Princess Sophie of the Netherlands,GDss of Saxe-Weimar

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Princess Sophie of the Netherlands, only daughter of King William ll and queen Anna Paulowna of the Netherlands. She Married her nephew Karl Alexander, grandduke of Sachsen Weimar Eisenach. His mother was Maria Paulowna, a sister of queen Anna Paulowna.



Karl Alexander grandduke of Sachsen Weimar Eisenach

[Lucien]

Grandduchess Sophie kept very close contact with the Netherlands.she was a very
competent and intelligent Lady according to people of her time.(Allthough,as one might expect,Queen Sophie,her sister in law,thought her to be as "evil,mean and backwards"
as her mother,Queen Anna Pavlovna,who's favorite child she was).

At the death of her brother,King Willem III,in 1890 she not only became a very close
adviser to Queen-Regent Emma,as Queen Wilhelmina at 10,was still a child,but Sophie
also became Crown Princess of the Netherlands as well.Untill 1897,when she died.
Quite a confusing state if we look at it now.

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Princess Sophie as grandduchess of Sachsen Weimar

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The father in law of Sophie, grandduke Carl August (he was her uncle as well)



The mother in law of Sophie, grandduchess Maria Paulowna (sister of Queen Anna Paulowna and thus the aunt of Sophie as well)

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Sophie and her family

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The children of Duke Carl August of Sachsen Weimar Eisneach painted in 1798 by Tischbein. Please help with information about this portrait.

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Grandduchess Sophie



Her son the hereditary grandduke Carl August of Sachsen Weimar Eisenach



Her daughter princess Marie Alexandrine married to prince Heinrich Vll Reuss



Her daughter princess Elisabeth married to duke Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg Schwerin (half brother of prince consort Henry of the Netherlands)

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Grandduchess Sophie

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Wilhelm ll and Augusta Viktoria visiting his niece and nephew the grandduke and grandduches of Sachsen Weimar

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Princess Sophie as grandduchess of Sachsen Weimar Eisenach

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[Marc]

What kind of character did she have because she seems very strict in those pictures?

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She looks as a very serious woman to me. I don`t think she was a person to make fun with!!! She was though known for her intelligence but also for her bad temper. Just like her brother King William lll she had outbursts of bad temper and could get furious if things wouldn`t get the way she wanted to. Her mother queen Anna Paulowna wrote once to her brother Tsar Nicolas l that she saw in her children (especially William) the signs of the blood of Tsar Paul, her father. He could get outreageous furious too. I don`t know the attitude of Sophie towards her brother the King. William lll however "played" with their, as it seems,  love and hate game. Whenever he met her he embraced her (just too )close and (just too) very long in his strong arms just to annoy her.

Sophie inherited the complete Goethe and Schiller archives which made her say: "I inherited but the whole world with me". And so she did, she donated her inheritance to the German people and had a special building built in Weimar, which still exists, as a place to show the inheritance of the Goethe Schiller archives.

She was extremely wealthy, especially from her mother she had the "biggest part of the inheritance" and she was known for her jewelry collection (especially pearls). But she also owned very large estates in The Hague and in Silezia, also as parts of her inheritance. The estate Muskau in Silezia was hers and she visited her Dutch and Silezian estates every year for a longer period. That made her husband say that he was visiting his wife on her grounds. She was very close to the Dutch nation and was aware of everything that happened in the Netherlands. For a while she even was the crown princess untill the Dutch government changed the constitution. She was a wise advisor to the young queen Emma who adored her "aunt Sophie". I think though that princess Marie, the furstin of Wied (the daughter of prince Frederick and princess Louise) was mre popular in the Netherlands but I am not for sure for that. Anyway, Marie looks more affectionate to me.

Her sister in law queen Sophie hated her and thought of her as an evil woman. But queen Sophie thought so about just every member of the Dutch royals (exceptions: prince Frederick and princess Amalia da Gloria). But the hate of Sophie seemed very strong against grandduchess Sophie and her mother queen Anna Paulowna, the mother in law of queen Sophie.

Queen Sophie was horrified when she found out that most of the inheritance of queen Anna Paulowna was split up between prince Henry and grandduchess Sophie and legates to some Russian relatives. Her two sons were as good as desinherited.

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princess Sophie and her brother prince Henry