Louise of the Netherlands
| Louise of the Netherlands | |
|---|---|
| Queen of Sweden and Norway | |
| File:Drottning Lovisa av Sverige och Norge 1828-1871 av Amalia Lindegren 1859.jpg | |
| Spouse | Charles XV |
| Issue | Louise, Charles |
| Father | Prince Frederick of the Netherlands |
| Mother | Princess Louise of Prussia |
Princess Louise of the Netherlands (Wilhelmina Frederika Alexandrine Anna Louise) (August 5, 1828 – March 30, 1871), later Queen Lovisa of Sweden and Norway, was a member of the Dutch Royal Family, who became the Queen Consort of King Charles XV of Sweden (King Charles IV of Norway).
Birth
Princess Louise was born on August 5, 1828 in The Hague. Her father was Prince Frederik of the Netherlands, the second child of King Willem I of the Netherlands and Wilhelmina of Prussia. Her mother was Princess Louise of the Netherlands (née Princess Louise of Prussia), the eighth child of King Friederich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Queen Luise of Prussia (née Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz).
Marriage
Princess Louise married on June 19, 1850 Crown Prince Karl of Sweden and Norway, the son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway and Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway (née Princess Josephine of Leuchtenberg). Princess Wilhelmina Frederika Alexandrine Anna Louise then became Princess Vilhelmina Fredrika Alexandrine Anna Lovisa.
The marriage was arranged to provide the new Bernadotte dynasty with heirs and for the enormous dowry expected; although in reality, the dowry was very small. It was an unhappy union, since the crown prince found Lovisa unattractive and was unfaithful, although she quickly fell in love with him. Among her husband's many mistresses were the actresses Johanna Styrell and Elise Jakobsson-Hwasser, the latter being the most celebrated Swedish actress of the era.
Lovisa was not a successful crown-princess, and was not to be a successful queen, having a shy and quiet personality, the opposite of the king's, though the fact that she newer had anything whatsoever to do with politics was considered to be a good contrast to the previous queen-consorts who had, such as her predecessor, Josephine of Leuchtenberg. She spent her life attending to domestic duties and the family's finances, trying to please her husband by becoming the ideal woman of the time and wearing the "Ornament of silence". Her personality did represent this ideal, but it did not improve her relationship with the king, who treated her with condescending kindness but largely neglected her. Eventually, her health deteriorated.
On at least one occasion, during a picnic, she suffered some kind of fit (possibly an epilectic seizure from contemporary descriptions), which was thought to have been a hysterical reaction to her husband's neglect. The court struggled to conceal her from the public until the fit was over.
Lovisa did not care for ceremonial duties, preferring a quiet, family life, though she often dressed very elegantly. Her husband was very fond of their daughter, so they did share some of the family life Lovisa longed for. However, she was worried by his treatment of their daughter "as a son", which allowed her a very "unrestrained" childhood.
She employed Sweden's first female dentist, Rosalie Fougelberg, as her personal dentist in 1867.
Children
Together, Princess Lovisa and Prince Karl had two children:
- Princess Lovisa of Sweden (October 31, 1851 – March 20, 1926), later Queen Louise of Denmark.
- Prince Carl Oscar, Duke of Södermanland (December 14, 1852 – March 13, 1854), who died in infancy.
Coronation
She became Queen of Sweden at her father-in-law's death on July 8, 1859. Karl became the new king as Karl XV in Sweden and as Karl IV in Norway. Princess Lovisa then became Queen Lovisa.
Death
Queen Lovisa died on March 30, 1871 in Stockholm.
Styles
- Her Royal Highness Princess Louise of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau (1828–1850)
- Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Sweden and Norway, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau (1850–1859)
- Her Majesty The Queen of Sweden and Norway, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau (1859–1871)
Ancestors
Notes and References
- ^ a b Louise of the Netherlands' paternal grandmother, Queen Wilhelmine, and maternal grandfather, Frederick William III of Prussia, are siblings. They are both children of Frederick William II of Prussia and Queen Frederica Louisa.
- ^ a b Both paternal great-grandmother, Wilhelmina of Prussia, and paternal great-grandfather, Frederick William II of Prussia, are siblings. They are both children of Prince Augustus William of Prussia and Louise Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
- ^ Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007
- ^ a b Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007
- ^ a b Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007
- Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon (1906), Lovisa. [1]
- Nationalencyklopedin, Lovisa [2]
- Christer Engstrand and Ingmar Andersson. Historiska Personer: Lovisa av Nederländerna. Retrieved October 3, 2004.