Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark

Portrait of Princess Louise Auguste as a child. Pastel by H.P. Sturz, 1771. In the collection of Rosenborg Castle, Denmark

Portrait of Princess Louise Auguste by Anton Graff, 1791. In the collection of Rosenborg Castle, Denmark

Louise Auguste of Denmark, Duchess of Augustenborg (July 7, 1771 - January 13, 1843) was officially daughter of King Christian VII of Denmark and Queen Caroline Mathilde. Unofficially it is widely accepted that her natural father was Johann Friedrich Struensee, the king’s royal physician and de facto regent of the country at the time of her birth. She was referred to sometimes as "la petite Struensee".

She was born at Hirschholm Palace in present day Hørsholm municipality, Denmark. After the arrest of Struensee and Queen Caroline Mathilde on January 17, 1772, and the subsequent execution of Struensee and the banishment and imprisonment of her mother, she was raised at the Danish court residing at Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen along with her three-year older brother, Crown Prince Frederik under the supervision of the Dowager Queen Juliane Marie.

In February 1779 the nation's foremost statesman, Chief Minister Andreas Peter Bernstorff, hatched an ingenious plan for the young princess. Since a male child of hers could inherit the throne some day, it would be advantageous to arrange a marriage early, and to marry the "half-royal" back into the family, to the Hereditary Prince of Augustenborg. This plan not only had the positive effect of more closely connecting the Danish royal house’s two lines, the ruling House of Oldenborg and the offshoot House of Augustenborg, thus discouraging the threat of a breakup of the kingdom, but also the prevention of her marriage into the Swedish royal house (the latter danger was rather low, however: at that time, there were Swedish princes only twenty years or more her senior, and her first cousin, the future Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden had just been born when she already was seven).

Her future husband was a prince with an exceptionally high dose of Danish blood in his ancestry, his maternal grandmother, paternal grandmother and paternal great-grandmother having been, respectively, born Countess of Reventlow, Countess of Danneskiold-Samsoe and Countess of Ahlefeldt-Langeland. He was closely related to all important families of the then high nobility of Denmark.

The binding agreements were made a year later, and in spring 1785 the 20 year old duke Frederik Christian II came to Copenhagen. The engagement was announced then, and a year later, on May 27, 1786 the 14 year old Louise Augusta was married at Christiansborg Castle.

They lived at the Castle for many years until the Christiansborg Castle fire of 1794 and the death of the elder Duke of Augustenborg (Frederik Christian I, 1721-94), when her husband inherited the estate and the Duchy. The princess was often the center of court activities, and was proclaimed the “Venus of Denmark”.

After 1794 they lived during the summer on the island of Als and at Gråsten.

They had three children:

• Caroline Amalie (b. Sept. 28, 1796 - d 9.3.1881), who would become Queen of Denmark as consort to Christian VIII
• Christian August (b. July 19, 1798 - d 11.3.1869), the Duke of Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (who was to become a pivotal figure in the Question of Schleswig-Holstein in 1850's and 1860's). In order to hold to potential Danish feelings, he was married to a Danish relative, Countess of Danneskjold-Samsoe.
• Frederik Emil August (b. Aug. 23, 1800 - d 2.7.1865), the “Prince” of Nør (Noer)

Over the years there developed conflict between her husband and her brother, especially over the relationship of the double-duchies of Schleswig-Holstein and his small appanage around Sonderborg there on one hand and the Danish monarchy on the other. She remained loyal to the Danish Royal House throughout the differences. In 1810 she worked actively to stop the Duke's attempts to be chosen as successor to the Swedish throne, which were linked with the duke's younger brother Charles August of Augustenburg becoming chosen by Swedes and then dying, after which Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, got elected.

Their relationship eventually fell apart, and Frederik Christian tried to legally limit her influence over their children’s future. He died on June 14, 1814, and Louise Auguste took control of the Augustenborg estates and the children’s upbringing. The estate was turned over to the eldest son, Christian August, on his return from an extended foreign tour in 1820.

From then on she resided in the Augustenborg Castle, where she established an eccentric court. In 1832 in order to give her youngest son, Frederik Emil August, better income possibilities she purchased the estate Nør and Grønwald in Dänischwold near Ekernførde Fjord in South Schleswig.

She died at Augustenborg in 1843, when her brother's reign in Denmark had already ended and Christian VIII, her son-in-law, ascended - she thus deceased as the mother of the then Queen of Denmark.

Two portraits of her were painted by Danish artist Jens Juel. The first from 1784 is in The Royal Collection, London, and the second from 1787 is in the Frederiksborg Palace Museum. Another portrait of her by Anton Graff is in Sønderborg Castle.

Danish author Maria Helleberg has written a best-selling historical novel based on the life of Louise Augusta called "Kærlighedsbarn" ("Love Child"), which inspired a special biographical exhibition on the life of the princess at Rosenborg Castle.

Among the currently reigning monarchs of the world, only King Charles XVI Gustav of Sweden is a direct descendant of Louise Auguste. Constantine II of Greece was also, however he reigns no longer. Queen Sofia of Spain, Louise's descendant, is the consort of a currently reigning monarch, and the mother of the presumptive next one.