The question who was the real father of King Olav V of Norway (1903-1991) has been very often asked in the past, because his alleged father, King Haakon VII (1872-1957), had the reputation to be sterile. During World War II it was suggested that Olav V was a child of Victoria, a sister of his mother, Maud of England (1869-1938), and a British officer. Then in 2004 the respected historical researcher Tor Bomann-Larsen published a biography about the King and Queen of Norway, Haakon VII and his wife Maud, by which he also tried to answer the question who was the real father of King Olav.

Olav V was born on 2nd July 1903. Therefore his mother must have fallen pregnant in October 1902. But at that specific time, in October 1902, the then still Prince Haakon (born as Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel) was on a marine vessel in Denmark, and his wife Maud had travelled incognito to her native country, England, and was secretly treated by one of the personal physicians of her father, King Edward VII, a certain Sir Francis Laking (1849-1914), in a London hospital. Nine months later she gave birth to her only child, her son Olav.

We ordinary mortals have heard about artificial insemination for the first time only many years later. But it was already practiced by the mighty and rich at the beginning of the 20th century. Perhaps you have already read that even Elizabeth II and her sister Margaret were created by artificial insemination, because their mother, the Queen Mother Elizabeth, according to one source did not want to have a sexual relationship with her husband, King George VI, any longer shortly after the honeymoon period, or according to another source her husband and his elder brother Edward VIII had come down with mumps and measles in their youth, which can lead to infertility (watch: A Biography about the Queen Mother Elizabeth from 10:42 to 11:45).

According to Tor Bomann-Larsen the sperm donor in the case of Olav V could have been – don't forget, Haakon VII was sterile – the son of the personal physician who treated Queen Maud in England in 1902. His name was Sir Guy Francis Laking (1875-1919). For Olav V bore a striking resemblance to Sir Guy Laking. This interesting theory was put into question by Odd Arvid Storsveen, a historian of the University of Oslo, because it was not supported by historical sources. Some historians are so simple minded!!! Did Odd Arvid Storsveen really expect that the members of the high nobility were and are so stupid to write not only down their most important familiar secrets, but put them in the archives so that every historian could/can read them? In the cases of clandestine marriages, children born in secrecy, illicit relationships, adulteries and artificial insemination the archives are useless for us historians. Fortunately nowadays DNA-tests can confirm our theories. But if the members of the nobility have really something to hide, they will give us of course no access to the DNA of themselves or their forefathers.

If you would like to know more about this topic, then read the following article.