Author Archives: Susan

Royalty and the Olympics

Prince Albert II of Monaco participated in bobsled events in five Winter Olympics and is currently a Member of the International Olympic Committee; Photo Credit – zimbio.com

Many people around the world will be watching the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea over the next couple of weeks.  Did you know that the first royal to win an Olympic medal was killed five years later in World War I?  Check out the royal Olympic connections at our links below.

Age is an obvious cause of sexual problems in men, Kamagra online seems to be the most used medication, simply because it is more affordable, effective and easily available viagra prices s have made it treatable in just few minutes. Treatment of erectile dysfunction: Some helpful ED drugs named Caverta, purchase cheap viagra , viagra, Kamagra, Super P force, Eriacta are available on DVDs. Half of the participants were overweight or obese, while half of them had a history of some underlying health cialis 100mg conditions. On being administered oral Zenegra pills, some amount of damage is wholesale viagra http://djpaulkom.tv/spin-magazine-salutes-da-mafia-6ix-with-rap-song-of-the-week/ made to the penile nerves.

February 1918: Royalty and World War I

by Susan Flantzer

  • Tragedy at Sea – Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell
  • Captain The Honorable Harold Alfred Vyvyan St. George Harmsworth
  • Timeline: February 1, 1918 – February 28, 1918
  • A Note About German Titles
  • February 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

********************

Tragedy at Sea – Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell

HMS K-17 Submarine; Photo Credit – www.harwichanddovercourt.co.u

On the evening of January 31 – February 1, 1918, twenty-six-year-old Royal Navy Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrell of HMS Submarine K-17 died along with 103 other sailors in a tragic series of accidents in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The accidents were called the Battle of May Island, named after an island in the Firth of Forth. However, it was no battle but rather an entirely accidental tragedy with no enemy forces present.

The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell was the elder of the two sons and the third of the four children of William George Tyrrell, 1st Baron Tyrrell of Avon and Margaret Ann Urquhart. Hugo had two elder sisters and one younger brother, 2nd Lieutenant The Honorable Francis Chichester Victor Tyrrell, who also died during World War I on February 15, 1915 from wounds received in action. Therefore, when Hugo’s father died in 1947 at the 80, the barony became extinct as both his sons had died.

Around 40 ships left the port of Rosyth on the Firth of Forth, Scotland bound for fleet exercises in the North Sea. On the night of January 31 to February 1, 1918, five collisions occurred between eight ships. Two submarines were lost and three other submarines and a light cruiser were damaged. The accident was kept secret during the war and a memorial was finally dedicated 84 years later, on January 31, 2002, in the harbor of Anstruther, Scotland opposite the Isle of May.

Battle of May Island Memorial; Photo Credit – http://www.maritimequest.com/misc_pages/monuments_memorials/battle_of_may_island_memorial.htm

Hugo was one of the 59 sailors aboard the HMS K-17, a submarine powered by steam and electricity. K-17 was sailing behind the cruiser HMS Courageous when the Courageous changed course to avoid two trawlers ahead. K-17 turned but two other submarines, K-22 and K-14, were involved in a collision. Meanwhile HMS Fearless, another cruiser, was steaming towards the area, oblivious of the accident. The Fearless plowed into K-17. The order to abandon ship was quickly given but within eight minutes K-17 sank. Any survivors were now in the water and the other submarines attempted to pick them up. Sadly, the destroyers were unaware of the location of the accident and plowed through the survivors.

All remains of the deceased sailors remain at the wreck site which is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell is remembered at the Chatham Naval Memorial in Chatham, Kent, England which records the names of 18,500 Royal Navy officers who died or were buried at sea in World War I and World War II.

Chatham Naval Memorial; Photo Credit – By Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent – Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2748208

********************

Captain The Honorable Harold Alfred Vyvyan St. George Harmsworth

Photo Credit – https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org

Captain The Honorable Harold Vyvyan Alfred St George Harmsworth, known as Vyvyan, was born in London on August 2, 1894. He was the eldest of the three sons of Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, the founder of the newspapers The Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, and Mary Lilian Share. Lord Rothermore’s second son Lieutenant The Honorable Vere Sidney Tudor Harmsworth killed in action November 13, 1916, so he was succeeded by his third son Esmond Cecil Harmsworth as 2nd Viscount Rothermere.

Vyvyan attended Eton College and then enrolled at Christ Church College at the University of Oxford in 1913. At the start of World War I, he joined the 2nd Battalion the Irish Guards and saw action in France. He described the conditions in the trenches in a letter to his father dated January 13, 1915: “Hell is the only word descriptive of the weather out here and the state of the ground. It rains every day! The trenches are mud and water up to one’s neck, rendering some impassable – but where it is up to the waist we have to make our way along cheerfully. I can tell you – it is no fun getting wet up to the waist and right through, as I did last night. Lots of men have been sent off with slight frost-bite – the foot swells up and gets too big for the boot.”

Vyvyan was wounded two times and each time he returned to the trenches. In December 1917, he was wounded at the Battle of Cambrai and was sent back to England to recuperate. In a letter to his father, he was very positive about his recovery, “My wounds are healing very rapidly – in fact I don’t worry about them now. I have been awfully lucky, no vital or difficult spots, such as knees touched.” However, he did not recover. 23-year-old Vyvyan died of those wounds on February 12, 1918 in the Lady Northcliffe Hospital for Officers in London founded by his aunt, Mary Harmsworth, Viscountess Northcliffe, Lady Hudson.  He was buried at Hampstead Cemetery in West Hampstead, London.

Vyvyan’s grave: Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

Lord Rothermere endowed The Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History Chair at the University of Oxford in Vyvyan’s memory which still continues today. History was his favorite subject. One of the conditions is that the occupant of the Chair be a citizen of the United States.

********************

Timeline: February 1, 1918 – February 28, 1918

Territories occupied by the Central Powers during and after Operation Faustschlag; Credit – By Soerfm – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28806053

  • February 15-16 – Battle of Rarancza near Rarańcza (Ridkivtsi), Bukovina in present-day Ukraine
  • February 18 – March 3 – Operation Faustschlag in Western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Baltics, last offensive on Eastern Front
  • February 19 – British begin their assault on Jericho, then part of the Ottoman Empire, now in the Palestinian Territories and is located near the Jordan River in the West Bank
  • February 21 – British capture Jericho
  • February 21 – Germans capture Minsk, then part of Russia, now the capital of Belarus, part of Operation Faustschlag
  • February 24 – Germans capture Zhytomyr, then part of Russia, now in Ukraine, part of Operation Faustschlag
  • February 25 – German troops capture Estonia, then part of Russia, now an independent country, part of Operation Faustschlag
  • February 28 – Germans capture Pskov in Russia and Narva in Estonia part of Operation Faustschlag

********************

A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

********************

February 1918 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website If a person has a Wikipedia page or a website page with biographical information, their name will be linked to that page.

Lieutenant The Honorable Hugo William Louis Tyrrell

**********

Captain The Honorable Harold Alfred Vyvyan St. George Harmsworth

**********

Friedrich, Graf von Hohenau

Jack Brooksbank, husband of Princess Eugenie

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Jack Brooksbank and Princess Eugenie of York; Photo Credit – https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily

Born on May 3, 1986, at St. Thomas Hospital in London, Lambeth, England, Jack Christopher Stamp Brooksbank is the elder of the two sons of George Brooksbank, an accountant and company director, and the former Nicola Newton. He has a younger brother Thomas born in 1988. Jack attended Stowe School, an exclusive independent school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England.

Jack skipped university and started working in the hospitality trade. He first worked in pubs including the Admiral Codrington in Chelsea, London then got a job at the trendy restaurant, the Markham Inn, also in the Chelsea area of London, which has since closed. Then Jack worked as the manager of the nightclub Mahiki in Mayfair, London, frequented by the younger royals. Currently, he is the brand ambassador of Casamigos Tequila, which was co-founded by George Clooney, Rande Gerber, and Mike Meldman. In 2017, Jack set up a wholesale company for the sale of wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages called Jack Brooksbank Limited.

Jack and Princess Eugenie in 2010

On January 22, 2018, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank.  Princess Eugenie is a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the younger of the two daughters of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York. Jack and Eugenie were introduced by mutual friends in 2010 during a skiing holiday in Verbier, Switzerland. The couple dated for seven years before becoming engaged.

Jack and his future mother-in-law Sarah, Duchess of York at the 2017 Royal Ascot

Jack and Eugenie are third cousins twice removed via their mutual descent from Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester. Eugenie’s mother Sarah, Duchess of York is the great-great-granddaughter of Lady Julia Coke, the daughter of Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester who is Jack’s great-great-grandfather.  For more information about Jack Brooksbank’s ancestors see Marlene Koenig’s 2016 article at Royal Musings: Perhaps an engagement…

 

Jack and Eugenie were married on October 12, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.

Jack and Eugenie with their first child August; Credit – https://www.facebook.com/TheBritishMonarchy

August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, the first child of Jack and Princess Eugenie was born by cesarean section on February 9, 2021, at Portland Hospital in London, England. He is the first grandchild of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, and the ninth great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh.

  • August: The name August comes from August’s maternal great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819-1861), Queen Victoria’s husband, whose full name in German was Franz Albrecht August Karl Emanuel.
  • Philip: The name Philip comes from August’s great-grandfather Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born 1921).
  • Hawke: The name Hawke comes from August’s paternal great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Reverend Edward Hawke Brooksbank (1789-1883). He graduated from Cambridge University with a Master of Arts and held the office of Justice of the Peace for the West Riding, Yorkshire, England.

On May 30, 2023, Princess Eugenie gave birth to her second son, Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank at Portland Hospital in London, England.

  • Ernest: The name Ernest was a middle name of King George V.
  • George: The name George is a tribute to Jack Brooksbank’s father George Brooksbank, who died in 2021 after being ill for some time.

  • Ronnie: The name Ronnie is in honor of the father of Sarah, Duchess of York, Major Ronald Ferguson, who died in 2003.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden and Norway

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

Known for her invaluable diary which described the Swedish royal court from 1775-1817, Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp was born on March 22, 1759, in Eutin, Duchy of Oldenburg, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Her parents were Friedrich August I, Duke of Oldenburg and Princess Ulrike Friederike Wilhelmine of Hesse-Kassel. She was a niece of King Adolf Fredrik of Sweden, the father of her future husband, and like her husband, a first cousin of Empress Catherine II of Russia (the Great).

Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte had two older siblings. Due to mental illness, her brother was Duke of Oldenburg and then Grand Duke beginning in 1815, in name only. His cousin Peter, Prince-Bishop of Lübeck, was regent throughout his entire reign and succeeded him.

Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte first met her cousin Prince Carl of Sweden, second son of King Adolf Fredrik of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia and brother of King Gustav III of Sweden, when he visited Eutin in 1770. In 1766, King Gustav III married Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark. In 1772, the marriage still had not been consummated and Gustav wanted to give the task of providing an heir to his brother. Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte’s name was mentioned as a possible bride for Carl. The marriage was arranged in 1772, but the wedding was delayed because of the bride’s young age.

Carl of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

The couple was married by proxy in Wismar, a German city in the possession of Sweden, on June 22, 1774, with Baron Carl Otto von Höpken standing in for the groom. Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte traveled to Sweden and arrived on July 1, 1774. On July 7, 1774, she made her entry into Stockholm on the Vasaorden, a kungaslup, Swedish for a ceremonial rowboat, built for King Gustav III in 1744. It was destroyed by fire in 1921 and an exact replica was built in 1923 which was used at the wedding celebrations of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling in 2010.

Ceremonial entry of Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte into Stockholm by Pehr Hilleström; Credit – Wikipedia

The Vasaorden at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria in 2010; Photo Credit – Av Atlantic Chef – Eget arbete, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10686218

After her ceremonial arrival in Stockholm, Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte was formally presented to Queen Sophia Magdalena, Dowager Queen Louisa Ulrika, members of the Council, their wives, and ambassadors. The second wedding took place the same evening at the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace of Stockholm followed by a masked ball in the Royal Garden.

Wedding dress of Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte; Credit – Wikipedia

In July 1775, there were signs that Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte was pregnant. It was hoped that the succession problem would be solved and prayers were held in the churches. In mid-September, preparations were made for the royal birth expected in October. However, on October 24, 1775, it was determined that there was no pregnancy. The news of the false pregnancy made King Gustav III decide to consummate his marriage and provide an heir to the throne himself, the future King Gustav IV Adolf, born in 1778.

Their marriage was distant and both Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte and Carl had extramarital affairs. From 1783, Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte had a long-term relationship with Count Carl Piper, referred to as her lover in her diary. Among her other alleged lovers was Count Axel von Fersen, the favorite of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte eventually had two children – one stillborn and one who lived only six days. Rumors of Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte’s alleged affairs were noted during her pregnancy in 1797.

  • Lovisa Hedvig (July 2, 1797), stillborn
  • Carl Adolf, Duke of Värmland (July 4, 1798 – July 10, 1798), died in early infancy

On March 16, 1792, King Gustav III was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström during a masked ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. Thirteen days later, on March 29, 1792, King Gustav III died of his wounds at the Royal Palace of Stockholm at the age of 46. His 13-year-old son succeeded him as King Gustav IV Adolf. Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte’s husband Prince Carl, the young king’s uncle, served as regent until 1796.  Carl was unwilling or incapable of managing state affairs and entrusted the powers of government to his confidant Count Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm.

In 1805, King Gustav IV Adolf joined the Third Coalition against Napoleon. His campaign went poorly and the French occupied Swedish Pomerania. In 1807, Russia made peace with France. A year later, Russia invaded Finland, ten ruled by Sweden, attempting to force Gustav Adolf to join Napoleon’s Continental System. In just a few months, almost all of Finland was lost to Russia. In 1809, Sweden surrendered the eastern third of Sweden to Russia, and the autonomous Grand Principality of Finland within the Russian Empire was established.

Provoked by the disaster in Finland, a group of noblemen started a coup d’état that deposed King Gustav IV Adolf. On March 13, 1809, a group of conspirators broke into the royal apartments at Gripsholm Castle and imprisoned Gustav Adolf and his family. Gustav IV Adolf abdicated on March 29, 1809, thinking if he did so, his son would become king. However, on May 10, 1809, the Riksdag proclaimed that all members of Gustav Adolf’s family had forfeited their rights to the throne. After accepting a new liberal constitution, Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte’s husband Prince Carl was proclaimed King Carl XIII of Sweden on June 6, 1809. In December 1809, King Gustav IV Adolf and his family were sent into exile.

Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte in 1814; Credit – Wikipedia

After the coup, Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte stated, “I do not wish to be a Queen!” She had a deep affection for Frederica of Baden, the wife of Gustav IV Adolf, and found it embarrassing to be taking her place. She told her husband that she would become his adviser and confidante, but that she would keep away from the matters of the state. During Carl’s reign, Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte visited him in his bedroom every morning to talk to him. She was crowned with Carl on June 29, 1809.

Carl was 60-years-old when he became king. He was childless and not in good health, and it was necessary to find a successor. All of King Gustav IV Adolf’s descendants had been declared ineligible to succeed to the Swedish throne, but there was a movement, the Gustavian Party, which supported the deposed king’s son, the former Crown Prince Gustav, to be acknowledged as heir to the throne. Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte supported this movement. However, 41-year-old unmarried, childless Prince Carl August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg was chosen Crown Prince of Sweden.

In November 1809, King Carl XIII had a stroke and was unable to participate in the government. Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte informally took his place on the Council. The Gustavian Party asked her to accept the post of regent, exclude the newly appointed Crown Prince, and adopt the former Crown Prince Gustav as heir. She declined the offer to be regent, and the coup never took place. On May 28, 1810, Carl August, Crown Prince of Sweden died from a stroke. There were rumors that the Gustavian Party had poisoned him.

The Swedes had the idea to offer the position of Crown Prince to one of Napoleon’s Marshals. Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, appointed Marshal of France in 1804, was well-liked in Sweden, particularly because of his considerate treatment of Swedish prisoners during the recent war with Denmark. In addition, he was related to Napoleon through his wife Désirée Clary, whose sister Julie Clary was married to Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte. Désirée had previously been engaged to Napoleon. Bernadotte already had a son Oscar, born in 1799, who could continue the succession. On August 21, 1810, the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates elected Bernadotte as Crown Prince. He arrived in Stockholm in November 1810 and was formally adopted by King Carl XIII, taking the name Carl Johan, and converted from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism. He would become King Carl XIV Johan, the first monarch of the House of Bernadotte, which still reigns in Sweden.

Bernadotte made a good impression on Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte. He asked her for advice and discussed the matters of state with her. In 1811, she was asked by the council to convince King Carl XIII to appoint Bernadotte regent and convince Bernadotte to accept the post, which she did.

In 1814, after the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden. Unlike Norway’s union with Denmark, this was a personal union under a single sovereign, and Norway remained an independent state with its own constitution.  Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte’s husband then also reigned as King Karl II of Norway.

Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte’s most lasting legacy was her diary. It was written in the form of unsent letters to her friend Countess Sophie von Fersen, sister of Count Axel von Fersen. The letters describe the Swedish royal court from 1775 – 1817 and are an important source for historical research. Besides dealing with gossip and social events of the court, Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte also wrote about the French Revolution, the assassination of Gustav III, the Napoleonic Wars, and the deposing of Gustav IV Adolf.

King Carl XIII died on February 5, 1818, at the Royal Palace of Stockholm at the age of 69 and was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm. Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte’s health had begun to worsen in 1815. After her husband’s death, she said she would not be able to survive without him. On June 20, 1818, after a private dinner with the new King Carl XIV Johan, she went to her room to write, fainted, and died at the age of 59. She was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm.

Tomb of Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte; Photo Credit – www.finagrave.com

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedvig_Elisabeth_Charlotte_of_Holstein-Gottorp [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. (2017). Hedvig Elisabet Charlotta av Holstein-Gottorp. [online] Available at: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedvig_Elisabet_Charlotta_av_Holstein-Gottorp [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].
  •  Unofficial Royalty. (2017). King Carl III of Sweden. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-karl-xiii-of-sweden/ [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].

King Carl XIII of Sweden/King Karl II of Norway

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

King Carl XIII of Sweden/King Karl II of Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

Born the second son of King Adolf Frederik of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, Carl was not destined to be king, but at the age of 60, he became King of Sweden and reigned for nine years. He would be the last Swedish monarch of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. Prince Carl of Sweden was born on October 7, 1748, at the Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Wrangel Palace was the official Stockholm residence of the Swedish royal family from 1697 until 1754 when the Royal Palace of Stockholm was completed. Carl was the first cousin of Empress Catherine II  of Russia (the Great) and the nephew of King Friedrich II of Prussia (the Great).

Prince Carl in 1758; Credit – Wikipedia

Carl had one older brother and a younger brother and sister:

The three sons of King Adolf Frederik: King Gustav III of Sweden, Prince Frederick Adolf, and King Carl XIII of Sweden by Alexander Roslin, 1771; Credit – Wikipedia

During the twenty-year reign of his father King Adolf Fredrik, the King had no real power. The Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) held the power. Adolf Fredrik tried to change this twice, unsuccessfully. Because Carl was second in line to the throne, he was often used as a political tool for the opposition. In 1771, King Adolf Fredrik died and Carl’s brother succeeded to the throne as King Gustav III. In 1772, Gustav arranged for a coup d’état known as the Revolution of 1772 or Coup of Gustav III. The coup d’état reinstated an absolute monarchy and ended parliamentary rule.  Gustav imprisoned opposition leaders and established a new regime with extensive power for the king. Carl cooperated with his brother during the coup and as a reward was given the title Duke of Södermanland.

In 1766, King Gustav III married Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark. At the time of the coup in 1772, the marriage still had not been consummated and Gustav wanted to give the task of providing an heir to his brother. On July 7, 1774, Carl married his 15-year-old first cousin Princess Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, daughter of Duke Friedrich August I of Holstein-Gottorp and Princess Ulrike Friederike Wilhelmine of Hesse-Kassel.

Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte in 1774; Credit – Wikipedia

In July 1775, there were signs that Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte was pregnant. It was hoped that the succession problem would be solved and prayers were held in the churches. However, there was no pregnancy. The news of the false pregnancy made King Gustav III decide to consummate his marriage and provide an heir to the throne himself and the future King Gustav IV Adolf was born in 1778.

Their marriage was distant and both Carl and his wife had extramarital affairs. Carl and Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte eventually had two children – one stillborn and one who lived only six days.

  • Lovisa Hedvig (stillborn 1797)
  • Carl Adolf, Duke of Värmland (born and died 1798)

In the 1780s, King Gustav III was preoccupied with foreign policy: a growing hatred of Denmark and a desire to conquer Norway. In 1788, he began a war against Russia, the Russo-Swedish War, but had to retreat because of a mutiny in the army. In 1789, he resumed the war with varying success. The war ended in 1790 with the Treaty of Värälä. The war with Russia destroyed Sweden’s economy, and when Gustav decided to attack France, a conspiracy developed.

Carl’s brother King Gustav III, 1792; Credit – Wikipedia

The Russo-Sweden War and the implementation of the Union and Security Act in 1789, which gave the king more power and abolished many of the privileges of the nobility, contributed to the increasing hatred of King Gustav III, which had existed among the nobility since the 1772 coup. In the winter of 1791-1792, a conspiracy was formed within the nobility to kill the king and reform the government.

On March 16, 1792, King Gustav III was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström during a masked ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. Thirteen days later, on March 29, 1792, King Gustav III died of his wounds at the Royal Palace of Stockholm at the age of 46. His 13-year-old son succeeded him as King Gustav IV Adolf. Prince Carl, Duke of Södermanland, the young king’s uncle, served as regent until 1796.  Carl was not willing or not capable of managing state affairs and entrusted the power of government to his confidant Count Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm.

In 1805, King Gustav IV Adolf joined the Third Coalition against Napoleon. His campaign went poorly and the French occupied Swedish Pomerania. In 1807, Russia made peace with France. A year later, Russia invaded Finland, which was ruled by Sweden, attempting to force Gustav Adolf to join Napoleon’s Continental System. In just a few months, almost all of Finland was lost to Russia. In 1809, Sweden surrendered the eastern third of Sweden to Russia, and the autonomous Grand Principality of Finland within the Russian Empire was established.

Carl’s nephew King Gustav IV Adolf, 1809; Credit – Wikipedia

Provoked by the disaster in Finland, a group of noblemen started a coup d’état that deposed King Gustav IV Adolf. On March 13, 1809, a group of conspirators broke into the royal apartments at Gripsholm Castle and imprisoned Gustav Adolf and his family. Prince Carl, Gustav Adolf’s uncle, agreed to form a provisional government, and the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, approved the coup. Gustav Adolf abdicated on March 29, 1809, thinking his son would become king. However, on May 10, 1809, the Riksdag proclaimed that all members of Gustav Adolf’s family had forfeited their rights to the throne. After accepting a new liberal constitution, Prince Carl was proclaimed King Carl XIII of Sweden on June 6, 1809. In December 1809, King Gustav IV Adolf and his family were sent into exile.

Carl was 60 years old and not in good health. In November 1809, he had a stroke and was not able to participate in the government while he recuperated. Since King Gustav IV Adolf’s descendants had been declared ineligible to succeed to the Swedish throne and Carl was childless, a new heir had to be found. Prince Carl August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, the 41-year-old son of Friedrich Christian I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Princess Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön, was chosen to be the Crown Prince of Sweden. The new Crown Prince arrived in Sweden in January 1810, but he died from a stroke on May 28, 1810.

The Swedes had the idea to offer the position of Crown Prince to one of Napoleon’s Marshals. Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, appointed Marshal of France in 1804, was well-liked in Sweden, particularly because of his considerate treatment of Swedish prisoners during the recent war with Denmark. In addition, he was related to Napoleon through his wife Désirée Clary, whose sister Julie Clary was married to Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte. Désirée had previously been engaged to Napoleon. Bernadotte already had a son Oscar, born in 1799, who could continue the succession. On August 21, 1810, the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates elected Bernadotte as Crown Prince. He arrived in Stockholm in November 1810 and was formally adopted by King Carl XIII, taking the name Carl Johan, and converted from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism.

Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden) as Crown Prince of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

The new Crown Prince quickly took an active role in the Swedish government, particularly in foreign policy. He was actively involved in the events leading up to the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, in which Denmark was forced to cede Norway to Sweden. At first, Norway refused to accept the treaty, and the Crown Prince invaded, quickly suppressing the Norwegian forces. Soon, Norway became united with Sweden at the Convention of Moss. Unlike the previous union with Denmark, this was a personal union under a single sovereign, and Norway remained an independent state with its own constitution.  King Carl XIII of Sweden also reigned as King Karl II of Norway.

King Carl III, circa 1816; Credit – Wikipedia

King Carl XIII died on February 5, 1818, at the Royal Palace of Stockholm at the age of 69 and he was buried at Riddarholm Church in Stockholm. Jean Baptiste Bernadotte ascended the throne. His coronation in Sweden took place on May 11, 1818, and he took the name King Carl XIV Johan. In September 1818, he was crowned in Norway, as King Karl III Johan. Thus began the Bernadotte dynasty in Sweden, which continues today.

Tomb of King Carl XIII of Sweden; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Charles XIII of Sweden. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XIII_of_Sweden [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedwig_Elizabeth_Charlotte_of_Holstein-Gottorp [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2017). Charles XIII. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XIII [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. (2017). Karl XIII. [online] Available at: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_XIII [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2017). King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden (Jean Baptiste Bernadotte). [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-carl-xiv-johan-of-sweden-jean-baptiste-bernadotte/ [Accessed 25 Sep. 2017].

Frederica of Baden, Queen of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2017

Frederica of Baden, Queen of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of King Gustav IV Adolph of Sweden who was deposed after a 17-year reign, Princess Friederike (Frederica) Dorothea Wilhelmina of Baden, was born on March 12, 1781, at Karlsruhe Palace in Karlsruhe, Duchy of Baden, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Frederica was the fourth of the six daughters and the fourth of the eight children of Karl Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden and Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her father predeceased his father so he never became Grand Duke of Baden.

Among Frederica’s seven siblings were an empress, a queen, a grand duchess, a duchess, and a grand duke. Collectively, Frederica and her siblings are ancestors of several royal families.

Gustav Adolf and Frederica, circa 1797-1800; Credit – Wikipedia

The princesses of Baden were renowned for their beauty. The marriage of Frederica’s 14-year-old sister Louise to the future Alexander I, Emperor of Russia opened the door to prized marriages for her sisters. After having issues with some prospective brides, 19-year-old King Gustav IV Adolph of Sweden, son of King Gustav III of Sweden and Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, decided to arrange his own marriage. During a 1796 visit to Russia, he met the former Louise of Baden who was married to the future Alexander I, Emperor of Russia. Gustav Adolf thought Louise was beautiful and expected the same of her sister Frederica. He visited 16-year-old Frederica and her parents in August 1797 and immediately Gustav Adolf and Frederica became engaged. On October 6, 1797, Frederica of Baden was married by proxy to King Gustav IV Adolf in Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania with Swedish Baron Evert Taube standing in for the king. Baron Taube accompanied Frederica to Sweden where a second wedding ceremony was held on October 31, 1797, in the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace of Stockholm.

The couple had five children:

Coming from a small, strict, Protestant German court, Frederica found it difficult to adapt to the pleasure-loving Swedish court. By nature, she was shy and isolated herself with her courtiers, girls the same age as her. Her mother-in-law, born Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, treated her with kindness because she remembered how poorly her mother-in-law had treated her. After the birth of her son in 1799, Frederica became more comfortable in her position as queen.

The king and queen preferred a quiet family life with a small entourage at Haga Palace or Gripsholm Castle. Frederica was a skillful clavichord player, enjoyed the company of her small circle of friends, and devoted herself to the upbringing of her children. She kept in close correspondence with her family. In 1801, her parents visited Sweden after having been in Russia to see her sister. However, the visit ended unhappily as her father died due to a coach accident during the visit.

In 1805, Gustav Adolf joined the Third Coalition against Napoleon. His campaign went poorly and the French occupied Swedish Pomerania. In 1807, Russia made peace with France. A year later, Russia invaded Finland, which was ruled by Sweden, attempting to force Gustav Adolf to join Napoleon’s Continental System. In just a few months, almost all of Finland was lost to Russia. In 1809, Sweden surrendered the eastern third of Sweden to Russia, and the autonomous Grand Principality of Finland within the Russian Empire was established.

Provoked by the disaster in Finland, a group of noblemen started a coup d’état that deposed King Gustav IV Adolf. On March 13, 1809, a group of conspirators led by Carl Johan Adlercreutz broke into the royal apartments at Gripsholm Castle and imprisoned Gustav Adolf and his family. Prince Karl, Gustav Adolf’s uncle, agreed to form a provisional government, and the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, gave their approval for the coup. Gustav Adolf abdicated on March 29, 1809, thinking if he did so, his son would become king. However, on May 10, 1809, the Riksdag proclaimed that all members of Gustav Adolf’s family had forfeited their rights to the throne. After accepting a new liberal constitution, Prince Karl, Gustav Adolf’s uncle, was proclaimed King Karl XIII of Sweden on June 6, 1809. In December 1809, Gustav Adolf and his family were sent to the Grand Duchy of Baden.

Frederica in exile; Credit – Wikipedia

Gustav Adolf and Frederica settled in Frederica’s home country, the Grand Duchy of Baden. However, the couple became incompatible and divorced in 1812. In the divorce settlement, Gustav Adolf renounced all his assets in favor of his mother and his children. He also renounced the custody and guardianship of his children. Two years later, Frederica placed her children under the guardianship of her brother-in-law Alexander I, Emperor of Russia.

Frederica settled in Bruchsal Castle in Baden. She acquired several other residences in Baden and a country villa, Villamont, near Lausanne, Switzerland. Frederica spent most of her time at her brother’s court in Karlsruhe, but she also traveled around Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, using the name Countess Itterburg after a ruin in Hesse she had acquired. Frederica turned down two proposals of marriage, one from Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the widower of her sister, and the other from King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

During her final years, Frederica was often ill. She died from heart disease in Lausanne, Switzerland on September 25, 1826, at the age of only 45. Frederica was buried at her family’s burial site, Schlosskirche St. Michael in Pforzheim, then in the Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Schlosskirche St. Michael; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. (2017). St. Michael (Pforzheim). [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael_(Pforzheim) [Accessed 24 Sep. 2017].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Frederica of Baden. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederica_of_Baden [Accessed 24 Sep. 2017].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2017). Frédérique de Bade. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9rique_de_Bade [Accessed 24 Sep. 2017].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. (2017). Fredrika av Baden. [online] Available at: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredrika_av_Baden [Accessed 24 Sep. 2017].

King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

King Gustav IV Adolf became king at the age of 13 when his father was assassinated and his reign lasted until he was deposed 17 years later in a coup. He was born at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on November 1, 1778, the elder of the two sons of King Gustav III of Sweden and Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, daughter of King Frederik V of Denmark and his first wife Princess Louise of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain.

The marriage of Gustav Adolf’s parents remained unconsummated for ten years. There were various theories regarding the cause including his mother’s strict religious upbringing and introverted character, his father’s sexuality, and the possibility that either or both Queen Sophia Magdalena and King Gustav III had some physical problem. Eventually, Count Adolf Fredrik Munck af Fulkila acted as a sexual instructor for the couple. The instruction resulted in the birth of Gustav Adolf. When it became known that Munck participated in the reconciliation between the royal couple, there were rumors that he was Gustav Adolf’s father.

Gustav Adolf had one younger brother who died in infancy:

  • Prince Carl Gustav, Duke of Småland (1782–1783)

Gustav Adolf in 1785; Credit – Wikipedia

After his birth, Gustav Adolf was put under the care of Maria Aurora Uggla, a lady-in-waiting and confidant of Queen Sophia Magdalena. As Crown Prince, Gustav Adolf began his education before he was three years old with Count Fredrik Sparre. When he was ten-years-old, Gustav Adolf received the Royal Order of the Seraphim.

On March 16, 1792, King Gustav III was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström during a masked ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. Thirteen days later, on March 29, 1792, King Gustav III died of his wounds at the Royal Palace of Stockholm at the age of 46. His 13-year-old son succeeded him as King Gustav IV Adolf.  Prince Karl, Duke of Södermanland, the young king’s paternal uncle, served as regent until 1796. Karl was not willing or not capable of managing state affairs and entrusted the power of government to his confidant Count Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm.  Nils von Rosenstein, the first permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, served as Gustav Adolf’s tutor.

King Gustav IV Adolf in 1793; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1795, Gustav Adolph was betrothed to Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The engagement was arranged by Count Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, the confidant of the regent Prince Karl, who wished to keep his influence after Gustav Adolf was declared of legal majority by having a queen indebted to him for her position. Gustav Adolf was initially positive about marrying Louise Charlotte and the engagement was celebrated in the courts of Sweden and Mecklenburg-Schwerin. However, Empress Catherine the Great of Russia wanted her granddaughter Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia to be Queen of Sweden, and made her dislike of the engagement known. Because of this, many people told Gustav Adolf that Louise Charlotte, whom he had not seen, was not beautiful. When Gustav Adolf was declared of legal majority in 1796, he broke off the engagement to Louise Charlotte. Her father demanded compensation. In 1803, the matter was finally settled when the Swedish city of Wismar in Germany was turned over to Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Around the time of his betrothal to Louise Charlotte, Gustav Adolf had fallen in love with Ebba Modée, a maid of honor to Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, the wife of Gustav Adolf’s uncle Prince Karl. He offered to call off his engagement to Louise Charlotte, abdicate, and elope with her to Bohemia. She declined and encouraged him to go on his trip to Russia in 1796, where he was to be engaged to the Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna. However, the Russian engagement fell through because Gustav Adolf refused to allow his prospective bride to continue to practice her Russian Orthodox religion.

Gustav Adolf and Frederica, circa 1797-1800; Credit – Wikipedia

After all the problems with prospective brides, Gustav Adolf arranged his own marriage. During his 1796 visit to Russia, he met the former Louise of Baden who was married to the future Alexander I, Emperor of Russia. Louise had a sister Frederica and since Gustav Adolf thought Louise was beautiful, he expected the same of her sister. He visited Frederica and her parents, Karl Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden and Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, in August 1797, and  Gustav Adolf and Frederica immediately became engaged. On October 6, 1797, Frederica of Baden was married by proxy to King Gustav IV Adolf in Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania with Swedish Baron Evert Taube standing in for the king. Baron Taube accompanied Frederica to Sweden where a second wedding ceremony was held on October 31, 1797, in the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace of Stockholm.

The couple had five children:

In 1805, Gustav Adolf joined the Third Coalition against Napoleon. His campaign went poorly and the French occupied Swedish Pomerania. In 1807, Russia made peace with France. A year later, Russia invaded Finland, which was ruled by Sweden, attempting to force Gustav Adolf to join Napoleon’s Continental System. In just a few months, almost all of Finland was lost to Russia. In 1809, Sweden surrendered the eastern third of Sweden to Russia, and the autonomous Grand Principality of Finland within the Russian Empire was established.

Provoked by the disaster in Finland, a group of noblemen started a coup d’état that deposed King Gustav IV Adolf. On March 13, 1809, a group of conspirators led by Carl Johan Adlercreutz broke into the royal apartments at Gripsholm Castle and imprisoned Gustav Adolf and his family. Prince Karl, Gustav Adolf’s uncle, agreed to form a provisional government, and the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, approved the coup. Gustav Adolf abdicated on March 29, 1809, thinking if he did so, his son would become king. However, on May 10, 1809, the Riksdag proclaimed that all members of Gustav Adolf’s family had forfeited their rights to the throne. After accepting a new liberal constitution, Prince Karl was proclaimed King Karl XIII of Sweden on June 6, 1809. In December 1809, Gustav Adolf and his family were sent into exile.

The arrest of Gustav Adolph; Credit – Wikipedia

Gustav Adolf and his family settled in Frederica’s home country, the Grand Duchy of Baden. However, the couple became incompatible and divorced in 1812. In the divorce settlement, Gustav Adolf renounced all his assets in favor of his mother and his children. He also renounced the custody and guardianship of his children. Two years later, Frederica placed her children under the guardianship of her brother-in-law, Alexander I, Emperor of Russia. Frederica settled in Bruchsal Castle in Baden. She acquired several other residences in Baden and a country villa, Villamont, near Lausanne, Switzerland, where she died in 1826.

Colonel Gustafsson, the former King Gustav IV Adolf, circa 1830; Credit – Wikipedia

Gustav Adolf ultimately settled in a small hotel in St. Gallen, Switzerland where he lived in great loneliness. He used several titles in exile: Count Gottorp, Duke of Holstein-Eutin, and Colonel Gustafsson. On February 7, 1837, Gustav Adolf suffered a stroke and died at the age of 58. He was originally buried at Eichhorn Castle in Moravia (now in the Czech Republic) where his son, the Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal Gustav, Prince of Vasa lived.  In 1881, his great-granddaughter Princess Victoria of Baden married Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden, the future King Gustaf V. At the suggestion of the Crown Prince’s father King Oscar II of Sweden, Gustav Adolf’s body was returned to Sweden and interred in the Riddarholm Church, the traditional burial place of the Swedish Royal Family until fairly recently.

Tomb of King Gustav IV Adolf; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. (2017). Gustav IV. Adolf (Schweden). [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_IV._Adolf_(Schweden) [Accessed 24 Sep. 2017].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_IV_Adolf_of_Sweden [Accessed 24 Sep. 2017].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. (2017). Gustav IV Adolf. [online] Available at: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_IV_Adolf [Accessed 24 Sep. 2017].

King Gustav III of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2017

King Gustav III of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

King Gustav III of Sweden is best known for being mortally wounded during a masked ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, Sweden, and dying thirteen days later. The incident was the subject of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1859 opera Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball).  Gustav was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederik of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Great Britain.  He was the first cousin of Empress Catherine II (the Great) and the nephew of King Friedrich II of Prussia (the Great). Gustav was born on January 24, 1746, at the Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Wrangel Palace was the official Stockholm residence of the Swedish royal family from 1697 until 1754, when the Royal Palace of Stockholm was completed.

Wrangel Palace in the 1600s. The palace was rebuilt in 1802 after a fire. Credit – Wikipedia

Gustav had three younger siblings:

King Gustav III and his brothers (left to right): King Gustav III of Sweden, Prince Frederick Adolf, and King Carl XIII of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

Until he was five years old, Gustav was under the care of a governess, Hedvig Elisabet Strömfelt. During the reign of his father, the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) held all the power, and they appointed Gustav’s governors. King Adolf Frederik often expressed his dissatisfaction with this arrangement, sometimes even in the presence of his son. Despite this, Gustav’s governors Carl Gustaf Tessin and Carl Fredrik Scheffer were among the most important Swedish statesmen of the time.

Past wars and the result of the 1743 election caused tension between Denmark and Sweden. To foster friendship between the two countries, a betrothal was arranged in 1751 between two five-year-olds, Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden and Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, the eldest daughter of King Frederik V of Denmark and his first wife Princess Louisa of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain. The Swedish parliament arranged the betrothal, not the Danish and Swedish royal families. Both mothers disliked the proposed match. Gustav’s mother, Queen Louisa Ulrika had long been in conflict with the Swedish parliament and would have preferred a marriage with her niece Philippine of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Sophia Magdalena’s mother Queen Louise of Denmark feared her daughter would be mistreated by her mother-in-law Queen Louisa Ulrika.

Sophia Magdalena of Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

King Gustav III of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 1, 1766, Gustav and Sophia Magdalena were married by proxy at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the bride’s half-brother Frederik representing the groom. Sophia Magdalena then traveled to Sweden, where she married Crown Prince Gustav in person on November 4, 1766, at the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace of Stockholm.

The wedding attire of Gustav and Sophia Magdalena at the Royal Armory, a museum in the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage was not a happy one. Sophia Magdalena was quiet and serious and had difficulties adapting to the pleasure-loving Swedish court. The interference of Gustav’s jealous mother, Queen Louisa Ulrika, did not help the situation. Sophia Magdalena dutifully performed her ceremonial duties, but she did not care about social life and would rather exist in peace and quiet with a few friends.

In 1771, King Adolf Frederick of Sweden died, and Gustav succeeded his father as King Gustav III of Sweden. Gustav and Sophia Magdalena’s coronation was held on May 29, 1772, at the Storkyrkan (The Great Church) in Stockholm.

Unfinished painting of Gustav III’s coronation by Carl Gustaf Pilo (Sophia Magdalena can be seen sitting on the right); Credit – Wikipedia

In 1772, Gustav arranged for a coup d’état known as the Revolution of 1772 or Coup of Gustav III. The coup d’état reinstated an absolute monarchy and ended parliamentary rule.  Gustav imprisoned opposition leaders and established a new regime with extensive power for the king.

Gustav III (center right) at the Revolution of 1772 by Pehr Hilleström; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage of Sophia Magdalena and Gustav remained unconsummated for ten years. There were various theories regarding the cause, including Sophia Magdalena’s strict religious upbringing and introverted character, Gustav’s sexuality, and the possibility that either or both Sophia Magdalena and Gustav had a physical problem. Eventually, Count Adolf Fredrik Munck af Fulkila acted as a sexual instructor for the couple. The instruction resulted in the birth of a son. When it became known that Munck participated in the reconciliation between the royal couple, there were rumors that he was the father of Sophia Magdalena’s son. The couple eventually had another son, but he did not survive childhood:

Gustav III, Sophia Magdalena, and Crown Prince Gustav Adolf in Haga Park by Cornelius Høyer, 1784–1785; Credit – Wikipedia

Like many 18th-century monarchs, Gustav III was influenced by the French Age of Enlightenment philosophers. He was well-acquainted with Voltaire‘s philosophy, known for advocating freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and separation of church and state. Gustav was determined to reconcile his strengthened royal power with the ideas of tolerance and freedom of the Enlightenment. He regarded himself as a true friend of the freedom of the press and encouraged publications on socially useful subjects. However, when the opposition to him grew stronger, Gustav restricted what could be written about him. In 1774, a new freedom of the press regulation was issued, containing many restrictions compared to the previous regulation of 1766.

In the 1780s, Gustav III was preoccupied with foreign policy: a growing hatred of Denmark and a desire to conquer Norway. In 1788, he began a war against Russia, the Russo-Swedish War, but had to retreat because of a mutiny in the army. In 1789, he resumed the war with varying success. The war ended in 1790 with the Treaty of Värälä. The war with Russia had destroyed Sweden’s economy, and a conspiracy developed when Gustav decided to attack France.

The Russo-Swedish War and the implementation of the Union and Security Act in 1789, which gave the king more power and abolished many of the privileges of the nobility, contributed to the increasing hatred of Gustav III, which had existed among the nobility since the 1772 coup. In the winter of 1791-1792, a conspiracy was formed within the nobility to kill the king and reform the government. Among the conspirators were Jacob Johan Anckarström, a Swedish military officer, Carl Pontus Lilliehorn, colonel of the Svea Life Guards,  Count Adolph Ribbing, Count Claes Fredrik Horn, and Baron Carl Fredrik Pechlin, a former major general in the Swedish army and a member of the Riksdag.

The murder was to take place on the evening of March 16, 1792, at a masked ball held at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. Gustav and his friends ate a light supper at the opera house before joining the masked ball. Towards the end of the supper, a letter arrived for Gustav. At the last moment, Carl Pontus Lilliehorn regretted his part in the conspiracy and sent an anonymous letter to Gustav warning him of the murder plans. Gustav’s friend Count Hans Henric von Essen begged him not to go to the masked ball. However, Gustav had received many threatening letters and ignored the warning.

Gustav’s masquerade dress; Credit – Wikipedia

Gustav, wearing a mask, a triangular hat, a Venetian cape, and the star of the Royal Order of the Seraphim, walked arm in arm with von Essen to the masked ball. Gustav was easily recognized because of the Royal Order of the Seraphim and was surrounded by conspirators Jacob Johan Anckarström, Count Claes Fredrik Horn, and Count Adolf Ludvig Ribbing. One of the conspirators said to him in French: “Bonjour, beau masque” (“Good-day, fine masked man”). Anckarström then shot Gustav in the back. von Essen ordered the doors to be closed, and all guests were questioned, leading to the arrest of several of the conspirators. It was decided that a limited number of the conspirators would be charged and that Jacob Johan Anckarström would be the scapegoat. He was beaten for three days before he was beheaded, mutilated, and dismembered. Carl Pontus Lilliehorn, who wrote the anonymous warning letter, was released and exiled. Other conspirators were either imprisoned or exiled.

King Gustav III had not been shot dead as the conspirators had hoped, and continued functioning as the head of state while he recovered. However, suddenly he weakened and, as often happened in the days before antibiotics, his wound became infected. Gustav developed sepsis, a life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. On March 29, 1792, thirteen days after being shot, King Gustav III of Sweden died at the age of 46. He was succeeded by his 13-year-old son, King Gustav IV Adolf. King Gustav III was given a magnificent funeral at Riddarholm Church in Stockholm, where he was also buried.

Tomb of King Gustav III; Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Gustav III of Sweden. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_III_of_Sweden [Accessed 23 Sep. 2017].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. (2017). Gustav III. [online] Available at: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_III [Accessed 23 Sep. 2017].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. (2017). Mordet på Gustav III. [online] Available at: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordet_p%C3%A5_Gustav_III [Accessed 23 Sep. 2017].
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2017). Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, Queen of Sweden. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/sophia-magdalena-of-denmark-queen-of-sweden/ [Accessed 23 Sep. 2017].

King Adolf Frederik of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2017

King Adolf Frederik of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

The first Swedish king of the House of Holstein-Gottorp, King Adolf Frederik was born Prince Adolf Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp on May 14, 1710, at Gottorp Castle in Gottorp, Duchy of Schleswig, now the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He was the second of the six sons and the fifth of the ten children of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin and Albertina Friederike of Baden-Durlach.

Adolf Frederik had nine siblings, including the mother of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia:

In 1727, the seventeen-year-old Adolf Friedrich was elected Prince-Bishop of Lübeck, then a state of the Holy Roman Empire, succeeding his brother Karl August. After the death of his first cousin, Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, in 1739, Adolf Friedrich became the administrator of the duchy for his cousin’s 11-year-old son Karl Peter Ulrich. Karl Peter Ulrich’s mother was Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, the elder surviving daughter of Peter the Great. When his mother’s sister Elizabeth succeeded as Empress of Russia, she named her nephew her successor. Now called Peter, he married Adolf Friedrich’s niece, Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst. Emperor Peter III of Russia reigned briefly until he was deposed by his wife, who reigned as Empress Catherine II the Great.

In 1743, after the Russo-Swedish War (1741-1743) ended in Sweden’s defeat, negotiations were held with Empress Elizabeth of Russia. She agreed to restore part of Finland to Sweden if her heir’s uncle, Adolf Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp, was made heir to the childless King Frederik I of Sweden. Thereafter, Adolf Friedrich was known by the Swedish version of his name, Adolf Frederik.

Adolf Frederik; Credit – Wikipedia

The powers that be decided that Adolf Frederik should marry either Princess Louisa Ulrika of Prussia or her youngest sister, Anna Amalia. The princesses were the daughters of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and his wife Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Great Britain and the only sibling of King George II of Great Britain. The Swedish ambassador to Prussia inspected both sisters and recommended Louisa Ulrika. The sisters’ brother, King Friedrich II (the Great) of Prussia, who had succeeded to the Prussia throne in 1740, described Louisa Ulrika as arrogant and divisive and recommended Anna Amalia, described as kind-hearted and more suitable. Friedrich’s real reason for recommending Anna Amalia is that he wanted a sister who would gain influence in Sweden, and he considered his youngest sister more manageable. After getting the opinion of the groom Adolf Fredrik, the Swedish government insisted on Louisa Ulrika, and King Friedrich II of Prussia gave his approval. Louisa Ulrika was taught about Sweden, converted to Lutheranism, and was advised to refrain from involvement in politics.

On July 17, 1744, Louisa Ulrika and Adolf Fredrik were married by proxy in Berlin with the bride’s brother August Wilhelm standing in for the groom. Louisa Ulrika was escorted to Sweden by the Swedish ambassador and his wife. On August 18, 1744, she was welcomed by King Frederik I at Drottningholm Palace, where the second wedding ceremony was held the same day, followed by a ball and a court reception.

Louisa Ulrika by Antoine Pesne, circa 1744; Credit – Wikipedia

King Adolf Fredrik of Sweden by Antoine Pesne; Credit – Wikipedia

Following a stillbirth, Louisa Ulrika and Adolf Fredrik had four children:

The three sons of King Adolf Frederik: King Gustav III of Sweden, Prince Frederick Adolf, and King Carl XIII of Sweden by Alexander Roslin, 1771; Credit – Wikipedia

Adolf Fredrik was introverted, gentle, and submissive, and Louisa Ulrika was pleased with him because she immediately felt secure that she was his superior. Already during their first day together, she was meddling in politics, informing Adolf Fredrik that her brother Friedrich had plans for an alliance between Sweden, Russia, and Prussia, and asked Adolf Fredrik to raise the subject with the Prussian envoy, which he agreed to do. Upon the death of King Frederik I of Sweden on March 25, 1751, Adolf Frederik succeeded to the Swedish throne. At the time of her wedding in 1744, King Fredrik I gave Louisa Ulrika the ownership of Drottningholm Palace, not too far from the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Louisa Ulrika and Adolf Fredrik continued to reside at the palace during their reign (1751–1771). In 1777, Louisa Ulrika sold Drottningholm Palace to the Swedish state. Currently, it is the home of the Swedish Royal Family.

Adolf Frederik in coronation robes; Credit – Wikipedia

During his twenty-year reign, Adolf Fredrik had no real power. The Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) held the power. Adolf Fredrik tried to change this twice, unsuccessfully. In the Coup of 1756, Queen Louisa Ulrika and her confidants planned to abolish the rule of the Riksdag and reinstate an absolute monarchy in Sweden. The attempted coup was exposed and several confidants of the royal family were executed.

During the December Crisis (1768), King Adolf Frederik refused to sign state documents and formally resigned from the throne. It was thought that this action would assemble a new Riksdag, during which reform to increase the king’s powers could be introduced. On December 20, 1768, the Riksdag was assembled and promised new reforms. King Adolf Frederik agreed to retake the throne, the crisis was averted, and the government could function again. However, the Riksdag did not assemble until 1769, and the only action it took regarding the royal house was to give it an increased allowance.

At the age of 60, King Adolf Fredrik died on February 12, 1771, at the Royal Palace in Stockholm after eating an extremely large meal and then suffering a stroke. In Sweden, he is remembered as “the king who ate himself to death.” He was buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm.

King Adolf Frederik’s tomb; Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited:

  • De.wikipedia.org. (2017). Adolf Friedrich (Schweden). [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Friedrich_(Schweden) [Accessed 17 Sep. 2017].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Frederick,_King_of_Sweden [Accessed 17 Sep. 2017].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. (2017). Adolf Fredrik. [online] Available at: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Fredrik [Accessed 17 Sep. 2017].
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2017). Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, Queen of Sweden. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louisa-ulrika-of-prussia-queen-of-sweden/ [Accessed 17 Sep. 2017].

Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Countess of Flanders

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Countess of Flanders; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was one-half of the couple who secured the future of the Belgian royal dynasty.  Marie Luise Alexandrine Karoline was born on November 17, 1845, at Schloss Sigmaringen, the seat of the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen now located in Sigmaringen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.  She was the younger of the two daughters and the youngest of the six children of Sovereign Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, head of the Princely House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Prime Minister of Prussia, and Princess Josephine of Baden, daughter of Grand Duke Karl of Baden.  In 1869, the Sovereign Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen also became the Sovereign Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and assumed the title Prince of Hohenzollern.

Marie had five older siblings:

Marie, seated on the left, and her sister Stephanie, standing, 1858: Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Unlike the Hohenzollerns who ruled in Prussia, Marie’s family was Roman Catholic. She was considered as a wife for the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom but her religion barred any possibility of marriage as she would not convert to the Church of England.  On April 25, 1867, at St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Brandenburg, Marie married Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders,  the third son but second surviving son of Leopold I of the Belgians and Marie-Louise of Orléans.

Marie on her wedding day; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Philippe and Marie had five children:

Philippe and Marie settled in the Palace of the Count of Flanders in Brussels, which Philippe bought and renovated. During the first several years of the couple’s married life, there were several family tragedies. In 1867, Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, the husband of Philippe’s sister Charlotte, was deposed and executed by a firing squad. Charlotte descended into a mental illness that would plague her for the rest of her life. In 1869, ten-year-old Leopold, Duke of Brabant, the only son and heir of Philippe’s brother King Leopold II, fell into a pond, caught pneumonia, and died. Hoping for a crown prince because only males could inherit the throne, Leopold II and his wife had another child, but the long-awaited crown prince did not materialize as the child was a girl.

It was Philippe and Marie who secured the future of the Belgian dynasty. Philippe was the heir presumptive to the Belgian throne until he died in 1905. Philippe’s elder son Baudouin was second in line to the throne until he died in 1891 from influenza. Then Marie and Philippe’s younger son Albert became second in line to the throne. Eventually, Albert succeeded his uncle King Leopold II upon his death in 1909 as King Albert I.

Marie and Philippe, 1880; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie was an accomplished artist and her artwork was exhibited at the Brussels Fair and the World Exhibition of 1893 in Chicago. Her literary salon attracted many authors and was a popular part of Brussels’ social life for forty years.  She was also well known for her charitable work.  Marie gradually took on the role of the first lady of the court after her sister-in-law Queen Marie-Henriette left the court due to marriage problems and her sisters-in-law married. Her husband Philippe died on November 17, 1905, at the age of 68. He was buried at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in Brussels, Belgium

Marie lived to see her son become King Albert I of Belgium in 1909.  She died in Brussels, Belgium on November 26, 1912, from pneumonia and was buried with her husband at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.