Norway's King Harald V, Europe's beloved, oldest monarch, dies at 89

Stavanger, Norway — King Harald V of Norway, who went into exile in the United States as a child during the Nazi occupation of his homeland and refused a string of European noblewomen to marry his school sweetheart, died Friday. He was 89.

Harald was Europe's oldest monarch. The popular king modernized the royal house but refused to follow in the footsteps of other aging monarchs who have abdicated in recent times. His son automatically became King Haakon VIII.

Like other royal houses in Europe, the Norwegian monarchs serve a largely symbolic role, enjoying celebrity status while real power in the democracy of 5.5 million rests with an elected parliament. Harald was crowned after his British-born father, King Olav V, died in January 1991, and reigned during an oil-and-gas-driven economic boom in his country.

"A whole nation is in mourning and the people of Norway are left with a deep sense of gratitude for a long life in the service of Norway," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in a statement. "For more than three decades as monarch, Harald V demonstrated an unwavering faith in the Norwegian people. He helped us to see the best in ourselves - and in one another."

Harald was born in 1937 in Asker, near Oslo, becoming the first Norwegian prince to be born in the country since King Olav IV in 1370. In the following centuries, Norway didn't have a king of its own until Harald's grandfather, Haakon VII, was elected king following the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway.

Harald was 3 years old when the Nazis occupied Norway at the start of World War II. To avoid capture, his mother fled with him and his sisters, Ragnhild and Astrid, first to Sweden and then by boat to the U.S., while Harald's father and grandfather went into exile in Britain with Norway's government.

Haakon's refusal to go along with German demands garnered respect among his people.

During their time in the U.S., the Norwegian royals were often guests at the White House. Harald was 6 when he carried out his first official duty, christening new warplanes at a Norwegian air base in Canada.

The family was reunited in Norway in June 1945, shortly after the end of the war. Harald attended public schools, the Norwegian military college and Oxford University.

Like his father - an Olympic champion sailor in 1928 - Harald loved the sea and sailboats. He represented Norway at several Olympics, and in 1987 he skippered his yacht to gold in the World Championships.

As a young man, Harald was urged to find a bride among the princesses of Europe. For nine years he shunned a series of noblewomen, holding out until he finally won his father's permission to marry his school sweetheart, Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a successful businessman.

King Olav had feared the marriage would weaken Norway's still-young monarchy. Instead, Norwegians greeted the Aug. 29, 1968, wedding with jubilation, and later embraced Sonja as their queen. The couple had two children, Haakon and his older sister, Märtha Louise.

The Norwegian Constitution was altered in 1990 to allow the first born, regardless of gender, to take precedence in the line of succession.