Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (19 November 1779 – 4 January 1801) was the maternal grandmother of Prince Albert, husband of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Louise Charlotte was born Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, her father being

Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick Francis I (10 December 1756 – 1 February 1837) ruled over the German state of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, first as duke (1785–1815), and then as grand duke (1815–1837). Biography He was born in Schwerin, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, ...

. Her mother was

Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

; her sister Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1784–1840) married King

Christian VIII of Denmark Christian VIII (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848) was King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. Christian Frederick was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick, a younger son of King Frederic ...

Life

On 1 November 1795, Louise Charlotte was engaged to King

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland. The occupation of Finland in 1808–09 ...

. The engagement was arranged by

Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm Baron Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm (7 July 1756 in Sjundeå, Nyland, Sweden (now Finland) – 27 December 1813 in Schleswig), was a Swedish statesman. He acted as the de facto regent of Sweden during the minor regency of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden betw ...

, the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

regent of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, who wished to keep his influence after the monarch was declared of legal majority by having a queen indebted to him for her position. The king himself was initially positive; the engagement was celebrated in the courts of Sweden and Mecklenburg and Louise Charlotte was mentioned in the official church prayer in Sweden. Empress

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

, however, wished her granddaughter

Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (russian: Александра Павловна: 9 August 1783 S 29 Julyat Tsarskoye Selo – 16 March 1801 in Buda) was a daughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia and sister of emperors Alexander I and ...

to be Queen of Sweden, and displayed dislike of the engagement. Upon this many people told the king that Louise Charlotte, whom he had not seen, was not beautiful. About the same period, the monarch also fell in love with

Ebba Modée Ebba Wilhelmina Modée (1775–1840), was a Swedish noble and courtier, the love interest of king Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. She was the daughter of Carl Wilhelm Modée and Ebba Ulrika Sparre af Söfdeborg. She was maid of honor to the Swedish prin ...

. When the king was declared of legal majority in 1796, he broke off the engagement. Her father demanded compensation. In 1803, the matter was settled when the Swedish city of

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

in Germany was turned over to Mecklenburg-Schwerin by a treaty in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

. In

Ludwigslust Ludwigslust () is a central castle town of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. Since 2011 it has been part of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. Ludwigslust is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The former royal r ...

on 21 October 1797 she married Augustus, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, a second cousin on her mother's side. Their common ancestor was

Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (28 July 1676 – 23 March 1732), was a duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. He was born in Gotha, the fifth child and first son of Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-W ...

(1676–1732). The marriage was arranged against her will and was an unhappy one: her spouse abused her and she wished to leave him, but was forced by her family to stay. She was described as very blond, not attractive, somewhat hunchbacked but also as witty, talented, cultivated and with a pleasant manner, though more open than what was regarded as an ideal for the period. Three years later, on 21 December 1800 in

Friedenstein Castle Friedenstein Palace (german: Schloss Friedenstein) is an early Baroque palace built in the mid-17th century by Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha at Gotha, Thuringia, Germany. In Germany, ''Friedenstein'' was one of the largest palaces of its time and o ...

around 12.45 pmHarald Sandner: ''Das Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 1826 bis 2001; Eine Dokumentation zum 175-jährigen Jubiläum des Stammhauses in Wort und Bild.'' Printing and publishing Neue Presse, Coburg 2001. the Hereditary Princess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg gave birth her only child, a daughter, named

Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...

after her; this daughter later became the wife of

Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Ernest I (german: Ernst Anton Karl Ludwig; 2 January 178429 January 1844) was the last sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (as Ernest III) and, from 1826, the first sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (as Ernest I). He was the father of Al ...

, and mother to Prince Albert, Prince consort of

. However, she never recovered from childbirth effects and died eleven days later, on 1 January 1801 at the age of 21, before Augustus assumed the throne of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Ancestry

References

External links

"Hansastad blev svensk fästning"
@ Populär Historia (in Swedish)

(in Swedish)

from ''Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor'' @

Projekt Runeberg Project Runeberg ( sv, Projekt Runeberg) is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded ...

(in Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Louise Charlotte Of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Duchess 1779 births 1801 deaths House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Princesses of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin People from Schwerin Duchesses of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Deaths in childbirth Daughters of monarchs