King Harald of Norway has died at the age of 89, leaving behind a long reign and a royal history that includes an unrequited youth romance with Queen Sofia of Spain during her years as a Greek princess.
According to extensive historical retrospectives by Spanish journalist and author Pilar Eyre, the former Greek princess fell deeply in love with the Norwegian prince in the early 1960s, though the affection was not returned.
At the time, international media followed every public appearance of the young royals with intense interest. European magazines published photographs of Princess Sofia and Prince Harald aboard speedboats during sailing regattas off Hanko, an island in the Oslofjord known as a hub for Norwegian royal sailing. The images were accompanied by glowing captions celebrating a fairytale romance between two prominent European house heirs.
However, the reality behind the camera flashes was far more painful for Sofia. Writing in the Spanish magazine Lecturas, Eyre revealed that the Norwegian prince was already deeply in love with Sonja Haraldsen, a commoner and Oslo dressmaker whom he was determined to marry despite fierce opposition from the Norwegian royal court. Harald would eventually marry Haraldsen in 1968, and she later became Queen Sonja of Norway.
Because of his commitment to Haraldsen, Prince Harald used his public appearances alongside Princess Sofia merely as a smokescreen. The high profile outings served to distract inquisitive journalists from his true, private relationship.
Royal Matchmaking and the Naples Olympics
During the same period, Queen Frederica of Greece, the wife of King Paul, was anxiously searching for a suitable dynastic marriage for her daughters, as confirmed by contemporary press reports from the era.
Concurrently in Estoril, Portugal, where the Spanish royal family lived in exile, the Count and Countess of Barcelona were looking for a suitable princess for their son, Prince Juan Carlos. The Spanish royal house wanted to distance the young prince from scandalous, passionate affairs with women including Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, daughter of the last king of Italy, and the sensual Italian Countess Olghina di Robilant.
A pivotal meeting between the Greek and Spanish royal families was arranged in the summer of 1960 in Naples, Italy, on the sidelines of the sailing competitions for the Rome Olympic Games. The Italian port city had turned into an elaborate Greek celebration as wealthy Greek shipowners filled the harbor with their luxury yachts.
Following an Olympic gold medal victory by Prince Constantine of Greece aboard his sailing boat Nereus, the Greek heir's first Olympic title in the Dragon class, Queen Frederica hosted a spectacular evening reception on the yacht Polemitis while wearing her legendary Burmese rubies.
A Disappearance and a Bathroom Encounter
The celebratory atmosphere on board was thrown into turmoil when Prince Juan Carlos went missing for an entire day, causing widespread concern among the hosts and royal guests.
The cause of his sudden disappearance was the unexpected arrival of Countess Olghina di Robilant in Naples. Juan Carlos and the Countess had secluded themselves inside a cheap pension for twenty-four hours, creating what was described as the largest scandal of the 1960 Olympic Games.
When Juan Carlos finally appeared late at night on the deck of the Polemitis, he looked disheveled, carelessly dressed, and barefoot. His mother immediately pushed him toward Princess Sofia.
When he attempted to kiss her, Princess Sofia pulled back in aversion, having immediately recognized that he smelled of another woman. Juan Carlos asked her what was wrong with her, to which Sofia curtly replied that she did not like men with mustaches.
Pilar Eyre revealed that the normally shy princess then took dynamic action. Sofia took Juan Carlos by the arm, led him into a cabin bathroom, draped a towel over his shoulders, and shaved off his mustache herself.
The bold gesture pleasantly surprised the young prince. Behind the closed bathroom door, their satisfied parents watched on, listening as laughter and prolonged silences echoed from inside.
