15 January 2010

Haakon, better known as Charles

Lars Olav Karlsen is in Norway first of all known for his participation in the TV reality show "Heia Tufte!" ("Go Tufte!"), broadcasted on the commercial TV channel TVNorge in 2005.

He is also known for his rather impressive collection of autographs. How often isn't he spotted outside Grand Hotel in Oslo when a celebrity is around! The sympathetic and good-hearted Lars Olav is also a blogger, and until recently his main topic was to write about his fight to loose weight, but now he has decided to write about other matters as well.

Earlier this week he wrote an article about a card he has obtained, signed "Haakon, better known as Charles". The card - to a friend in England - was written on 2 December 1905, only a few days after he arrived in Norway as King Haakon VII. Not sure who the friend was, as King Haakon's handwriting has always been a great challenge. Maybe someone can figure it out?

King Haakon was, as Prince of Denmark, named Carl, and was therefore called Charles by his wife and other British relatives and friends. They continued to use this nickname also after he succeeded to the Norwegian throne.

References

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3 comments:

  1. Trond Norén IsaksenSaturday, 16 January 2010 at 19:08:00 CET

    To me it looks like something like "Dear Colonel Douglas Dawson".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dag T. HoelsethSunday, 17 January 2010 at 15:35:00 CET

    Thanks! So the next question would be who Douglas Dawson was and how he knew King Haakon/Prince Carl...

    DTH

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dag T. HoelsethSunday, 17 January 2010 at 15:38:00 CET

    Maybe he was a Colonel at the time and later became a Brigadier-General?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Dawson

    In 1905 Dawson was Master of the Ceremonies to King Edward VII...

    DTH

    ReplyDelete