Historical Royal Affairs and Mistresses

[Lillia]

Teh next king was Christian 6. and he was married ti Sophie Magdalene of Saxen-Hildeburghausen. They were wery pietistic and banned all theater in Denmark.
They were not wery liked by the ppl because they stayed at the castle all the time. When they were crowned the queen got a new crown because she didnt wanted to wear the one Anna Sophie Rewentlow had worn.

I guess Christian VI of Denmark never had an affair then, especially sequestered away in the castle where he could not get to anyone and nobody could get to him.

His wife must've been happy 'locked away' like that, how many children did they have?

Is there any picture of the old crown and the one that she got to replace it?

 

[Furienna]

What's the story on Josephine of Leuchtenberg?

And Louis of the Netherlands? Was she a Queen also? Who was she married to?

Josephine of Leuchtenberg, or Josefina as she was called in Sweden, was born in 1807 as the daughter of Eugene de Beauharnais and Augusta of Bavaria. Eugene was the son of Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife Josephine, and as an imperial stepson, he actually could marry princess Augusta and have principalties of his own. Augusta of Bavaria was a real princess with a good lineage. But after Napoleon's downfall, Eugene and Augusta had to move back to Bavaria, where Augusta's parents granted the family the princinpality of Leuchtenberg. When Josephine was sixteen only years old, she was made crown princess of Sweden, when she became the wife of then 24-year-old Crown prince Oscar. She was considered a very suitable wife for the young Crown prince. Even if Napoleon never was to come back to power again, he had been the emperor of France, and King Charles John and Queen Desideria, the crown prince's parents, were connected to the Bonaparte family. After all, the queen's sister Julie was married to Napoleon's brother Joseph, and the queen had herself been engaged to Napoleon before she was dumped for Josephine de Beauharnais. It's funny really, that Queen Desideria could stand having her rival's granddaughter as a daughter-in-law, but Desideria (or Desirée as she would have been prefered to be called) was such a French patriot and loved everything about France, while she hated Sweden and everything Swedish, and Josephine was almost French too, and they both kept their Catholic faith in a very Lutheran 19th century Sweden. But through her mother Augusta of Bavaria, Josephine was also an ancestor to the Swedish kings Gustav Vasa and Charles IX, and since the Bernadottes were very new royals in Sweden (Charles John and Desirée were the first king and queen of this house), having a crown princess with even the least Swedish blood was desirable. Since Josephine was so young, it was understood, that Oscar wouldn't be allowed to actually have sex with her before she turned eighteen. But after that, the crown princely couple had five children: Prince Carl, Prince Gustav, Prince Oscar, Princess Eugenie and Prince August. But Crown prince Oscar had always been fond of "having fun", and he even had two sons with actress Emily Högquist even though he was married to Crown princess Josephine. Oscar's father, King Charles XIV John, who by the way was the first of the Bernadotte kings of Sweden, was furious with his son's behavior and that he could cheat on his wife so openly. I don't know what Queen Desideria, Oscar's mother, thought about this, but she probably didn't like it either. No matter the case, these two boys became the last acknowledged illegimate royal children in Sweden. Soon after their birth, King Charles John died, and Oscar became King Oskar I, and Josephine became Queen Josefina. Both Desideria and Josefina were allowed to keep their Catholic faith, even though their husbands converted to the Lutheran state church of Sweden, and especially Josefina had to face a lot of criticism for this. Josefina died as a Queen dovager in 1876, and by then, she had seen two of her sons (Charles XV and Oscar II) as kings of Sweden.
http://img438.imageshack.us/img438/2573/1a5hn.jpg Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, king of Sweden under the name Karl XIV Johan (Charles XIV John).
http://img438.imageshack.us/img438/2136/1b3kn.jpg Desirée Clary, Queen Desideria of Sweden.
http://img438.imageshack.us/img438/894/2a1bx.jpg Oscar I, their only child, king of Sweden.
http://img438.imageshack.us/img438/1696/2b9sg.jpg Josephine of Leuchtenberg, Queen Josefina of Sweden.

Louise of the Netherlands (born in 1828) was married to King Charles XV (born in 1826), who was the eldest son of Oscar I and Josephine of Leuchtenberg. Charles, or Carl as we call him in Sweden, was very alike his father, and he clearly cheated on his wife too. Louise was considered ugly, and she couldn't really attract Charles, who only had married her because of politics. In 1851, they had a daughter, who was named Louise after her mother. Some years later, a son was born and named after his father. But the little Prince Carl died as a two-year-old, leaving Princess Louise as the couple's only child. Crown princess Louise was also found to not be able to give birth to any more babies, and she even suggested to her husband that he would divorce her. But even though Charles wasn't attracted to his wife, he had somehow grown attached to her, and he wouldn't divorce her. So Louise had to continue fighting for being the only woman in her husband's life, which I wonder if she ever managed to do. In 1858, King Oscar I died from a brain tumor, and Charles and Louise became king and queen. They had no more children, and to make it even worse for them, the king's brother Prince Oscar and his wife Sophia of Nassau rapidly had no less than four sons. This meant, that Princess Louise as a female couldn't compete with her male relatives and came further and further from inheriting the Swedish thrown. Instead, she was married to the Danish prince Frederic, and she eventually became queen of Denmark as the wife of King Frederic VIII. Queen Louise and King Charles both died in the early 1870s, and Prince Oscar and Princess Sophie, became king and queen.

http://img326.imageshack.us/img326/1182/3a9vr.jpg King Charles (Karl) XV.
http://img438.imageshack.us/img438/9059/3b5gd.jpg Louise of the Netherlands, his queen.
http://img434.imageshack.us/img434/8502/4a3rn.jpg Queen Louise with her daughter Princess Louise.
http://img438.imageshack.us/img438/1844/3c9kd.jpg King Oscar II.
http://img449.imageshack.us/img449/13/3d2tq.jpg Sophie of Nassau, his queen.

 

[gogm]

Queens of Sweden

Lovisa:

Josephine:

Deiree:

[

and

Are you sure Desiree was that anti-Swedish? I read she was not fond of cold weather.

 

[gogm]

I don't recall seeing anything about Edward VII. He was in mischief from his college days. He had numerous affairs, most notably with the noted actress Lilly Langtry and Alice Keppel, great-grandmother of the present Duchess of Cornwall.

I couldn't find a good pic of Alice Keppel, but there is a good one of Lilly Langtry at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/paintingflowers/full_res/mrs_langtry_poynter.shtml

Likewise Napoleon III played around with Cora Pearl and the Contessa Castiglione and presumably others. There is a story that his beautiful empress and her ladies were on a train and the door to the bedroom opened revealing Napoleon III in bed with another woman. I guess rail cars were bumpy enough to jar loose doors back then. Eugenie said nothing.

Cora Pearl's pic can be seen at:
http://www.theconnection.org/photogallery/courtesans/images/11.jpg

and Contessa Castiglione's picture is at:
http://wilnitsky.at/scripts/redgallery1.dll/details?No=26427

When you think of it, Princess Alexandra, Empress Eugenie, and Empress Elisabeth had it all, including looks, but it didn't buy hapiness.

 

[Furienna]

Are you sure Desiree was that anti-Swedish? I read she was not fond of cold weather.

Desirée was defineately pro-French, and she loved her France more than any other country. She hated having to live in Sweden, which she called "the land of the wolves", and she absolutely hated the chill. She had thought, that she wouldn't have to live there. She had been princess before, but she hadn't had to leave France to get her princinpalities. She also hated how the gentlemen in Sweden only cared about politics and how the ladies only cared about etiquettes, and she hated both politics and etiquettes. So she ended up leaving her husband and her son in Sweden and went back to Paris. She came back to Sweden many years later, and after that, she never made it to France again. After having been away from her husband for so long, their marriage wasn't as good as it could have been. The funny thing is that the sources can't agree on whether Jean Baptiste cheated on his wife or not. Some say he did, some say he didn't. I also seem to remember hearing about Desirée having a lover or at least an admiror in Paris, but I might be wrong.

I don't recall seeing anything about Edward VII. He was in mischief from his college days. He had numerous affairs, most notably with the noted actress Lilly Langtry and Alice Keppel, great-grandmother of the present Duchess of Cornwall.

I mentioned Alexandra of Denmark as a queen, whose husband the king cheated on her. Poor her! Queen Victoria also hated her son's behavior. Alexandra was the sister-in-law of Louise of Sweden, the queen of Denmark, whose parents were Carl XV and Louise of the Netherlands. She was the sister of the danish king Frederik VIII, Louise's husband. Another sister, Dagmar, was the empress of Russia.

 

[Lillia]

Those are good pictures. Some of the ladies look so severe in their faces. I wonder why they seem to have wanted to have a picture that way

"...Even if Napoleon never was to come back to power again, he had been the emperor of France, and King Charles John and Queen Desideria, the crown prince's parents, were connected to the Bonaparte family. After all, the queen's sister Julie was married to Napoleon's brother Joseph, and the queen had herself been engaged to Napoleon before she was dumped for Josephine de Beauharnais. It's funny really, that Queen Desideria could stand having her rival's granddaughter as a daughter-in-law..."

So, Napoleon Bonaparte was due to marry a different Josephine (a queen) before he met with Josephine de Beauharnais? And he dumped a queen for this other woman?

I'm sure the queen would have been miffed to be upstaged by a commoner, right? Or maybe she felt lucky not to have been with Napoleon after all?

Didn't Napoleon cheat on his wife alot too?

 

[Furienna]

Queen Desirée had been Napoleon's fiancé, not Queen Josephine. Josephine of Leuchtenberg was his stepson's daughter. The two Josephines were grandmother and granddaughter.

It does seem like Napeleon and his first wife Josephine cheated on each other, yes. For example, Napoleon had a son in Poland.

 

[betina]

I guess Christian VI of Denmark never had an affair then, especially sequestered away in the castle where he could not get to anyone and nobody could get to him.

His wife must've been happy 'locked away' like that, how many children did they have?

Is there any picture of the old crown and the one that she got to replace it?

They had 2 children Louise and Frederik 5. I dont think there is any photoes of the old crown but i might be wrong.
The queen was just as piethistic as her husband so i dont think she felt sad.

 

[Kelly]

Who was George IV? a Prince? Did he then have a happy marriage at all?

He was a king of England. He is one of the most notorius prince of wales.

 

[Kelly]

It does seem like Napeleon and his first wife Josephine cheated on each other, yes. For example, Napoleon had a son in Poland.

Is that Josephine the one from Martinique?

 

[Furienna]

Yes. Empress Josephine had caribbean background.

 

[Lillia]

He was a king of England. He is one of the most notorius prince of wales.

What made him so notorious?

Did he make lots of scandals?

 

[Lillia]

Yes. Empress Josephine had caribbean background.

Ok, so he did marry a Josephine and he cheated on her too

Who was his son's mother? Was she royalty in Poland? What happened to the child eventually?

 

[Lillia]

What about George IV who married a catholic, Mrs. Fitzherbert, in secret and later had to divorce her because his parents the king and queen found out and had already planned an alliance with Caroline of Brunswick?

Alright, who was this woman, Mrs. Fitzherbert?

Does anyone know more about her story and why she went on to marry a king in secret when she already had a husband?

(I guess he would have dumped her when he found out )

 

[Furienna]

You can find George IV:s story earlier on in this thread.

It seems like the polish mistress of Napoleon was Maria Walewska and their son was named Alexander Joseph Colonna. Napoleon also had the son Charles, count of Leon, with a Louise Catherine Eleonore Denuelle de la Plaigne. I don't know what happened to the sons or their mothers. But Charles was born 1806 and died in 1881, and Alexander Joseph was born in 1810 and died in 1868. We can also note that both these mistresses were half Napoleon's age.

 

[Laura Elizabeth]

Not that wiki is always the most reliable source, but, it's the fastest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_IV_of_Denmark

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Sophie_Reventlow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Fitzherbert

 

[Lillia]

You can find George IV:s story earlier on in this thread.

It seems like the polish mistress of Napoleon was Maria Walewska and their son was named Alexander Joseph Colonna. Napoleon also had the son Charles, count of Leon, with a Louise Catherine Eleonore Denuelle de la Plaigne. I don't know what happened to the sons or their mothers. But Charles was born 1806 and died in 1881, and Alexander Joseph was born in 1810 and died in 1868. We can also note that both these mistresses were half Napoleon's age.

Well, it just looks like there's one scandal after another...

Is there much about Maria Walewska? did she get along well with Bonaparte -- outside of their 'playing around' I mean

 

[Laura Elizabeth]

"For the sake of completeness we must also mention marriage for political reasons as contracted in the highest circles. In these marriages the right is also silently conceded to the man to follow his own inclinations outside of his marriage. There was a time when rulers considered it good form, a sort of royal attribute, to have at least one mistress. Thus, according to Sherr, King Frederick William I. of Prussia, otherwise noted for his temperate life, maintained an intimate relation with the wife of a general. It is well known that King August of Poland and Saxony had almost 300 illegitimate children, and that King Victor Emanuel of Italy left 32 illegitimate children. in the picturesquely situated little capital of a German principality there still stood not many years ago about a dozen beautiful villas that had been erected by the ruler for his abdicated mistresses. One might write volumes on this subject; in fact, an extensive collection of books exists that deal mainly with these piquant occurrences. In view of these facts it is indeed very necessary that sycophantical historians should strive to present the various fathers and mothers of their countries as models of domestic virtue, as faithful husbands and devoted mothers. The augurs are not yet extinct. they fatten, as in the days of Rome, upon the ignorance of the masses."

http://www.marxists.org/archive/bebel/1879/woman-socialism/ch08.htm

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_II_of_Poland

"Augustus II was called "the Strong" for his bear-like physical strength and for his numerous offspring. He is alleged by some to have sired either 365 or 382 children."



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England

Quite the laggard with only 22 children

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Palmer,_1st_Duchess_of_Cleveland

Read "Sex with Kings", which is loads of fun!

 

[Lillia]

oh my goodness! That's sure interesting!

300 children, 22 children; 382 children -- that would be enough to make one's head spin.

That's a whole town and after about 3 or 4 or 5 generations, it's a whole country of relatives

What's the name if that German principality where all these things supposedly took place? Is that information accurate?

Is the place still around today?

 

[Lillia]

King Victor Emanuel had 32 illigitimate children from his mistresses?

Were any of his mistresses famous?

 

[gogm]

Martinique

I believe Josephine came from Martinique.

She did cheat on Napoleon. He had to endure reports from the home front about her while at the front.

 

[morhange]

Yes, I meant Augustus the Strong. I couldn't remember his name! And looking at the page for Charles II, it mentions one of his uncomfirmed mistresses was his wet-nurse, Cristabella Wyndham. In one of those scandal books (I'm not sure which one, maybe Sex with Kings?) it mentions how she was instructed to introduce the young prince to sexual relations, and then goes into some graphic detail about what Ms. Wyndham noticed, and what the young Charles later told his mother.

Royals sure are scandalous! I hope none of today's young princes indulge in the activities of their forefathers!

 

[crisiñaki]

How can we forget about King Alfonso XIII of Spain?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_XIII_of_Spain

 

[Lillia]

Would there be any info about other historical royals outside of europe and their scandalous love affairs? how about their mistresses?

I'm certain everything like that could not have been going on on europe only...

 

[Furienna]

The difference is that non-European royals were completely allowed to have as many mistresses as they wanted, so it wasn't as scandalous as the same thing was in Europe. Christianity teaches, that sex should only happen between married couples, and adultery and fornication is not allowed. But both the Chinese emperors and the Ottoman sultans for example had a lot of mistresses/wives. It has always been okay for a man to have more than one wife in both islamic countries and far east countries.

 

[Laura Elizabeth]

Right, Furienna, outside of Europe (and then the colonies of Europe) sexuality wasn't a huge issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraglio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harem_(household)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odalisque

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concubine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_the_women

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valide_Sultan

In this sense, non-European scandals tended to be political and economic instead of sexual - though sexual scandals occurred as well.

See http://www.royalty.nu/Europe/index.html and http://www.royalty.nu/history/empires/Ottoman/harems.html#books and http://www.royalty.nu/MiddleEast/index.html for lists of books

 

[Lillia]

Ok, then what about in a place like Japan?

Or India?

Has there ever been a famous emporor with more than one actual wife?

And what about any famous mistresses?

 

[Furienna]

Well, in China, I think there was a difference between being an empress and just being an emperor's mistress. The empress had more power, and her children were the ones with rights to inherit the thrown. At least, I think that's how it was.

 

[princess olga]

The difference is that non-European royals were completely allowed to have as many mistresses as they wanted, so it wasn't as scandalous as the same thing was in Europe.

Indeed, not for the male constituents, it wasn't. (the women are perhaps a different story though, as they were supposed to adhere to different standards)This whole thread makes me wonder, was there ANY male royal on the European continent back in the day who WAS voluntarily faithfull to his consort? Was there ANY royal not corrupted by the excesses offered to him due to his position in society?

 

[Furienna]

The old princes and kings weren't supposed to cheat on their wives. It was a sin to do so even for a royal. They just did it anyway, because no one could stop them.

The Brittish king George III is not supposed to have cheated on his queen Charlotte Sophie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Over here in Sweden, it was common for princes of the 16th and 17th centuries to have mistresses before they married but then get married to a princess from another country and stay faithful to her. The first king officially known to really cheat on his wife was Frederic I. He was married to Queen Ulrica Eleonore, but he still had a lot of children with his mistress Hedvig Taube. About the following kings Adolph Frederic, Gustav III and Gustav IV Adolph, there have been rumors, but nothing can be considered as a fact. Charles XIII cheated on his wife though, and so did Oscar I, Charles XV and Oscar II. After that, we have reached the 20th century, and things become different. It's no longer acceptable for a prince to marry a princess from another country because of politics and then have mistresses on the side.