The King’s Choice is a misleading film title for an English speaking audience – it is not about the Duke of Windsor. The king, as portrayed in the film, bears a remarkably close resemblance to Alan Brooke. If he looks less than happy it is because his wife had died in 1938 and his neutral country had been invaded.
It is the story of the German invasion of Norway. Haakon VII was an unusual monarch; he was elected king when Sweden and Norway separated in 1905. Kings are not usually elected; nor was he Norwegian. He was a Dane, Prince Carl, second son of the Crown Prince of Denmark. Nor was his wife Norwegian; she was his first cousin, Princess Maud, the youngest daughter of Edward VII, granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
The sub-titled film is the story of Haakon’s choice in 1940. He is a constitutional monarch and his Cabinet want to negotiate with Germany. The kings says “no”, that is the tile of the film in Norwegian. Hitler wants the king, and his Cabinet, as puppet rulers. Germany makes an ultimatum and King Haakon tells his government:
I am deeply affected by the responsibility laid on me if the German demand is rejected. The responsibility for the calamities that will befall people and country is indeed so grave that I dread to take it. It rests with the government to decide, but my position is clear. For my part I cannot accept the German demands. It would conflict with all that I have considered to be my duty as King of Norway since I came to this country nearly thirty-five years ago.
A member of his government later wrote:
This made a great impression on us all. More clearly than ever before, we could see the man behind the words; the king who had drawn a line for himself and his task, a line from which he could not deviate. We had through the five years [in government] learned to respect and appreciate our king, and now, through his words, he came to us as a great man, just and forceful; a leader in these fatal times to our country.
Instead Hitler’s puppet was Quisling and the Norwegian nation, that might have despised their king for going into exile, were brought together by his resistance. He returned to Norway in 1945 and ruled until his death in 1957.
Christopher,
Price Carl was a Draper; one of four Drapers who were not expected to be Monarchs at the time of their birth, the others being:
– Prince William of Orange, later King William (III & II) of England, Scotland, France and Ireland
– Prince Albert, Duke of York, later George VI, King of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India
– Princess Elizabeth of York, later Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
P.
Of course, Prince William was also elected (many would say twice…).
I saw this film on BBC2 the other day & found it deeply moving. Almost as poignant as the portrayal of the King was that of the German Ambassador, Curt Brauer, who understood that his masters were committing a tragic error & stoking up a nightmare of long-term resistance. The only false note was that, as the King and Crown Prince were fleeing into the interior to escape the invading Nazis, all they could talk about was the late Queen & how she hadn’t been much of a wife or mother as all she’d been interested in was going to England to be with her horses!