Sophia Magdalena of Denmark

Sophia Magdalena of Denmark ( da, Sophie Magdalene; sv, Sofia Magdalena; 3 July 1746 – 21 August 1813) was Crown Princess of Sweden by her marriage to Gustav III. She was liked by many in the Caps party, believing she was a symbol of virtue and religion. In 1771, Sophia's husband ascended to the throne and became King of Sweden, making Sophia Queen of Sweden. Their coronation was on 29 May 1772.

Early life

Princess Sophie Magdalene was born on 3 July 1746 at her parents' residence Charlottenborg Palace, located at the large square, Kongens Nytorv, in central Copenhagen. She was the second child and first daughter of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark and his first consort, the former Princess Louise of Great Britain, and was named for her grandmother, Queen Sophie Magdalene. She received her own royal household at birth.

Just one month after her birth, her grandfather King Christian VI died, and Princess Sophie Magdalene's father ascended the throne as King Frederick V. She was the heir presumptive to the throne of Denmark from the death of her elder brother in 1747 until the birth of her second brother in 1749, and retained her status as next in line to the Danish throne after her brother until her marriage. She was therefore often referred to as Crown Princess of Denmark.

In the spring of 1751, at the age of five, she was betrothed to Gustav, the heir apparent to the throne of Sweden, and she was brought up to be the Queen of Sweden. The marriage was arranged by the Riksdag of the Estates, not by the Swedish royal family. The marriage was arranged as a way of creating peace between Sweden and Denmark, which had a long history of war and which had strained relations following the election of an heir to the Swedish throne in 1743, where the Danish candidate had lost. The engagement was met with some worry from Queen Louise, who feared that her daughter would be mistreated by the Queen of Sweden, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. The match was known to be disliked by the Queen of Sweden, who was in constant conflict with the Parliament; and who was known in Denmark for her pride, dominant personality and hatred of anything Danish, which she demonstrated in her treatment of the Danish ambassadors in Stockholm.

After the death of her mother early in her life, Sophia Magdalena was given a very strict and religious upbringing by her grandmother and her stepmother, who considered her father and brother to be morally degenerate. She is noted to have had good relationships with her siblings, her grandmother and her stepmother; her father, however, often frightened her when he came before her drunk, and was reportedly known to set his dogs upon her, causing in her a lifelong phobia.

In 1760, the betrothal was again brought up by Denmark, which regarded it as a matter of prestige. The negotiations were made between Denmark and the Swedish Queen, as King Adolf Frederick of Sweden was never considered to be of any more than purely formal importance. Louisa Ulrika favored a match between Gustav and her niece Philippine of Brandenburg-Schwedt instead, and claimed that she regarded the engagement to be void and forced upon her by Carl Gustaf Tessin. She negotiated with Catherine the Great and her brother Frederick the Great to create some political benefit for Denmark in exchange for a broken engagement. However, the Swedish public was very favorable to the match due to expectations Sophia Magdalena would be like the last Danish-born Queen of Sweden, Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, who was very loved for her kindness and charity. This view was supported by the Caps political party, which expected Sophia Magdalena to be an example of a virtuous and religious representative of the monarchy in contrast to the haughty Louisa Ulrika. Fredrick V of Denmark was also eager to complete the match: "His Danish Majesty could not have the interests of his daughter sacrificed because of the prejudices and whims of the Swedish Queen". In 1764 Crown Prince Gustav, who was at this point eager to free himself from his mother and form his own household, used the public opinion to state to his mother that he wished to honor the engagement, and on 3 April 1766, the engagement was officially celebrated. When a portrait of Sophia Magdalena was displayed in Stockholm, Louisa Ulrika commented: "why Gustav, you seem to be already in love with her! She looks stupid", after which she turned to Prince Charles and added: "She would suit you better!"Gerd Ribbing (1958). ''Gustav III:s hustru. Sofia Magdalena'' 'The wife of Gustav III. Sofia Magdalena'' Stockholm: Alb. Bonniers Boktryckeri.

Crown Princess

On 1 October 1766, Sophia Magdalena was married to Gustav by proxy at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen with her brother Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark as representative of her groom. She traveled in the royal golden sloop from Kronborg in Denmark over Öresund to Hälsingborg in Sweden; when she was halfway, the Danish cannon salute ended, and the Swedish started to fire. In Helsingborg, she was welcomed by her brother-in-law Prince Charles of Hesse, who had crossed the sea shortly before her, the Danish envoy in Stockholm, Baron Schack, as well as Crown Prince Gustav. As she was about to set foot on ground, Gustav was afraid that she would fall, and he therefore reached her his hand with the words: "Watch out, Madame!",Gerd Ribbing (1958). Gustav III’s hustru. Sofia Magdalena. Stockholm: Alb. Bonniers Boktryckeri. ISBN. a reply which quickly became a topic of gossip at the Swedish court. The couple then traveled by land toward Stockholm, being celebrated on the way. She met her father-in-law the King and her brothers-in-law at Stäket Manor on 27 October, and she continued to be well-treated and liked by them all during her life in Sweden. Thereafter, she met her mother-in-law the Queen and her sister-in-law at Säby Manor, and on the 28th, she was formally presented for the Swedish royal court at Drottningholm Palace. At this occasion, Countess Ebba Bonde noted that the impression about her was: "By God, how beautiful she is!", but that her appearance was affected by the fact that she had a: "terrible fear of the Queen". The 4 November 1766, she was officially welcomed to the capital of Stockholm, where she was married to Gustav in person in the Royal Chapel at Stockholm Royal Palace.

Sophia Magdalena initially made a good impression upon the Swedish nobility with her beauty, elegance and skillful dance; but her shy, silent, and reserved nature soon made her a disappointment in the society life. Being of a reserved nature, she was considered cold and arrogant. Her mother-in-law Queen Louisa Ulrika, who once stated that she could comprehend nothing more humiliating than the position of a Queen Dowager, harassed her in many ways: a typical example was when she invited Gustav to her birthday celebrations, but asked him to make Sophia Magdalena excuse herself by pretending to be too ill to attend. Louisa Ulrika encouraged a distance between the couple in various ways, and Gustav largely ignored her so as not to make his mother jealous. Sophia Magdalena was known to be popular with the Caps (party), who were supported by Denmark, while Louisa Ulrika and Gustav sided with the Hats (party). The Caps regarded Sophia Magdalena to be a symbol of virtue and religion in a degenerated royal court, and officially demonstrated their support. Sophia Magdalena was advised by the Danish ambassador not to involve herself in politics, and when the spies of Louisa Ulrika reported that Sophia Magdalena received letters from the Danish ambassador through her Danish entourage, the Queen regarded her to be a sympathizer of the Danish-supported Caps: she was isolated from any contact with the Danish embassy, and the Queen encouraged Gustav to force her to send her Danish servants home. This she did not do until 1770, and his demand contributed to their tense and distant relationship. In 1768, Charlotta Sparre tried to reconcile the couple at their summer residence Ekolsund Castle, but the marriage remained unconsummated.

After King Adolf Frederick of Sweden died in 1771, Gustav III became King of Sweden. The following year, Sophia Magdalena was crowned Queen.

Queen of Sweden

The coronation of Gustav III and Sophia Magdalena took place on 29 May 1772. She was not informed about the coup of Gustav III, which reinstated absolute monarchy and ended the parliamentary rule of the Estates in the revolution of 1772. At the time she was deemed as suspicious and politically untrustworthy in the eyes of the King, primarily by her mother-in-law, who painted her as pro-Danish. Denmark was presumed to oppose the coup; there were also plans to conquer Norway from Denmark.

Sophia Magdalena was informed about politics nonetheless: she expressed herself pleased with the 1772 parliament because Count Fredrik Ribbing, for whom she had taken an interest, had regained his seat. The conflict between her and her mother-in-law was publicly known and disliked, and the sympathies were on her side. In the contemporary paper ''Dagligt Allehanda'', a fable was presented about ''Rävinnan och Turturduvan'' (”The She Fox and the Turtle Dove”). The fable was about the innocent turtle dove (Sophia Magdalena) who was slandered by the wicked she fox (Louisa Ulrika), who was supported by the second she fox ( Anna Maria Hjärne) and the other foxes (the nobility). The fable was believed to have been sent from the Caps party.

Queen Sophia Magdalena was of a shy and reserved character, and was never a member of the King's inner circle. At the famous amateur court theater of Gustav III, Sophia Magdalena is occasionally named as participator in the documents. In 1777, for example, she dressed as an Italian sailor and participated in a battle between Italian and Spanish sailors. Usually it was rather her role to act as the passive lady of games and tournaments, and to decorate the winner with the award. She did her ceremonial duties, but disliked the vivid lifestyle of the court around her outgoing spouse. As queen, she was expected to do a great deal of representation – more than what had been expected from previous queens due to her husband's adoration of representation. On formal occasions, she was at her best: she performed beautifully according to royal court etiquette, and was seen as dignified and impressive. For instance, on 17 September 1784, she cut the cord to let off the first air balloons from the Stockholm observatory. During the King's Italian journey in 1783–84, she hosted a grand formal public dinner every two weeks. During that time, she appeared at the Royal Swedish Opera and at the French Theater, but otherwise preferred her solitude. This attracted attention as during the absence of the King she had been expected to represent the royal couple all the more. Sophia appeared to have enjoyed nature trips in the country side with only one lady-in-waiting and two footmen, however, her country side visitations were stopped because it was deemed ‘unsuitable’. Several of her ladies-in-waiting were well known Swedish women of the era, among them ''The Three Graces'': Augusta von Fersen, Ulla von Höpken and Lovisa Meijerfelt, as well as Marianne Ehrenström and Charlotta Cedercreutz, who were known artists. Sophia Magdalena was a popular Queen: the 22 July 1788, for example, during the absence of her spouse in Finland, several members of the Royal Dramatic Theater and the musical society Augustibröder, among them Bellman, took a spontaneous trip by boat from the capital to Ulriksdal Palace, where she was, and performed a poem by Bellman to her honor at the occasion of her name day.

In the famous diary of her sister-in-law, Princess Charlotte, Sophia Magdalena is described as beautiful, cold, silent and haughty, very polite and formal, reserved and unsociable. When she performed her duties as Queen, her sister-in-law, Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, described her as "Forced to meet people". She preferred to spend her days in solitude whenever she could. She had two very intimate friends, Maria Aurora Uggla and Baroness Virginia Charlotta Manderström, but otherwise rarely participated in any social life outside of what was absolutely necessary to perform her representational duties. She frequently visited the theater, and she also had a great interest for fashion. As a result of this, she was somewhat criticized for being too vain: even when she had no representational duties to dress up for and spend her days alone in her rooms, she is said to have changed costumes several times daily, and according her chamberlain Adolf Ludvig Hamilton, she never passed a mirror without studying herself in it. She was also interested in literature, and educated herself in various subjects: her library contained works about geography, genealogy and history, she educated herself in Swedish, English, German and Italian and regularly read French magazines. According to Augusta von Fersen, Sophia Magdalena was quite educated, but she was not perceived as such because she rarely engaged in conversation.

In 1784, after the King had returned from his trip to Italy and France, the relationship between the King and Queen soured. At this time, Gustav III spent more and more time with male favorites. In 1786, this came to an open conflict. The King had taken to spend more time at intimate evenings with his favorite Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, from which he excluded her company. When he gave some of her rooms at the Royal Palace to Armfelt, Sophia Magdalena refused to participate in any representation until the rooms were given back to her, and she also banned her ladies-in-waiting from accepting his invitations without her permission. In 1787, she threatened him with asking for the support of the parliament against him if he took their son with him to Finland, which she opposed, and the year after, she successfully prevented him from doing so. She also reprimanded him from allowing his male favorites to slander her before him.

Queen Sophia Magdalena was never involved in politics, except for one on one occasion. In August 1788, during the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790), the King gave her the task to enter in negotiations with Denmark to prevent a declaration of war from Denmark during the ongoing war against Russia. He asked her to call upon the Danish ambassador Reventlow and give him a letter to be read in the Danish royal council before her brother, the Danish King. He gave her the freedom to write as she wished, but to use the argument that she spoke as a sister and mother to a son with the right to the Danish throne and upon her own initiative. Sophia Magdalena called upon the Danish ambassador, held a speech to him followed by a long conversation and then handed him a letter written as a "warm appeal" to her brother. A copy was sent to Gustav III, and her letter was read in the royal Danish council, where it reportedly made a good impression. However, her mission was still unsuccessful, as the Russo-Danish alliance made it unavoidable for Denmark to declare war shortly afterward. At the time, there were a note that she met two Russian prisoners of war in the park of the Haga Palace, and gave them 100 kronor each.

At the parliament of 1789 Gustav III united the other estates against the nobility and to gain support for the war and for his constitutional reform. Coming into conflict with the nobility, he had many of its representatives imprisoned. This act led to a social boycott of the monarch by the female members of the aristocracy, who followed the example of Jeanna von Lantingshausen as well as the King's sister and sister-in-law, Sophie Albertine of Sweden and Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte. The Queen did not participate in this political demonstration and refused to allow any talk of politics in her presence. She was nevertheless involved in the conflict. When the King informed his son about the event, he discovered the child to be already informed in other ways than what he had intended. He suspected Sophia Magdalena to be responsible, and asked the governor of the prince, Count Nils Gyldenstolpe, to speak to her. Gyldenstolpe, however, sent one of the king's favorites, Baron Erik Boye. The Queen, who despised the favorites of the King, furiously told Boye that she spoke to her son how she wished and that only her contempt for him prevented her from having him thrown out of the window. She was known to dislike the reforms of 1789, and she did let it be known to its representatives. At the celebrations of the Victory at Fredrikshamn in 1790, she refused to be escorted by riksråd Count Joakim Beck-Friis, who was in favor of the reform, and demanded to be escorted by Count Axel von Fersen the Elder, who was in opposition to it.

In the autumn of 1790, the King chose to remain in the summer residence of Drottningholm Palace well in to the autumn because of the social boycott. Finally, the Queen returned to the capital without his consent. He accused her of having been manipulated by the female courtiers into participating in the political demonstration, and refusing him the company of her ladies-in-waiting by leaving. This applied especially to Hedvig Ulrika De la Gardie and Augusta von Fersen, who did not participate in the boycott: he suspected Hedvig Eleonora von Fersen to have persuaded the Queen to participate in the boycott. This is however is not considered to have been true: though the Queen did oppose to the act of 1789, she is reported never to have allowed any one to speak of politics in her presence. The reason to why she wished to leave was reportedly due to her health, as Drottningholm was quite cold by that time of the year and she had been afflicted by an ear infection. The King did in any case suspect her of being in political opposition to him, and before his trip to Aachen in 1791, he ordered that his son was to be separated from her during his absence abroad. When she was made aware of this, Sophia Magdalena caused a public scene when she visited him in his box at the opera and demanded to be given access to her son. This led to a heated argument and she left the box with the words: "I will have my vengeance, monsieur! I give you my sacred vow on that!"

Succession issues

Sophia Magdalena is mostly known in Swedish history for the scandal created around the consummation of her marriage and the questioned legitimacy of her son. Her marriage was a then normal arranged royal match for political convenience, in which Sophia Magdalena at first was described by her spouse as "cold as ice". Sophia Magdalena's religious upbringing and introverted character made her avoid the lively and spontaneous Gustavian court life, which made her even less attractive in the eyes of her outgoing spouse. Their marriage was not consummated until 1775, nine years after the wedding. The ''status quo'' between Gustav III and his consort was nurtured by the Queen Dowager, who did not want competition in her influence over her son. There were rumors that the King was a homosexual or sexually underdeveloped. His sexuality, which had much effect on Sophia Magdalena's life, as a royal marriage was designed to produce offspring, has been much debated. His sexual inexperience has been blamed on immaturity or his also being asexual. As a teenager, he had a crush on Axel von Fersen's mother, Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie, though this affection was never physical. In 1768, he had another infatuation with the noble Charlotte Du Rietz, but this is not believed to have been sexually consummated either. Various documents written during his lifetime alleged that he was bisexual or homosexual.

His sister-in-law, Princess Charlotte, claims that the King did participate in homosexual activity after his trip to Italy in 1784 and that there were several rumors about this: she claims that she herself had witnessed that the park at Drottningholm Palace had become a place where male courtiers searched for homosexual partners, and in a letter to Sophie von Fersen, she writes in code: "It is said that the King recently attacked a young man in the park at night and offered him the post of chamberlain to the Queen if he agreed to his lusts, but the young man preferred to leave. Agree that this is to take things too far. It is said that the trips to Svartsjö Palace are made to be provide privacy, it is unbelievable, but it is what it is said. I could tell you a million things about this." In 1791, Sophia Magdalena herself paid a surprise visit to the King during his stay at the Gustav III's Pavilion, where the King had spent more time since he came in conflict with the nobility after the 1789 parliament; and where he was reputed to indulge in orgies. She found the King in bed, and he asked one of his favorites, Count Fabian Wrede, to show her around. In the King's private chamber, however, the Queen found the actor and page of the King, Lars Hjortsberg, sleeping, naked. The Queen reacted by interrupting the tour by saying to Wrede that he apparently did not know his way around Haga, as he had obviously showed her the chamber of the staff rather than the King by mistake.
Some sources explain that both the Queen and the King had serious anatomical problems resulting in erotic complications. Erik Lönnroth

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