And a little bio on Queen Louise...
Princess Louise was born in Hesse in 1817 where her father, Langraf Wilhelm was stationed as a part of the Danish troops after the defat of Napoleon. From the age of four she grew up in Denmark in a small mansion in Copenhagen.
She had a broad education eventhough her family didn't have much money, and she became one of the prettiest ladies in Copenhagen. When her uncle became king (Christian VIII) in 1839, the family moved into one of the mansions at Amalienborg Palace.
It is belived that she and future Christian IX had been in love since the 1830-ties and in 1841 her father went to the king to tell him of the " petty parti " her daughter intended to make, and which "he didn't have the hart to decline".
They married in 1842, and the king gave them "The Yellow Mansion" to live in, while Christians aunt
Dowager Queen Marie gave them some financial help.
Here the family lived for 22 years and Louise took the task of motherhood very seriously. She was a very good parent, and managed to make her children behave nicely and graciously, without being quiet or shy.
Louise was very aristocratic in her views (despite the very upper-middle class way she brought up her children), but always told her children to treat all people with respect, and to have compassion for the less fortunate. To be a royal was for her a work you had to learn, and the job was to present yourself so to make yourself respected and loved.
This she called the best way for the royals to remain in their position.
Thru the well-known story she and Christian became heir to the throne in 1853, which many suspect was due to her work behind the scene. Already in her times was she believed to be more intelligent than her husband, but officially she stayed out of politics.
The enthusiasm for the the new heirs was not very high to say the least among many circles in Denmark, but most against it was the king, Frederik VII. His marriage to Countess Danner, who was the daughter of an un-married maid, was more than Louise could take, and she stayed away from court as most women of the high society did.
In 1863 Louise became Queen but the political situation was very tense because of the Slesvig-Holsten issue, and at one point she had to call the police to protect the Palace from a mob.
Also in those years Louise took great interest in making good marriages for her children. The only marriage she didn't have a say in, was that between the Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Lovisa of Sweden. She called her daughter in law "the giraf" and didn't like the way she brought up her children.
Queen Louise was Conservative by nature, and she wrote to King Georg I that he should always take his ministers from the Conservative parties, which were the natural partners of the monarchy. She also adviced Alexander III to hold on to his absolute power (Christian on the other hand recommendet that he gave the Russians some political influence)
Another side of her aristocratic views was that it was their duty to take care of the underprivileged in society. Thus she became involved in many charity orginisations and founded many hospitals, orphanages and schools.
During the 35 years as Queen, Louise became more and more popular and respected as did the whole family, and she remains so today.
