Charlotte Helene von Schindel

Charlotte Helene von Schindel (1690–1752) was a Danish noble, lady in waiting and a royal mistress of King Frederick IV of Denmark.

Charlotte Helene von Schindel was originally from Silesia. She became the lady in waiting of Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg, the morganatic spouse by bigamy of King Frederik IV. After the death of Vieregg in 1704, Schindel became Frederick's lover and was given the title Countess of Frederiksholm, which was an aknowledgement of her status as an officiall royal mistress. In 1709, the monarch planned to marry her, but these plans was met with great opposition from the curch who, when the King asked them if the law against bigamy should apply also to Kings, assured him that it did. She had a daughter by him (1710), who, however, died soon after.

The relationship ended in 1711; Frederick entered into his relationship with Anne Sophie Reventlow and ordered Charlotte Helene von Schindel to leave court or her estate in Själland. She initially stopped at Fyn and claimed to be pregnant with Frederick's child, but the pregnancy turned out to be false. Charlotte Helene von Schindel hosted a vivid social life at her estate and entered in to a relationship with the noble Ernst G. Bülow, with whom she had a child. The couple tried to conceal the birth, but when the monarch was informed, they were given permission to marry, and did so the 9 February 1716. The whole affair attracted attention and Frederick IV ordered the couple to leave Denmark. The settled in Holstein, were they lived until Bülow's death in 1721. Charlotte Helene then lived with her sister in Silesia and then in Berlin, before she settled in Flensburg in Denmark in 1750.

References