The King and Queen of Norway are on their annual autumn visit to London, and last week, they visited King Charles at Windsor Castle. The visit was private, but several Norwegian media have confirmed that the meeting took place.
The Norwegian and British royal families have several private unofficial meetings every year, as the families are close to each other. This was, nevertheless, the first time the families had a private meeting, without other Royal Family members present, since the death of Queen Elizabeth.
It is not known what the royals talked about, but by all accounts, this was a purely friendly family visit.
The November trip to London has been a tradition since the days of King Olav and always included a visit to the late Queen Elizabeth, who was King Harald’s second cousin. During the annual holidays to London, the Norwegian Royal Family usually stays in the residence of the Norwegian ambassador, which is in Belgrave Square.
The close ties between the Norwegian and British royal families date back to 1896 when Princess Maud of Wales married Prince Carl of Denmark. In 1905, this couple became King and Queen of Norway, and Prince Carl became King Haakon VII of Norway. Norway’s Queen Maud was, therefore, the daughter of King Edward VII, sister of King George V and aunt of George VI. However, when Germany invaded Norway in 1940, King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav had to leave Norway and stay in exile in London. This led to the ties between the two branches of the family becoming even closer.
When King Charles III was born in 1948, three years had passed since King Haakon returned to Norway after the Second World War. The ties were strong, so Queen Elizabeth chose to name her first-born son, a future king, after her favourite uncle, Prince Carl. King Haakon of Norway was then an obvious choice as the then-Prince Charles’s godfather.
