Frederick William, Prince von Hessenstein (17 March 1735,

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

— 27 July 1808, Panker), was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

soldier and statesman. He was an extramarital son of King

Frederick I of Sweden Frederick I ( sv, Fredrik I; 28 April 1676 – 5 April 1751) was prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and King of Sweden from 1720 until his death and (as ''Frederick I'') also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730. He ascended the throne f ...

and his royal mistress Hedvig Taube.

Biography

King Gustav III treated him with great respect. He was appointed

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

in 1773,

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1776, and

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

of Pomerania between 1776 and 1791. Hessenstein was made a count of the Holy Roman Empire (in which his father's German realm, the

landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

, was located) on 28 February 1741, and created a Swedish count on 29 March of the following year. He was elevated to Prince von Hessenstein in the Empire in November 1772, and hereditary Prince von Hessenstein also in Sweden on 28 April 1785. In 1773, he was also made one of the Lords of the Realm. According to unverified rumors, he might have been the father of an extramarital daughter by Princess Sofia Albertina, Gustav III's sister. Named Sophia, she was allegedly born in 1786, a year before the princess was sent to Germany as Abbess of Quedlinburg.''Fredrik Vilhelm von Hessenstein''
( Nordisk familjebok)

Honors

*Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim *Commander of the Royal Order of the Sword

References

Other sources

*Lindquist, Herman (2002) ''Historien om Sverige. Gustavs dagar'' (Norstedts Förlag) ) *Lagerqvist, Lars O. (1976) ''Sveriges regenter - från forntid till nutid'' (Bonnier) 1735 births 1808 deaths People from Plön (district) Illegitimate children of Swedish monarchs Field marshals of Sweden Governors-General of Sweden Swedish Pomerania Swedish nobility Swedish people of German descent 18th-century Swedish military personnel Commanders of the Order of the Sword Sons of kings {{sweden-politician-stub