Harald and Sonja of Norway, their (troubled) love story will become a TV series

Marriages between royals and commoners no longer scandalize anyone. But once upon a time, as you know, things were different. So much so that the current rulers of Norway, Harald and Sonjathey had to struggle for nine years to digest their union to the royal house. In fact, at the Palazzo they did everything to divide the then heir to the throne from the beloved “plebeian”. And now those war years in the (real) family are about to hit TV. Viaplay and Paradox, two Norwegian production companies, have announced that the early years of Harald and Sonja’s relationship will become a TV series. No wonder: the love story of the «Juliet and Romeo of Norway», as they were renamed at the time, has all the ingredients to glue viewers in front of the small screen.

The sovereigns, who celebrated the 30-year reign in 2021Yes they met in June 1959 during a reception at a friend’s house common: the classic early summer party in Oslo, a mix of nobles and rich bourgeoisie. Harald was immediately struck by Sonja, who was there by pure chance: she had lost her father a few weeks ago and had no desire to party. It was her mother who had pushed her to play. Between the then heir to the throne and the self-confident “plebeian” was lightning strike. The two began to see each other secretly, but somehow their secret meetings reached public ears: the Slottet, the Norwegian royal palace, denied on two occasions and categorically – in 1964 and 1967 – the rumor that the crown prince would marry a bourgeois. Indeed, Harald and Sonja had to face nine years of secrets, subterfuges, tensions and threats before they could get married.

King Olav V, Harold’s father, did everything to hinder that love. Before sent his son to study in England, then on institutional trips to the United States. Then, upon his return to his homeland, he he underwent meetings with European princesses to push him to marriage. At one point the heir to the throne gave the ultimatum: if he could not marry Sonja, he would have given up the throne. And under the law of male succession, the Norwegian crown would be gone forever.

It seems that it was there that broke the deadlock Queen Elizabeth, Olav V’s second cousin, convincing the ruler not to balk. Furthermore, on the side of the «Romeo and Juliet of Norwaymost of the people were there. The formalization of love between Harald of Norway and Sonja arrived on March 19, 1968. On August 29 of the same year, the two became husband and wife: and it was the king himself who accompanied his fatherless daughter-in-law down the aisle.

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