King Gustav IV Adolf (1778-1837) and Queen Frederica of Baden and Family

[Blog Real]

Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland.
The occupation of Finland in 1808–09 by Russian forces was the immediate cause of Gustav's violent overthrow by officers of his own army. Following his abdication on 29 March 1809, an Instrument of Government was hastily written, which severely circumscribed the powers of the monarchy. The "Instrument" was adopted in 1809 on 6 June, the National Day of Sweden now as well as in his time. It remained in force until replaced in 1974. The crown, now with strictly limited powers, passed to Gustav's uncle Charles XIII, who had no legitimate children; this want of heirs set into motion the quest for a successor, who was found the following year in the person of Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, the first monarch of the present royal family.

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_IV_Adolf

King of Sweden:
Reign: 29 March 1792 – 29 March 1809
Coronation: 3 April 1800
Predecessor: Gustav III
Successor: Charles XIII
Regent: Charles, Duke of Södermanland (1792–1796),
Born: 1 November 1778,
Stockholm Palace, Sweden
Died: 7 February 1837 (aged 58)
St. Gallen, Swiss Confederacy
Burial: 29 May 1884, Riddarholm Church
Spouse: Frederica of Baden
​​(m. 1797; div. 1812)​
Children:
Gustav, Prince of Vasa
Sophie, Grand Duchess of Baden
Princess Amalia
Cecilia, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
House: Holstein-Gottorp
Father: Gustav III of Sweden
Mother: Sophia Magdalena of Denmark
Religion: Lutheran

Gustav Adolf at the age of seven
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Gustav_Adolf_Vierte_Schweden_Kind.jpg

 

[Blog Real]

Frederica, Queen consort of Sweden:
Tenure: 31 October 1797 – 29 March 1809
Coronation: 3 April 1800
Born: 12 March 1781
Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden
Died: 25 September 1826 (aged 45),
Lausanne, Switzerland
Burial: Schloss and Stiftskirche in Pforzheim
Spouse: Gustaf IV Adolf
​(m. 1797; div. 1812)​
Children:
Gustav, Prince of Vasa
Sophie, Grand Duchess of Baden
Prince Carl Gustaf, Duke of Småland
Princess Amalia
Cecilia, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
Names:
Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmina
House: Zähringen
Father: Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden
Mother: Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and Queen Frederica
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/G_IV_A.jpg

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Engraving of King Gustav IV by J. Shury
http://www.gettyimages.com/license/3279482

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Illustration of Queen Frederica
http://www.alamy.com/frederica-queen of-sweden-image344001547.html

 

[LadyFinn]

Illustration of Queen Frederica
http://www.alamy.com/frederica-queen of-sweden-image1344001547.html

The original painting of King Gustav IV Adolf and queen Fredrika Dorotea Vilhelmina has been painted by Jonas Forsslund in 1797–1800. It was donated to the Nationalmuseum according to the will of 1872 by Karl XV.
Nationalmuseum

The Nationalmuseum loaned the painting to be placed to the dining room of Haga Palace when Victoria and Daniel moved there.
https://postimg.cc/jCbyxHbj

 

[Marengo]

Their son, Crown Prince Gustaf, later Prince Vasa, was engaged to Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, daughter of King Willem I and Mimi of Prussia.

I am now reading a book about the court of the King Willem. And in it they shed some light on the engagement. I always found it a peculiar one. As a prince without a throne in the family what prospects did the Dutch king expect?

The book says that people [including Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, mother of the Princess of Orange at the time] found Marianne rather spoiled. Both her parents doted on her, she slept in her mother's bedroom until her late teens. The princess fell in love with the prince.

Perhaps this would have been a way to keep her in the Netherlands after a wedding. The King's sister Louise and his aunt Pss Caroline married relatively unimportant German princes and were able to spend much time in The Hague.

The prince Vasa was set to be promoted to the rank of General-Major in the Dutch army so perhaps the idea was they would set up a life in the alternating court residences of The Hague and Brussels. The book is not clear about it.

Not unimportant to a Dutch mindset: the prince was supposed to be very wealthy. They do not elaborate much on this in the book but they claim it was 20 million guilders. Does anybody know where the wealth came from? Did the Vasa's receive some sort of compensation from Sweden when they lost the throne?

The engagement was broken of after a double campaign against it. Sweden threatened to break all trade ties if the wedding went on [in the official statement Gustaf had been referred to as ' Prince of Sweden' , to the dismay of the court in Stockholm]. More opposition came from the Russian Princess of Orange, Anna Pavlova. She and her relatives stated that the prince was anti-Russian. Does anybody know why he was considered such? In the end the government pressured the King to break the engagement, which he did. Did the Swedes object to Gustaf's wedding to a Princess of Baden too?

In the end both Gustaf as Marianne went on to have two very unhappy marriages. Both of them divorced, something very irregular at the time.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Their son, Crown Prince Gustaf, later Prince Vasa, was engaged to Pass Marianne of the Netherlands, daughter of King Willem I and Mimi of Prussia.

I am now reading a book about the court of the King Willem. And in it they shed some light on the engagement. I always found it a peculiar one as a prince without a throne in the family what prospects did the Dutch king expect?

The book says that people [including Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia] found Marianne rather spoiled. Both her parents doted on her. She fell in love with the prince. Perhaps this would have been a way to keep her in the Netherlands after a wedding. The prince was set to be promoted to the rank of General-Major in the Dutch army.

Not unimportant to a Dutch mindset: the prince was supposed to be very wealthy. They do not elaborate much on this in the book but they claim it was 20 million guilders.

I once wondered the same about the match; a love match combined with financial security does go some way towards explaining it.

Does anybody know where the wealth came from? Did the Vasa's receive some sort of compensation from Sweden when they lost the throne?

The engagement was broken of after a double campaign against it. Sweden threatened to break all trade ties if the wedding went on [in the official statement Gustaf had been referred to as ' Prince of Sweden' , to the dismay of the court in Stockholm]. More opposition came from the Russian Princess of Orange, Anna Pavlova. She and her relatives stated that the prince was anti-Russian. Does anybody know why he was considered such? In the end the government pressured the King to break the engagement, which he did.

In the end both Gustaf as Marianne went on to have two very unhappy marriages. Both of them divorced, something very irregular at the time.

Very interesting, then King Gustaf IV Adolf and his descendants were stripped of not only their right to the throne but also their titles of the Swedish Royal House. What became of their status afterwards under Swedish law or court protocol? Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp? Princes Vasa? Messrs. Gustafsson?

 

[kalnel]

...She and her relatives stated that the prince was anti-Russian. Does anybody know why he was considered such? In the end the government pressured the King to break the engagement, which he did. Did the Swedes object to Gustaf's wedding to a Princess of Baden too?

Just speculating: The Russian takeover of Finland -- the subsequent peace treaty where Sweden lost a third of its land to Russia -- set the stage for the coup that forced Gustav IV Adolf off the throne and put his son out of the line of succession.

One can imagine that Gustav might have been anti-Russian given that history. Even if he wasn't, a rumor suggesting he was would have sounded plausible.

As far as Gustav's marriage to Louise of Baden, the Swedes really couldn't object to her. By the time of Gustaf and Louise's 1828 marriage, Carl XIV Johan's son, later Oscar I, had married Josephine of Leuchtenberg, who was Louise's cousin. (Both women were connected to the Beauharnais family.)

It was probably politically expedient to keep Gustav connected to the French families.

But, that's just speculation.

 

[Marengo]

Very interesting, then King Gustaf IV Adolf and his descendants were stripped of not only their right to the throne but also their titles of the Swedish Royal House. What became of their status afterwards under Swedish law or court protocol? Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp? Princes Vasa? Messrs. Gustafsson?

Apparently King Karl Johan wrote down the death penalty for anybody mentioning his name in Sweden. I imagine he was not mentioned a lot in Sweden as a result .

The reference of the Dutch court of Gustaf as Prince of Sweden and the flowing outrage of King Karl Johan resulted in the issue being discussed at grander courts as well. In the end the matter was solved by the Austrian emperor who created Gustaf an HRH and a Prince of Vasa.