Princess Therese of Saxe-Altenburg (21 December 1836 – 9 November 1914) was a Princess of Saxe-Altenburg by birth and a Princess of Sweden and Norway as the spouse of Prince August, Duke of Dalarna. She was known in Sweden as Teresia.

Early life

Born to

Prince Eduard of Saxe-Altenburg Prince Eduard of Saxe-Altenburg ( Hildburghausen, 3 July 1804 – Munich, 16 May 1852), was a German prince of the ducal house of Saxe-Hildburghausen (of Saxe-Altenburg from 1826). Family He was the seventh but fourth surviving son of Fred ...

and

Princess Amalie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen , title = Princess Eduard of Saxe-Altenburg , image = , caption = , spouse = Prince Eduard of Saxe-Altenburg(m. 1835) , issue = Princess Therese, Duchess of Dalarna Antoinette, Duchess of Anhalt Prince Ludwig Jose ...

, Thérèse spent her childhood in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

. After her father's death in 1852, she lived with her cousin, Queen Marie of Hanover, and a maternal uncle.

Marriage

In 1864, Prince August of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Dalarna visited her in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, and after he had spent a week to get to know her, their engagement was announced. They were married on 16 April 1864 in

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

. She was then styled Princess of Sweden and Norway and Duchess of Dalecarlia (Dalarna). In Sweden her name was ''Teresia'' (legal spelling from 1901). She has been described as small and frail in her appearance. Teresia and August were not romantically involved, but were good friends, and lived together harmoniously. They had no children. Teresia had mental problems and sometimes collapsed. August once said: ''They call me stupid, but they should hear my Therese!'' More affectionately, he also called her ''my little Hopsy-Totsie'' (Swedish: ''min lilla hoppetossa''). She was a friend of her sister-in-law Eugenie, and visited her in

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to ...

during summers. She was interested in music and often present in a royal seat at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...

Widowhood

Widowed in 1873, she was given Louis De Geer as a guardian. During that time, she upheld a correspondence with Ohan Demirgian, a known Armenian con-artist with whom she made an acquaintance in 1869, when his presence at court caused a scandal. Demirgian was believed to have been a

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

, and now offered himself as her agent in negotiations for a new marriage. In 1875, Fritz von Dardel wrote: ''The Duchess of Dalarna is now declared to be out of her senses by her relatives in Germany and at their request, she will remain in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

over the winter to be treated by a doctor.'' She returned to Sweden in 1890, where she resided at Haga Palace. She was then commonly called "The Haga Duchess". She became known for her good kitchen, and ate so much that she was overweight with time. She died in 1914.

Ancestry

References

* Lars Elgklou (1978). ''Bernadotte. Historien - eller historier - om en familj'' (Bernadotte. The story - or stories - of a family) (Swedish)

Early life

Marriage

Widowhood

Ancestry

References

Further reading