Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt

[VN]

Frederika, later queen Frederika of Sweeden by marriage and Wilhelmine, later duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt by marriage with an old oncle.

Wilhelmine was not married to an old uncle, Grand Duke Ludwig II von Hessen was her first cousin.
Ludwig II was the son of Amalies Brother Ludwig I, who by the way was also married to his first cousin Luise.

[VN]

. Wilhelmina, the younger sister, was not happy with her oncle and she had a long standing relationship with Senarclens de Grancy...

This is neither proven nor likely

Immer noch am zweifeln???              (for our english readers: you still doubt??)

Grüße VN 

[Yseult]

. Wilhelmina, the younger sister, was not happy with her oncle and she had a long standing relationship with Senarclens de Grancy...

This is neither proven nor likely

Do you really think the younger children of Wilhelmine were fathered by her husband? 

[MarieCharlotte]

The children of Wilhelmine are:

Ludwig III (1806-1877)
Karl Wilhelm (1809-1877)
Elisabeth (1821-1826)
Alexander (1823-1888)
Marie (1824-1880)

There really is a huge gap between the first two sons and the other three children. I wouldn't be surprised if Elisabeth, Alexandra and Marie would have another father, although I don't know that much about this family.

[Gretchen]

The father of the three later children is said to be Baron Auguste Louis von Senarclens-Grancy, an official at the Darmstadt court. This question has been discussed a lot on different threads, through with no clear results whether the father was Grand Duke Ludwig or Baron Auguste...

[guinevere]

Grandduchessella...the portraits are really nice! And I enjoy so much reading your post, Guinevere...

I was thinking that Amalie was a very good matchmaker. One of her daughters became an empress, at least two of her daughters became queens and the others had also brilliant marriages. I´m glad knowing that Karoline had got a devoted husband in Max.

Strange thing...Karoline holding her youth´s dreams about Enghien, and her lovely step-daughter Augusta Amalia marrying Napoleon´s step-son, Eugene I´m sorry knowing that Ludwig I didn´t treat Karoline so well. Can you explain it more?

Well...when Karolines Husband Max I Joseph died suddenly in March 1825, her Stepson, the new King Ludwig I told her only one week later that she should take her Residence as a Widow in Würzburg. Würzburg is a nice City but it was also far away from Munich. He wanted his Stepmother out of the Capital becaus he feared her Influence and her Popularity. Karoline , mourning her beloved Husband was still strong enough to refuse this Order and started to Built a Castle , called " Biederstein" near Munich. Until it was ready to move in, she travelled to her daughters to Vienna and Dresden.
Not a Month after his Fathers Death Ludwig I auctioned in public all personal Belongings, presents and Memories of Max I Joseph without asking the Widow Karoline or the Rest of the Family.Karoline was devastatet as were her daughters.

When Karoline died 1841 she has been the First protestant queen in catholic Bavaria. Her funeral was a scandal, especially for her protestant Son in Law Friedrich Wilhelm IV odf Prussia and the Husband of her Granddaughter Mathilde, Ludwig of Hessen Kassel. The Mourners followed her Casket to the Theatinerkirche and when they arrived, the Door of the Church did not open. So the blessing of the Casket had to be made outside the Church. When the Door of the catholic Theatiner Church opend all Priests wore their "normal Street Allday Clothes". There were no Candles, prayers, Songs for Karoline. The Casket was just put next to her Husbands Casket.  Ludwig had to do a lot of Diplomatic work to compensate this disrespectful funeral of a Queen who was beloved by the family and People...

[YaBB_Jose]

The children of Wilhelmine are:


Marie (1824-1880)

There really is a huge gap between the first two sons and the other three children. I wouldn't be surprised if Elisabeth, Alexandra and Marie would have another father, although I don't know that much about this family.

I once read that when Alexander (II) of Russia fell in love with Marie, he was informed that her father was not the Grand-Duke.
Nevertheless he maintained that it would be Marie or no one else.

[lori_c]

Though the paternity was in question, Marie was still Hessian through her mother.  So in essence, she was still of Hessian blood. For me, whether or not Ludwig was her father is immaterial.  She still passed the Hessian bloodline on to the Romanovs, continuing what had been a long (and too exhausting to untangle here) tradition in the family.
Somehow, this appeals to my sense of order.

[imperial angel]

I think that is true of the Romanovs as well. They simply didn't care overly much, it was the official paternity that mattered. Maybe that was partly because their dynasty had already overlooked the question of Czar Paul's paternity, and they must have thought something like a princess marrying in having paternity in question wasn't important. Anyway, all royalty was related, so like Catherine II's son still being related to Peter III through their being cousins, Marie was royalty through her mother.

[Yseult]

Well...when Karolines Husband Max I Joseph died suddenly in March 1825, her Stepson, the new King Ludwig I told her only one week later that she should take her Residence as a Widow in Würzburg. Würzburg is a nice City but it was also far away from Munich. He wanted his Stepmother out of the Capital becaus he feared her Influence and her Popularity. Karoline , mourning her beloved Husband was still strong enough to refuse this Order and started to Built a Castle , called " Biederstein" near Munich. Until it was ready to move in, she travelled to her daughters to Vienna and Dresden.
Not a Month after his Fathers Death Ludwig I auctioned in public all personal Belongings, presents and Memories of Max I Joseph without asking the Widow Karoline or the Rest of the Family.Karoline was devastatet as were her daughters.

When Karoline died 1841 she has been the First protestant queen in catholic Bavaria. Her funeral was a scandal, especially for her protestant Son in Law Friedrich Wilhelm IV odf Prussia and the Husband of her Granddaughter Mathilde, Ludwig of Hessen Kassel. The Mourners followed her Casket to the Theatinerkirche and when they arrived, the Door of the Church did not open. So the blessing of the Casket had to be made outside the Church. When the Door of the catholic Theatiner Church opend all Priests wore their "normal Street Allday Clothes". There were no Candles, prayers, Songs for Karoline. The Casket was just put next to her Husbands Casket.  Ludwig had to do a lot of Diplomatic work to compensate this disrespectful funeral of a Queen who was beloved by the family and People...
[/quote]

Poor Karoline, what an end for the proud queen! I can imagine her daughters really hurted by the unfair and mischievous behaviour of king Ludwing towards Karoline after the death of king Maximilian.

[violetta]

Empress Elizaveta Alexeevna trusted her mother wholeheartedly. In her letters she told her the truth about her life in St Petersburg, and her mother always provided her daughter with a few pieces of advise. Although Amalie of Baden sympathized with her daughter`s situation ( aleander`s infideliies etc) duty towars Elizaveta`s ne country came uppermost. When Eliza of Baden was about to leave her native Karlsruhe for Russia, her mother predicted that one day her daughter would treat Russia as her native country. the young princess was afraid of what lay ahead of her so she didn`t believe her mother. 13 years later, in 1905, it turned out to be true.having lived in russia for 13 years elizaveta alexeeevna admitted that she regarded russia as her native country

[Marc]

I guess in 1805...

[violetta]

it`s 1805 of course

[violetta]

Amalia of baden always tried to be supportive to her daughter e.g. in 1803, in a letter of 1/13 march, after the death of the Empress`s first daughter and after Alexander`s infidelities became known, the tzarina`s mother advised her "to be patient and persevering" in attaining her goals i.e. the birth of another baby, preferably a boy, and improvement of her relation with her husband.

in a letter of 19/31 October, 1803, karlsruhe
Amalia of baden is absolutely sure that her daughter will do her best to achieve her most cherished goal  - giving birth to another baby.


a letter of 31.10/12/11, 1803

Amalia of baden supports her daughter`s idea to come to Karlsruhe with her husband. in her mother`s opinion, the young empress CAN`T SEPARATE HARSLEF FROM THE EMPEROR AND HAS TO ACCOMPANY HIM


13/25.04.1804, karlsruhe

In order to cheer her daughtr`s spirits, Amalia of baden advises elizaveta to change hr surroundings as elizavta, according to her mother, met the same people all the time. hence, it was a good idea to see other peopel from time to time. elizaveta was so perceptive, and impressions remained in her brain and psyche for too long time so amalia of baden advises her daughter not to concentrate on a single issue for a long time. she also thinks that her daughtr`s readings also instill a sense of melancholia in elizaveta.

Ironically, at the time of the last letter maria naryshkina gave birth to alxander`s daughter. these pieces of advise seemed to be no longr necessary

[Hector]

In 1793 she proudly married her 14-year-old daughter Luise to the Tsarevitch Alexander Pavlovich of Russia. Her other daughters married the rulers of Bavaria, Sweden and Hesse while only her eldest daughter Amalie stayed unmarried.        

Just read The Literary gazette from 1840.

A one point following the death of King George III's only legitimate grandchild Princess Charlotte of Wales, the British government fixed on Princess Amalie of Baden as a bride for the King's fourth son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. The Duke of Kent even came to Karlsruhe to meet her although he quickly left and afterwards decided on marrying the much more physically attractive widowed Princess of Leiningen. They became the parents of Queen Victoria.