The death of King Harald V at the age of 89 has brought significant changes to the Norwegian royal family, including a change of title for his widow, Queen Sonja. During her husband’s 35-year reign, Sonja used the official title ‘Hennes Majestet’, which translates into Spanish as Her Majesty. After the death of her husband and the ascension to the throne of her son Haakon, she will now be known simply as Queen Sonja, with her former title passing to her daughter-in-law, Queen Mette-Marit.
Before the celebration of the state funeral for King Harald on September 9, Queen Sonja paid tribute this week to her late husband, with whom she had been married for 57 years, with an emotional message. During the transport of his coffin – which counted on the controversial presence of Marius Borg – words embroidered on a cloth ribbon could be read on a wreath: «Takk for et godt liv», which means «thank you for a wonderful life».
Now, at 89, Queen Sonja faces an unprecedented future in the history of Norway. It is the first time that a new monarch can consult with his mother on how to exercise his royal duties. Although the king Harald’s widow is not going to use the British title of Queen Mother, she will indeed exercise that important position from now on. Something that experts view positively.
Author Trond Norén Isaksen confirmed to the Norwegian news agency NTB the value of this exchange of experiences between mother and son. «King Haakon is already old enough to have lived through the previous throne change, but, of course, it is an advantage to be able to rely on Queen Sonja to consult her about the throne change as well as many other things. In the modern era, in Norway we have not had access to such a direct experience as this.»
Queen Sonja and Her New Role for the Crown
Following the death of King Harald V on 28 August, Queen Sonja became the first Queen Mother of independent Norway (1905). Queen Maud did not live to see how her only son, King Olav V, ascended the throne in 1957, as she died in 1938. Similarly, King Olav was widowed when he ascended the throne, since his wife, the Crown Princess Märtha, died in 1954. Therefore, when he ascended the throne in 1991, there was no Queen Mother either.
The kings Sonja and Harald of Norway.
Queen Sonja is also the first Norwegian queen to witness her son’s oath of loyalty ceremony as the new monarch. Previously, in his first address to the nation, King Haakon thanked his late father for “having been such a good father to Märtha Louise and to me” and for being “a loving and playful grandfather. A loving and attentive husband. A generous father-in-law.” And he also paid homage to the love that bound his parents and their enduring marriage, and he was moved when addressing Queen Sonja and telling her: “Happy wedding anniversary, dear mother.”
Beyond her role as adviser to her son, Queen Sonja is expected to continue her numerous charitable activities and serve as a pillar of stability and dynastic continuity alongside her son and granddaughter, the heiress Princess Ingrid Alexandra. For the moment, she has already shown an active institutional presence, taking a prominent role in Parliament, where she has taken on a special prominence due to Queen Mette-Marit’s absence for health reasons.
A Queen Mother, European Style
Although this kind of advisory function is not common in Norway, other European royal houses have a long tradition in this regard. For example, the mother of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen Ingrid, lived 28 years during her reign. And the British Queen Mother lived for about half a century while Elizabeth II was on the throne. And in Spain, Queen Sofía plays an active institutional role and strategic representation within the Royal House, serving as support to King Felipe VI.
Two young Sonja and Harald.
Born to a clothing merchant in Oslo, the plebeian origins of Sonja were seen as a problem when she met then-prince Harald at a party in June 1959. They were photographed together for the first time at his graduation dance in August of that year, and they began a nine-year relationship that they kept secret. Finally, as the sole male heir of his father, Prince Harald issued an ultimatum: either he would marry her or remain a bachelor for the rest of his life.
King Olav initially rejected the union, but faced with the possibility that the reign of his family — and, potentially, the Norwegian monarchy as a whole — could end, he ultimately gave his consent. As a sign of his blessing, the king himself even accompanied Sonja to the altar at her wedding to the heir apparent in Oslo Cathedral on 29 August 1968, since her father had died months earlier.
