The enduring love story of King Harald and Queen Sonja is the subject of a new Norwegian television series.
Viaplay and Paradox, two Norwegian production companies, announced the news last week, revealing that the as yet untitled series will follow their first meetings, the secret nine-year relationship they were forced to maintain due to Sonja’s commoner status and the run up to their 1968 wedding, when King Olav granted the couple permission to marry.
Sindre Strand Offerdal and Gina Bernhoft Gørvell have been cast as King Harald and Queen Sonja. Anders Raasmo will play King Olav, Harald’s father, and Anneke von der Lippe will play Sonja’s mother, Dagny Haraldsen.
In an interview with the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Strand Offeral said about the Norwegian monarch that he “is known for his fundamental humanity. It is easy to see his personality shine through the institution, with a twinkle in his eye and a genuine human curiosity. We are going through an extensive time journey that spans many years, and I want to depict a person, not just be a copy.”
Bernhoft Gørvell added that she will be treating the role of Queen Sonja with “reverence and respect” as everyone in Norway knows the King and Queen, and they are both still alive and well.
King Harald and Queen Sonja began dating in 1959 and kept their relationship quiet for nearly a decade. By the late ‘60s, the then-Crown Prince announced to his father that if he could not marry Sonja Haraldsen, he would not marry at all.
As Harald was the only heir to the throne—his sisters were barred from the succession due to agnatic primogeniture at the time—the Norwegian throne would have gone to a Danish cousin should Harald have had to keep his promise.
King Olav consulted with Parliament and agreed that Harald would be allowed to marry Sonja, and the couple were married on 29 August 1968.
The television series is written and directed by Vibeke Idsøe and will air in four parts in 2025.
