Louise of Denmark and Norway (19 October 1726 – 8 August 1756) was a Danish and Norwegian princess, the daughter of King
Christian VI of Denmark
Christian VI (30 November 1699 – 6 August 1746) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746. The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, bu ...
and his wife
Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (28 November 1700 – 27 May 1770) was Queen of Denmark and Norway by marriage to King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway.
Life Early life
She was born in Castle Schonberg, Bavaria, to Christian Heinri ...
. Following her marriage to
Ernest Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Ernest Frederick III Karl, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (10 June 1727 in Königsberg in Bayern – 23 September 1780 in Seidingstadt), was a duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Biography
Ernest Frederick was born on 10 June 1727. He was the eldest s ...
, she became Duchess of
Saxe-Hildburghausen
Saxe-Hildburghausen () was an Ernestine duchy in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the District of Hildburghausen.
History
After the Duk ...
.
Biography
Louise was described by foreign diplomats as a lively person, not well suited to the rigid and religious court of her parents. The relations between her and her parents were not good because of their differing personalities. She disliked the strict customs at court; her father complained about her "rebellious nature" in a letter to his friend Count Christian Günther Stolberg. Louise's name is recorded to have played a major role in the delicate diplomatic game that was driven in Christian VI's final years.
Scandal and marriage
Initially attentions were drawn to get her married soon with
George II of Great Britain
, house = Hanover
, religion = Protestant
, father = George I of Great Britain
, mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle
, birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683
, birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...
's younger son, the
Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland.
History
The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...
but this plan were abandoned following Christian VI's attempt to make her Queen of Sweden during the election of the heir to the vacant Swedish throne in 1742–43 through an engagement with the Prince of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld who acted as France's candidate or the prince of Mecklenburg who were also considered as a suitable option. However, none of these plans came to fruition, amidst the tension between the Danish-Norwegian state and Sweden, Holstein-Gottorp's candidate
Adolf Frederick got elected King in 1743 by the Swedish Riksdag, it was a serious topic that a marriage between her and Adolf Frederick would be conducive to an alliance between the two kingdoms, but it was stranded on Christian VI's unwise unwillingness to see his daughter married to a Gottorpian prince.
Under her brother
Frederick V Frederick V or Friedrich V may refer to:
* Frederick V, Duke of Swabia (1164–1170)
*Frederick V, Count of Zollern (d.1289)
*Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg (c. 1333–1398), German noble
*Frederick V of Austria (1415–1493), or Frederick III ...
's reign in 1749, Louise had an affair—and possibly a child—with a
valet de chambre
''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on t ...
from the noble Danish family
Ahlefeldt
The House of Ahlefeldt is an ancient German and Danish noble family. It has similar coat of arms with the von Rumohr family, which indicates that they have descended from one House.
Legend
According to legend, the family descended from "Huno ...
, who was afterwards sentenced to imprisonment for his audacity in
Munkholm Fortress in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. Later that year, she was hastily married to
Ernest Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Ernest Frederick III Karl, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (10 June 1727 in Königsberg in Bayern – 23 September 1780 in Seidingstadt), was a duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Biography
Ernest Frederick was born on 10 June 1727. He was the eldest s ...
, with a large dowry to hasten the wedding and calm down the scandal. They married in the
Hirschholm Palace
Hirschholm Palace, also known as Hørsholm Palace, was a royal palace located in present-day Hørsholm municipality just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was rebuilt in the Baroque style in the 1740s and, one of the finest buildings of its time, it ...
, north of
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, on 1 October 1749.
Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen
As duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen, she hosted a court known for its formal etiquette, great costs and many parties; she was described as proud and with "royal expenses" in her way of living, amusing herself with ballets, masquerades, balls, hunting and gambling, driving through the streets with a carriage (or, in winters, with a sleigh) of gold and silver.
In December 1755 she gave birth to a daughter, who died after a month: Princess Frederica Sophie Juliane Caroline (5 December 1755 – 10 January 1756).
Louise died on 8 August 1756.
Ancestry
References
*
*
*Heinrich Ferdinand Schoeppl: Die Herzoge von Sachsen-Altenburg. Bozen 1917, Neudruck Altenburg 1992
*Rudolf Armin Human: Chronik der Stadt Hildburghausen Hildburghausen 1886
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louise Of Denmark
1756 deaths
1726 births
Danish princesses
Norwegian princesses
House of Oldenburg in Denmark
House of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Duchesses of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Deaths_in_childbirth
Daughters of kings