Who married Maud of Wales?

Maud of Wales (Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria; 26 November 1869 – 20 November 1938) was Queen of Norway as the wife of King Haakon VII. The youngest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom and a sister of King George V, she was known as Princess Maud of Wales before her marriage, as her father was the Prince of Wales at the time.

A daughter of Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark, Maud was the youngest of six children. She grew up in a warm and informal environment under the supervision of her mother, contrasting with the stricter upbringing of her older siblings. From an early age, Maud showed a spirited and lively nature, enjoying outdoor pursuits and sports; she was among the first British princesses to ride a bicycle and often spent time in the gardens and grounds of Sandringham House. Her education, was primarily conducted at home, under the supervision of private tutors.

In 1896, Maud married her first cousin Prince Carl of Denmark. Following the dissolution of the union with Sweden in November 1905, Prince Carl was elected king of Norway as Haakon VII of Norway, and Maud became the first queen consort of an independent Norway in more than five centuries. Stepping into her new role, she combined her British upbringing with her Norwegian duties: while keeping strong ties to Britain, Maud embraced Norwegian national life, supported charitable causes particularly those connected to children, women, and the arts and took part in outdoor pursuits such as skiing.

Despite her reserved public demeanour, Maud played a steady and stabilising role in the early 20th-century Norwegian monarchy, acting as a bridge between British and Norwegian royal traditions. She was widely admired for her dignity, charitable work, and quiet influence at court. Maud died in London on 20 November 1938, six days before her 69th birthday.

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Haakon VII (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈhôːkʊn]; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 1872 – 21 September 1957) was King of Norway from 1905 until his death in 1957. Having reigned for nearly 52 years, he was the second longest-reigning monarch in Norwegian history, after Christian IV.

He was born in Copenhagen during the reign of his grandfather, King Christian IX of Denmark; he was named Carl at birth and was the second son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark (later King Frederick VIII and Queen Louise). Carl was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and served in the Royal Danish Navy. After the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway, he was offered the Norwegian crown. Following a monarchy referendum, he accepted the offer and was formally elected King of Norway by the Storting and took the Old Norse name Haakon, thus ascended the throne as Haakon VII, becoming the first independent Norwegian monarch since Olav IV in 1387.

As king, Haakon gained much sympathy from the Norwegian people. Although the Constitution of Norway vests the King with considerable executive powers, in practice Haakon confined himself to a representative and ceremonial role while rarely interfering in politics, a practice continued by his son and grandson. Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1940. Haakon rejected German demands to legitimise the Quisling regime's puppet government, vowing to abdicate rather than do so. He refused to abdicate after going into exile in Great Britain. As such, he played a pivotal role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its resistance to the invasion and the subsequent five-year-long occupation during the Second World War. He returned to Norway in June 1945 after the defeat of Germany.

Haakon became King of Norway when his grandfather Christian IX was still reigning in Denmark, and before his father and elder brother became kings of Denmark. During his reign he saw his father Frederick VIII, his elder brother Christian X, and his nephew Frederik IX ascend the throne of Denmark in 1906, 1912, and 1947 respectively. Haakon died at the age of 85 in September 1957, after having reigned for nearly 52 years. He was succeeded by his only child and son, who ascended to the throne as Olav V.

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