Queen Louise (1889-1965)

[Meraude]

Have anyone looked closer on what honours medals Queen Louise is wearing in this photo?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Drottlouise.jpg
With the exception of the Swedish Royal Family Order, the other four (if I have identified them correctly) are three British and one French honours she recieved, probably before she became crown princess of Sweden. They are honours she recieved for her service in WWI as a nurse. There are very few, or possibly no other royal ladies, who were recipients of those honours.

 

[An Ard Ri]

As per Wikipedia Queen Louise held the following Orders and decorations from the UK and Sweden

Sweden:
Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
Royal Family Order of King Gustaf V
Royal Family Order of King Gustaf VI Adolf
Recipient of the 90th Birthday Badge Medal of King Gustaf V
Recipient of the 70th Birthday Badge Medal of King Gustaf V
United Kingdom:
Recipient of the Royal Red Cross (RRC)
Recipient of the British War Medal
Recipient of the Victory Medal
Recipient of the Voluntary Medical Service Medal[

 

[Meraude]

She had also recieved the Medal of French Gratitude (in gold). Another royal recipient was Elisabeth, queen of the Belgians.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I just listed the British and Swedish to narrow it down.

 

[Prinsara]

Would this mean Louise was the only queen to be a veteran?

 

[JR76]

Would this mean Louise was the only queen to be a veteran?

If by a veteran you mean working in army hospitals Elisabeth of Belgium, Marie of Romania and Alix of Russia also worked as nurses as part of the war effort. In spite of their contributions at least the two latter only did it part-time and weren't working under the same pressure as normal nurses did. Louise worked under the same conditions as her colleagues of whom many had no idea who she was and Queen Elisabeth took her hospital duties very serious, but did also like both Marie and Alix take part in other areas of the war effort.

 

[Prinsara]

I mean by "a veteran" that Louise had actually enrolled with the appropriate authorities to go to France and nurse in a military capacity. I know that while all the others did extensive work, they obviously didn't have to join the military/auxiliary to do it.

But then Louise was obviously not a queen, an empress or technically even a princess at the time. Edit: I take it back; she was Princess Louise until 1917.

Double edit: Obviously, after her, Elizabeth is a veteran of WWII. But before Louise? I'm not certain how many queens or even regular female royals served in regular military duty.

 

[Meraude]

As per Wikipedia Queen Louise held the following Orders and decorations from the UK and Sweden

Sweden:
Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
Royal Family Order of King Gustaf V
Royal Family Order of King Gustaf VI Adolf
Recipient of the 90th Birthday Badge Medal of King Gustaf V
Recipient of the 70th Birthday Badge Medal of King Gustaf V
United Kingdom:
Recipient of the Royal Red Cross (RRC)
Recipient of the British War Medal
Recipient of the Victory Medal
Recipient of the Voluntary Medical Service Medal[

My comment/question was not what honours Queen Louise held, it was about those specific honours she was wearing in the photo of her in the Swedish court dress, a photo most likely from before 1928 , while she was crown princess. The only Swedish honour she wears is the Royal Family Order of King Gustaf V. She is wearing the three British honours first mentioned, and the French one.

 

[JR76]

My comment/question was not what honours Queen Louise held, it was about those specific honours she was wearing in the photo of her in the Swedish court dress, a photo most likely from before 1928 , while she was crown princess. The only Swedish honour she wears is the Royal Family Order of King Gustaf V. She is wearing the three British honours first mentioned, and the French one.

There are pictures of Queen Louise wearing her French and British orders in the 50s or 60s

Sent from my SM-G955F using The Royals Community mobile app

 

[maria-olivia]

I am happy to have start a thread concerning Queen Louise. We know more of her now, She deserves it. Thanks to JR76.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I am happy to have start a thread concerning Queen Louise. We know more of her now, She deserves it. Thanks to JR76.

I agree and Queen Louise is a very interesting royal lady.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

It's not that it isn't beautiful, but when you look like Queen Victoria in the late 20th century, it's not going to be taken as anything other than an anachronism, especially in the middle of a major government reform.

The new court dress looks more old-fashioned to my 21st century eyes than the traditional court dress, but late 20th century Swedes probably saw it differently.

 

[Meraude]

The new court dress looks more old-fashioned to my 21st century eyes than the traditional court dress, but late 20th century Swedes probably saw it differently.

The new Swedish court dress were created in the early 1980ies, and at a time when sleeves were large and pouffy, so the large sleeves were high fashion at the time (and I think it's time to update those sleeves). For the dress part, each wearer has the opportunity to chose the cut, and the neckline they prefer, the same as it was with the old court dress, the fashion of the day decided the look of the dress, the only thing the different dresses had in common were the sleeves.
As for princess Sibylla, and her daughters' in the same cut of the dress, my guess is that was Sibylla who wanted the daughters' wear the same kind of dress, the Haga princesses were often dressed in identically during their childhood and teenage years in public.

 

[Prinsara]

I am happy to have start a thread concerning Queen Louise. We know more of her now, She deserves it. Thanks to JR76.

Which is why I started it.

 

[JR76]

The new court dress looks more old-fashioned to my 21st century eyes than the traditional court dress, but late 20th century Swedes probably saw it differently.

The new Swedish court dress were created in the early 1980ies, and at a time when sleeves were large and pouffy, so the large sleeves were high fashion at the time (and I think it's time to update those sleeves). For the dress part, each wearer has the opportunity to chose the cut, and the neckline they prefer, the same as it was with the old court dress, the fashion of the day decided the look of the dress, the only thing the different dresses had in common were the sleeves.
As for princess Sibylla, and her daughters' in the same cut of the dress, my guess is that was Sibylla who wanted the daughters' wear the same kind of dress, the Haga princesses were often dressed in identically during their childhood and teenage years in public.

The Court dress of old was really two similar, but different costumes. The first variety which I've called the State robes were worn by the royal ladies to the Ceremonial Opening of Parliament in January each year and apparently at the Court cour until 1952 (I think so, but haven't been able to find much information on the subject of the cour). While the cut of the dress itself varied during the 19th century to adapt to different fashions the look became set by the later decades of the century and remained largely unchanged until 1974. It was for instance Queen Fredrika who added the arms and long train modelled on the court dress of St Petersburg after spending time there with her sister Empress Louise. The black and white sleeves have managed to survive for almost 230 years and I'm certain that they'll be there for as long we have a court. That the dress stopped being subjected to the whims of fashion was mostly because of an eventual sense of tradition, but also because of economics. They weren't worn frequently and were very expensive to make. The Haga princesses inherited theirs from older relatives. Princess Christina for instance inherited her dress from Princess Ingeborg.
The dress worn by the ladies of the court and the wives of the members of government was the blue print for today's court dress. Much simpler than the state robes it's style was changed with the fashions, but were always black, had the characteristic arms and a train. The ladies of the court lined the decolletage with lace, but as can be seen during at least the 60s and 70s many wives of the members of government and others chose not to. It was quite common for ladies to borrow dresses from each other, rent a whole dress or even just rent the sleeves and a train and have them attached for the day to a black gown they owned.
This variety was also worn by the wives of foreign diplomats introduced at the court during the cour until the 1920s and by young ladies introduced at the court during the cour up until 1952. After that the requirement to wear a special dress was abolished. The cour itself was abolished by Queen Louise in 1962 and replaced with "democratic lunches for professional women".
The court dress worn by the ladies of the court today is both modelled on the simpler varieties worn during the 60s and 70s, but also on the empire style worn during the early 19th century and yes, it does have a bit of an 80s air too, doesn't it.

Which is why I started it.

I'm glad that you did. I find her a very fascinating character that's sadly quite forgotten today.

 

[Prinsara]

To answer my earlier question, Louise's WWI service was with the Red Cross and not the military, so even though she was overseas in France and presumably pretty close to the front lines, she was still a civilian volunteer, and likely wouldn't have counted as a military vet.

Still pretty unusual for a young lady of gentle birth, even a military brat like herself (although I think a handful of aristocratic ladies ended up doing all sorts of previously-unimaginable valiant things for the war)!

I'm glad that you did. I find her a very fascinating character that's sadly quite forgotten today.

Honestly, where is the "Mountbatten" miniseries about Louise and her parents and her siblings? They were all a bunch of well-connected, enthralling overachievers. If the right person did it I'm sure it would be more enjoyable than The Crown.

But I feel as though it's something that happens when female consorts predecease their husbands. I think Maud of Norway was absolutely fascinating but I'd say she's about as known as Louise. Märtha and Margareta are just getting some recognition with Atlantic Crossing and the new exhibition... Apparently it's a question of timing.

Why is it she got to be Louise and not "Lovisa", anyway?

 

[Prinsara]

Beautiful picture of Queen Louise as a girl with her big sister Alice. https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/...ntbatten-Princess-Alice-of-Greece-and-Denmark
(Almost certainly before Alice got married.). She has pretty much the same face she always did!

 

[Prinsara]

Philip and his aunt. Not too many state visits have this built-in protocol level of cute.

Louise was really tiny. Or at least very slight. (You can see she's only about Elizabeth's height and about half her size.)

 

[CyrilVladisla]

In 1962 Queen Louise abolished the court presentations. She replaced them with ladies' lunches. Professional career women attended the Queen's lunches.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

To answer my earlier question, Louise's WWI service was with the Red Cross and not the military, so even though she was overseas in France and presumably pretty close to the front lines, she was still a civilian volunteer, and likely wouldn't have counted as a military vet.

Still pretty unusual for a young lady of gentle birth, even a military brat like herself (although I think a handful of aristocratic ladies ended up doing all sorts of previously-unimaginable valiant things for the war)!



Honestly, where is the "Mountbatten" miniseries about Louise and her parents and her siblings? They were all a bunch of well-connected, enthralling overachievers. If the right person did it I'm sure it would be more enjoyable than The Crown.








But I feel as though it's something that happens when female consorts predecease their husbands. I think Maud of Norway was absolutely fascinating but I'd say she's about as known as Louise. Märtha and Margareta are just getting some recognition with Atlantic Crossing and the new exhibition... Apparently it's a question of timing.

Why is it she got to be Louise and not "Lovisa", anyway?

Louise of the Netherlands, the wife of King Charles XV, was called Lovisa.
Margaret of Connaught, the wife of Crown Prince Gustaf, was called Margareta.
It may have been decided that Louise Mountbatten's first name of Louise was just fine and could remain in its English equivalent. Thus she was Crown Princess/Queen Louise instead of Lovisa like Louise of the Netherlands.