Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

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

Louise Charlotte was born a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, her father being Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her mother was Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and her sister Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1784–1840), who married King Christian VIII of Denmark.

Biography

In 1 November 1795, Louise Charlotte was engaged to King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. The engagement was arranged by Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, the de facto regent of Sweden, who wished to keep his influence after the monarch were 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, however, whished her grand daughter Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia to be queen of Sweden, and displayed dislike of the engagent. Upon this many people told the king that Louise Charlotte, whom he had not seen, was not beautiful. When the king was declared of legal majority in 1797, he broke the engagement. Her father demanded compensation. In 1803, the matter was settled when the Swedish city of Wismar in Germany was turned over to Mecklenburg-Schwerin by a treaty in Malmö.

In 1797 she married Augustus, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, who came from the same family as her mother. Their common ancestor was Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1676–1732). The marriage was arranged against her will and became unhappy: her spouse abused her and she wished to leave him, but was forced to stay by her family.^[1] 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.^[2]

Louise Charlotte died 4 years later in childbirth at the age of 22, before Augustus assumed the throne of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. They had only one daughter: Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, who would marry Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and become mother to Prince Consort Albert.

Ancestry

References

• http://www.nordicacademicpress.com/o.o.i.s?id=43&vid=860 (in Swedish)
• http://historiska-personer.nu/min-s/pf8c1f73f.html (in Swedish)
• http://runeberg.org/sqvinnor/0274.html (in Swedish)
• Torbjörn Nilsson : Guide till Sveriges historia i Europa (in Swedish)

Notes

1. ^ Cecilia af Klercker (1936) (in Swedish). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok VII 1800-1806 (The diaries of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte VIII 1800-1806). P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag Stockholm. p. 63. ISBN 362103. 
2. ^ Cecilia af Klercker (1936) (in Swedish). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok VII 1800-1806 (The diaries of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte VIII 1800-1806). P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag Stockholm. p. 63. ISBN 362103.