Princess Louise of Denmark (1726–1756)

For other people of the same name, see Louise of Denmark (disambiguation).

Louise of Denmark
File:Portrait of Princess Louise, daughter of Christian VI.jpg Portrait by Johann Salomon Wahl, before 1756
Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Tenure	1 October 1749 – 8 August 1756
Born	(1726-10-19)19 October 1726 Copenhagen
Died	Hildburghausen
Spouse	Ernest Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Issue	Princess Fredericka Sophie
House	House of Oldenburg House of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Father	Christian VI of Denmark
Mother	Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
Religion	Lutheranism

Louise of Denmark (19 October 1726 – 8 August 1756) was a Danish princess, the daughter of King Christian VI of Denmark and his wife Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. Following her marriage to Ernest Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, she became Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

Biography

File:Princesslouiseofdenmark duchess of saxehildburghausen.jpg

Princess Louise as a child

File:Louisa, Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1726-1756).JPG

Miniature of the princess inspired by a portrait painted around the time of her marriage

Louise was described by foreign diplomats as a lively person, not well suited to the rigid and religious court of her parents. The relations between her and her parents were not good because of their differing personalities. She disliked the strict customs at court; her father complained about her "rebellious nature" in a letter to his friend Count Christian Günther Stolberg. Louise's name is recorded to have played a major role in the delicate diplomatic game that was driven in Christian VI's final years.

Scandal and marriage

Initially attentions were drawn to get her married soon with George II of Great Britain's younger son, the Duke of Cumberland but this plan were abandoned following Christian VI's attempt to make her Queen of Sweden during the election of the heir to the vacant Swedish throne in 1742–43 through an engagement with the Prince of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld who acted as France's candidate or the prince of Mecklenburg who were also considered as a suitable option. However, none of these plans came to fruition, amidst the tension between the Danish-Norwegian state and Sweden, Holstein-Gottorp's candidate Adolf Frederick got elected King in 1743 by the Swedish Riksdag, it was a serious topic that a marriage between her and Adolf Frederick would be conducive to an alliance between the two kingdoms, but it was stranded on Christian VI's unwise unwillingness to see his daughter married to a Gottorpian prince.

Under her brother Frederick V's reign in 1749, Louise had an affair—and possibly a child—with a valet de chambre from the noble Danish family Ahlefeldt, who was afterwards sentenced to imprisonment for his audacity in Munkholm Fortress. Later that year, she was hastily married to Ernest Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, with a large dowry to hasten the wedding and calm down the scandal. They married in the Hirschholm Palace, north of Copenhagen, on 1 October 1749.

Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen

As duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen, she hosted a court known for its formal etiquette, great costs and many parties; she was described as proud and with "royal expenses" in her way of living, amusing herself with ballets, masquerades, balls, hunting and gambling, driving through the streets with a carriage (or, in winters, with a sleigh) of gold and silver.

She died on 8 August 1756 after giving birth to a single child who died after a month: Princess Frederica Sophie Juliane Caroline (5 December 1755 – 10 January 1756).

Ancestry

Ancestors of Princess Louise of Denmark

16. Frederick III of Denmark               8. Christian V of Denmark                       17. Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg               4. Frederick IV of Denmark                             18. William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel               9. Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel                       19. Margravine Hedwig Sophie of Brandenburg               2. Christian VI of Denmark                                   20. Johann Albrecht II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow               10. Gustav Adolf, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow                       21. Princess Eleonore Marie of Anhalt-Bernburg               5. Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow                             22. Frederick III, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp               11. Princess Magdalene Sibylle of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp                       23. Duchess Marie Elisabeth of Saxony               1. Louise of Denmark                                         24. Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth               12. Margrave Georg Albrecht of Brandenburg-Bayreuth                       25. Duchess Marie of Prussia               6. Margrave Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Kulmbach                             26. Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg               13. Princess Marie Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg                       27. Princess Sophie Hedwig of Saxe-Lauenburg               3. Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach                                   28. Johann Friedrich, Count of Wolfstein               14. Albrecht Friedrich, Count of Wolfstein                       29. Baroness Barbara Teufel von Guntersdorf               7. Countess Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein                             30. Wolfgang Georg I, Count of Castell-Remlingen               15. Countess Sophie Luise of Castell-Remlingen                       31. Countess Sophie Juliana of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Pfedelbach

References

• http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/1351/origin/170/ (in Danish)
• http://runeberg.org/dbl/10/0405.html (in Danish)
• Heinrich Ferdinand Schoeppl: Die Herzoge von Sachsen-Altenburg. Bozen 1917, Neudruck Altenburg 1992
• Rudolf Armin Human: Chronik der Stadt Hildburghausen Hildburghausen 1886

Princess Louise of Denmark House of Oldenburg Born: 19 October 1726 Died: 8 August 1756
German royalty
Preceded by Caroline of Erbach-Fürstenau	Duchess consort of Saxe-Hildburghausen 1 October 1749 – 8 August 1756	Succeeded by Christine Sophie of Brandenburg-Bayreuth