Historical Scandalous Royal Affairs and Mistresses

[Furienna]

Originally Posted by Lillia

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]

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/paintin..._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/photoga.../images/11.jpg

and Contessa Castiglione's picture is at:
http://wilnitsky.at/scripts/redgalle...tails?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.

[Lillia]

Ok, but I wonder now is it true though?

Was it really Fredrick IV of Denmark or someone else?

[Louise]

Originally Posted by Lillia

Ok, but I wonder now is it true though?

Was it really Fredrick IV of Denmark or someone else?

Yes it's true. Frederik 4 married his first wife Louise in 1695, and she was his first queen. Then in 1703 he married another woman, Elisabeth Vieregg, to "his left hand", where his queen was married to his right hand. The hand business has something to do with the relation to God, I don't know so much about this. Anyway Elisabeth died in 1704 i childbirth. Then in 1712 Frederik married Anne Sofie Rewentlow, after he "kidnapped" her, again to his left hand. Queen Louise died in 1721, and after that Frederik married Anne Sofie again, this time to his right jand, and made her his queen, and she is the first commoner queen in Denmark, Mary will be the second.

Sorry about this long story, but it is quite fascinating. Apparently Louise was very jealous, and after Frederik died in 1730, Anne Sofie was sent away from court, because Frederik and Louises son, the new king, hated her and what she had done to his mother.

[ysbel]

Originally Posted by Louise

Then in 1712 Frederik married Anne Sofie Rewentlow, after he "kidnapped" her, again to his left hand. Queen Louise died in 1721, and after that Frederik married Anne Sofie again, this time to his right jand, and made her his queen, and she is the first commoner queen in Denmark, Mary will be the second.

I thought the Rewentlow were counts in Denmark. Not exactly royal but not exactly commoner either.

[betina]

Originally Posted by ysbel

I thought the Rewentlow were counts in Denmark. Not exactly royal but not exactly commoner either.

You are absolutely right, but it was not at all acceptable for the king to marry women below the stand of princesses and duchess.

[Lillia]

Originally Posted by Louise

Yes it's true. Frederik 4 married his first wife Louise in 1695, and she was his first queen. Then in 1703 he married another woman, Elisabeth Vieregg, to "his left hand", where his queen was married to his right hand. The hand business has something to do with the relation to God, I don't know so much about this. Anyway Elisabeth died in 1704 i childbirth. Then in 1712 Frederik married Anne Sofie Rewentlow, after he "kidnapped" her, again to his left hand. Queen Louise died in 1721, and after that Frederik married Anne Sofie again, this time to his right jand, and made her his queen, and she is the first commoner queen in Denmark, Mary will be the second.

Sorry about this long story, but it is quite fascinating. Apparently Louise was very jealous, and after Frederik died in 1730, Anne Sofie was sent away from court, because Frederik and Louises son, the new king, hated her and what she had done to his mother.

Oh my. Yes

I have to agree that is certainly some kind of story! So I guess the new King never had an affair after all that?

What was his name and who did he marry? Was his marriage a happy one?

[betina]

Originally Posted by Lillia

Oh my. Yes

I have to agree that is certainly some kind of story! So I guess the new King never had an affair after all that?

What was his name and who did he marry? Was his marriage a happy one?

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.

[ladybelline]

Their daughter Charlotte Augusta died when she was only twentyone years old, but she still seems to have been married to the king Leopold I of the Belgians, so she must have been married off at a young age or not too long before her death.

Charlotte Augusta married Leopold in 1816 when she was 20. She died in childbirth in 1817, but was never Queen of the Belgians (or Queen of England, she was the heiress to the throne there after all) because Leopold only become King in 1830 .

[Lillia]

Originally Posted by betina

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.:p

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?

[Lillia]

Originally Posted by betina

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.

that's very interesting story, betina. thank you. :)

do you know if there a picture of the crown that Anna Sophie Rewentlow used and is there a picture of the new one that was made for Sophie Magdalene since she refused to wear the old one?

Does the family still keep both of them at all?

[Vasaborg]

Louis XV of France was married to Maria Katarszyna Leszczynska daughter of King Stanislaw I of Poland.

[Kelly]

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?

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Kelly

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?

He wouldn't have had to divorce Mrs Fitzherbert because under the Royal Marriages Act such a marriage was neither legal nor recognised, and therefore did not exist.

[Lillia]

Originally Posted by Kelly

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?

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

[Furienna]

Originally Posted by Lillia

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

He was a king of Britain, actually. He was the son of king George III and was the prince regent during his father's illness. His marriage with Caroline was always unhappy. They had a daughter, but after that, they separated. When George became king after his father's death, he didn't want to acknowledge Caroline as queen, but he was unable to divorce her. Their daughter Charlotte Augusta died when she was only twentyone years old, but she still seems to have been married to the king Leopold I of the Belgians, so she must have been married off at a young age or not too long before her death.

[Kelly]

Originally Posted by Lillia

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.

[Lillia]

Originally Posted by Kelly

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]

Originally Posted by Kelly

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 )