Frederick V, his wives and children

[bell_the_cat]

Juliane Maria had an interesting Romanov connection. Her brother Anton Ulrich, was married to Anna Leopoldovna the niece of the Empress Anna (1740-1740). Their baby son became Emperor Ivan VI (1740-1741). After the coup d'état of Elizabeth the entire family was imprisoned in Russia. After the death of Anton Ulrich in the 1770s, his younger children were allowed by Catherine the Great to go to live quietly in Denmark.
I believe this was due to the family connection with Juliane Maria!

[Zanthia]

Yes, that's one event that speaks in Juliane's favour. If she had not corresponded with Catherine, those four children probraly would have been killed "by accident".

[bell_the_cat]

The four were:

Ekaterina Antonovna born at Saint Petersburg on 26 July 1741 and died at Horsens, Denmark on 7 April 1807; Elisaveta Antonovna born at Kholmoghori, Russia on 16 September 1743 and died at Horsens, Denmark on 20 October 1782; Peter Antonovich born at Kholmoghori, Russia on 30 March 1745 and died at Horsens, Denmark on 30 January 1798; Aleksei Antonovich born at Kholmoghori, Russia on 10 March 1746 and died at Horsens, Denmark on 23 October 1787.  

David Pritchard kindly provided this info on the Anna Ivanovna thread (Rulers before Alexander III), where we discussed this episode! Ekaterina Antonovna was born while her brother was Emperor, the others in prison.

it was very enlightened of Catherine to let them out - she obviously trusted J - Maria.

[kmerov]

During Juliane Maries period as ruler she was called "The countries Mother, the Precious Juliane Marie". She  made Christian VII and Frederik write letters, thanking "the most dearest and sweetest Mama and Grandmama" for saving them.    
She has quite a bad reputation, but most of it is based on unfound rumors and court gossip. She didn't use her power to secure any wealth for herself and family unity was very importent to her, despite the many coups in the family.
Juliane Marie is also responsible for the way Fredensborg Castle looks today, when she had an older palace rebuild, and she was very fond of the Palace. She died there in 1796.

[kmerov]

A portrait of a young Queen Juliane Marie.

[Yseult]

Oh, Kmerov...I´m really grateful for all the info and this wonderful portrait of young Juliana!

Thanks a lot from the bottom of my heart...

Could you, please, tell me how was her relationship with Guldberg? And with her daughter in law, wife of prince hereditary Frederick, and the children of this couple?

[Zanthia]

Juliane was very cold and hard in her judgement over Caroline Mathilde, but completely looked through fingers with her own daughter-in-law's escapades. I guess she would rather have bitten her tongue off, than to admit she had an unfaithful daugther-in-law. But her son loved his wife from the first moment, and saw the children as his own, so I think she just ignored the fact, and like her son, considered the children to be of her blood too. She did everything to push little Christian towards the throne. Sophie Frederikke gave birth to four living children:

Princess Juliane Sofie 1776-1850

Christian VIII 1786-1839-1848, married first time to Charlotte Frederikke, 2nd time to Caroline Amalie (Strueensee's granddaughter)

Princess Louise Charlotte 1789-1864, (married to Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel, and mother to Queen Louise of Denmark, wife of Christian IX)

Hereditary Prince Ferdinand 1792-1863, married to Caroline, eldest daughter of Frederik VI

[Yseult]

You´re very kind, Zanthia!

Do you know how was the relationship between sweet Marie, the queen of Frederick VI, and this part of family...prince hereditary Frederick, his georgeous princess Sophie and the children?

[Zanthia]

It's a little hard to say how she felt about the hereditary and his wife, it's almost like Frederik and especially Sophie have been forgotten by history. Marie was a very sweet and noble woman, I don't think anyone ever noticed something bad about her, and she loved children. It is possible that Frederik (VI) and the hereditary's relationship became a little tensed after Freddie had reclaimed the power, but they never let the children suffer for it, and I have the impression that both Marie and Frederik had a good relationship to their nieces and nephews.

I don't think she was offended, like her husband was, when Christian (VIII) wanted to marry his first wife. Frederik wanted him to marry his daughter Caroline, and "punished" Christian by denying him to call himself Crown Prince. Marie may have thought it was a pity, that Caroline did'nt got married to the beautiful Christian, but that's about it.

Louise Charlotte was a regular guest with her and Frederik, and they were very supportive when Christian (IX) wanted to marry Louise Charlotte's daughter.
They also liked Ferdinand, who became their own son-in-law. He was the ugly duckling among his beautiful and bright siblings, but he was friendliness itself, with a very kind heart. In spite of all his gambling and huge debt, everybody in the family liked him. He was one of the few in the family who had nothing against Frederik VII's third "left hand's" wife, Countess Danner.

[Yseult]

Kmerov, Zanthia... ...and all of you, of course... I need a little help!

I´m searching for info about a danish princess who became queen of Sweeden.

Sophia Magdalen, daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife, Louise of Great Britain. I just know that Sophia Magdalen was five years old when she was bethroted to the crown prince of Sweeden. She became the wife of Gustav in 1766, and he was proclaimed king of Sweeden after the death of his father, Adolf Frederick, in 1771. Sophia herself was crowned queen a year later.

I was reading somewhere that Sophia Magdalen had not a succesful marriage. Her mother-in-law, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, was not supportive to Sophia. In fact, Louisa Ulrika showed a great deal of jelousy towards her daughter-in-law. It is said, also, that Gustav was homosexual, and Sophia Magdalen searched for comfort with Adolph Fredric Munck af Fulkila. Some historians supposed that the two sons of Sophia, Gustav, later Gustav IV, and Karl Gustav, died in childhood, were fathered by Fulkila, not by her husband, who openly neglected her.

[Zanthia]

Yes, poor Sophia, one of the many victims of the political royal marriages. She was born in 1746 and named after her grandmother, Queen Sophia Magdalena. Sweden and Denmark wanted the peace in the north to last, so they started to negotiate about a wedding between King Frederick's youngest daugther and the crownprince of Sweden. Her mother, Queen Louise, was against the plans, but unfortunately she died, and little Sophia's fate was sealed. Love was of no matter, but of course one could always hope that the marriage would turn out the same way it did the last time a danish princess married a swedish king, (Princess Ulrikke Eleonora was married to Carl XI, and they became very happy together) but unfortunately, history did'nt repeated itself in this case.

First, she was married by deputy in Christiansborg Palace church (the very same day Princess Caroline Mathilde of England was married by deputy to her brother, the later Christian VII), and in october, she was sent off to Kronborg Castle, where she should spent the night and sail to Sweden the following morning. She woke up, unaware of what an unhappy life she was about to enter. Never again she sat her foot on danish ground, and was to be isolated from her danish ladies-in-waiting at a very intrigueing court. At that time the swedish court was a lot like the french, and had Sophia been french, it would probably had turned out okay, but she was'nt used to such a lifestyle. The wedding was magnificent in every way, her dowry was extravagant, and it took more than 50 cartloads to transport it all to Stockholm.

It is not completely certain that Gustav was homosexual, but many things suggest that he was. They were married in 12 years before Sophia became pregnant. And appearantly noone had bothered to tell neither Gustav nor Sophia were babies came from, and it became Adolf Frederick Munch's task to explain the couple how things were done. And there are rumors that is was he who fathered the later Gustav 4.

Sophia's mother-in-law had many good sides, but she made life miserable for Sophia. It's the old story; a vague husband, a young wife and a jealous mother-in-law. Louisa Ulrikka loved her son, the power and was intrigueing, and she hated everything danish.

At some point, Gustav started to talk about divorce, but his friends talked him out of it. Maybe Sophia would have been reliefed if they had a divorce. She had a hard time figuring what to do during the day. She was'nt good at charity or culture, and she prefered the company of some few, close friends, rather than great partys.

The marriage was a failure in every way. First and foremost it was arranged to keep peace between Denmark-Norway and Sweden, but Gustav constantly saw Denmark as a potential enemy, and the family ties between the royal houses did'nt prevent Denmark from declaring war in 1788.

Sophia died in 1813, and Gustav in 1792.

I have a picture of her wedding dress, but my scanner refused to cooperate with me today. I'll post it when it works again.

[Yseult]

Zanthia, you´re so good telling stories! I´m really fascinated with the last kings Vasa, the fall from grace of such an old sovereign´s dinasty seems fulfilled with intrigues. Gustav III: the struggle between the "Hats" and the "Caps", the murder of the king at the masquerade ball, the way used by the brother´s king Karl duke of Sudermania to banish the old faves of Gustav...I´m thinking, for example, about Gustav Moritz Armfelt, sending to Naples Court as ambassador. He was, later, declared guilty of the conspiracy to kill the former king, and he must to fleed Naples with the help, I think, of Queen Caroline.

I suppose Sophia Magdalen´s life changed after the death of the king, but...were changes for better? Can you tell me?

[Zanthia]

She did'nt shed a tear for her husband, but was afraid for her son's future. He was only 13 years old, and it was a relief for her when he finally turned 18 and was old enough to rule. Sophia prefered the small Ulriksdal palace and lived quietly there. She was very fond of her daughter-in-law, Frederika Dorothea, and her grandchildren. She had never forgot Louisa Ulrikka's coldness towards her, and was determined that Frederika should'nt experience the same when she arrived to her new country. Her greatest sorrow must have been that her son and his family had to leave the country, and the selection of Jean Baptiste Bernadotte as the new heir to the throne. To know that her line would'nt continue on the throne must have been one of the biggest humiliations. After all, the continueing of the royal line was one of the most important tasks of a queen, and what she was raised with. That must have made her think that all the humiliations and sufferings she has endured all her life in Sweden, had been for nothing.
Her letters to her son was censured, and Bernadotte was very surspicious agianst her, and wanted to forbid her to write and recieve letters from her family. I think her most unhappy years was her last, not knowing the whereabouts of her son, who wandered from place to place in Europe.

[Yseult]

Thanks, Zanthia!

By the way...can you tell me anything about Gustav IV, the son of Sophia Magdalen? I just know that he was banished from Sweeden and he moved all his life from a court to another, but I believe he was married to a sister of both the tsarina of Russia and the queen of Bavaria...

[Zanthia]

I don't so much about him, but after the coup, he fled to Germany and took different titles. He quickly became an infamous guest at the foreign courts, who did their best to make him leave again as fast as possible. (You can almost imagine it; "Oh no, not him again ). He finally settled in Switzerland under the name Colonel Gustavsson, where he lived a very lonely life until he died in 1837. He had divorced his wife in 1812, to great sorrow for his mother, to which it brought back bad memories.

His wife was daughter of hereditary Prince Karl Ludwig of Baden and Princess Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her two elder sisters was married in Russia and Bavaria.

Katharina, the eldest daughter, was married to Duke Maximilian, who in 1804 became King of Bavaria. He had five children from his first marriage, and he and Katharina had seven surviving children. (Among them Ludovika and Sophia, and thus were the grandparents to Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Sisi of Austria.)

The second eldest, Louise, was married to Zar Alexander I, and became Zarina under the name Elisabeth Alexeievna. They only had two daughters, who did'nt survive into adulthood. (Maria 1799-1800, and Elisabeth 1806-0808)

Frederika had two younger sisters, Marie who married the duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Wilhelmine who married the Grand Duke of Hesse.

Her only brother Charles, became the 2nd Grand Duke of Baden.

After being forced to leave Sweden, Frederika and her children settled in Baden, but Gustav was restless and left. That's why they got divorced. Frederika died in 1826. Their eldest daughter, Sophie Wilhelmina, married Leopold I of Baden, and became grandmother to Queen Victoria of Sweden. So in a way, the Vasa line continued on the throne.