Hedvig Sophia of Sweden
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Hedvig Sofia Augusta, Princess of Sweden (26 June 1681-22 December 1708), Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, was the eldest child of King Charles XI of Sweden, and his wife Ulrike Eleonore of Denmark. On 12 May 1698 at Karlberg she married her cousin, Duke Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.
Her marriage was arranged as a part of the traditional Swedish politics of alliance with Holstein-Gottorp against Denmark; her brother had earlier been expected to marry Frederick's sister, but he refused. Hedvig Sofia was an eager participant in the frequent partying that dominated her brother's court the few years before the Great Northern War in 1700, and she spent most of her life at the Swedish court; she visited Holstein-Gottorp in 1699 and remained there for about a year, but in 1700 she returned to Sweden again, where she was second in line to the Swedish throne and presumptive heir.
Hedvig Sofia became titular regent for her minor son the duke of Holstein-Gottorp in 1702, but she spent most of her time in Sweden and rarely visited her husband's home country. As a widow, there were plans to arrange a new political marriage for her; among the candidates were the Crown Prince of Hanover, the future king George II of Great Britain, but she refused; she was then involved with the young Olof Gyllenborg. This relationship was openly public knowledge at court and seem to have been accepted, though much disliked by her grandmother, Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp. During her time as princess at the Swedish court, she was described as a beautiful woman with an interest in fashion, and the relationship between her and her brother the king was very deep; her brother took her death very hard. She was in fact not properly burried until 1718.
She is perhaps most well-known for the extensive correspondence between her and her brother King Charles XII, who lived most of his life in war-campaigns abroad. When he died in 1718 and left no male heirs to the throne, the late Hedwig Sophia's only child, Duke Karl Friedrich, was a main candidate for succeeding him, although the choice ultimately fell on Hedwig Sophia's younger sister Ulrika Eleonora.
She was the paternal grandmother of Emperor Peter III of Russia.
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