of Norway (original) (raw)

Olav V (July 2, 1903 - January 17, 1991) was King of Norway from 1957 to 1991. He was born in England, the son of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, and was christened Alexander Edward Christian Fredrik, Prince of Denmark. When his father became King Haakon VII of Norway in 1905, he assumed the name Olav.

On March 21, 1929, he married Princess M�rtha of Sweden, like him a direct descendant of Josephine de Beauharnais, with whom he had one son Harald, and two daughters, Ragnhild and Astrid. As exiles during World War II, Crown Princess M�rtha and the royal children lived in Washington, D.C, where she struck up a close friendship with Franklin Delano Roosevelt; the president's son James reportedly believed that his father and the crown princess had an affair. She died in 1954, before her husband ascended the throne.

Olav V was succeeded by his son, Harald V, upon his death.