Queen Louise of Denmark (1851 - 1926)

[norwegianne]

Queen Louise of Denmark, née Princess Lovisa Josephine Eugenie of Sweden and Norway.

Born: October 31, 1851 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Daughter of Charles (Karl) XV of Sweden and Norway and Queen Lovisa

Married: Stockholm, Sweden, July 28, 1869, Frederik VIII of Denmark

Children:
King Christian X of Denmark (1870-1947)
King Haakon VII of Norway (1872-1957), (Prince Carl)
Princess Louise of Schaumburg-Lippe (1875-1906).
Prince Harald of Denmark (1876-1949).
Princess Ingeborg of Sweden (1878-1958)
Princess Thyra of Denmark (1880-1945)
Prince Gustav of Denmark (1887-1944)
Princess Dagmar of Denmark (Carstenskiold)(1890-1961)


Died: March 20, 1926, at Amalienborg in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Interred at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark.

Trivia: King Olav of Norway, Louise's grandson, mentioned that it was during the festivites for her 70th birthday that he first met his future wife as adults.

 

[Furienna]

Louise Bernadotte, who would become queen of Denmark and Iceland, was born in 1851 as a princess of Sweden and Norway. Her father would become King Carl XV. Her mother, Queen Louise, was born as a princess of the Netherlands. Princess Louise had a younger brother, Prince Carl, but he died as a two-year-old, and after that, she was an only child again, and she would stay that way. She could have become queen of Sweden, since she was the daughter of a king, if her uncle Oscar and aunt Sophie hadn't gotten four sons. Because she was a female, her male cousins basically threw her out of the line of succession. One of her uncles became King Oscar II and one of her cousins became King Gustav V. When it was obvious, that Princess Louise couldn't become our queen, she had to be planned for something else. And Frederic, the future king of Denmark, was still unmarried and in need of a suitable wife. In 1969, the eighteen-year-old Princess Louise got married to twentysix-year-old Prince Frederic, and they became the crown princely couple of Denmark. Louise's father-in-law, King Christian IX, became a very old man before he died, so Louise and Frederic were already way into their middle age, when they became king and queen in 1906. Louise's husband had now become King Frederic VIII. During their time as a crown princely couple, they had gotten eight children, four sons and four daughters. Their oldest son became King Christian X of Denmark. Their second oldest son became King Haakon VII of Norway. Their daughter Ingeborg became the mother of Märtha, the crown princess of Norway, and Astrid, the queen of the Belgians. King Frederic died in 1912, after only six years on the thrown. After that, Queen Louise was a queen dovager until her death in 1926.

 

[sm1939]

its amazing how all the royal familys are so closley related !!

 

[magnik]

Few photos of Louisa
http://worldroots.com/brigitte/gifs6/louisesweden1851-8.jpg
http://worldroots.com/brigitte/gifs6/louisesweden1851-9.jpg
http://worldroots.com/brigitte/gifs6/louisedenmark1851-2.jpg
http://worldroots.com/brigitte/gifs6/louisedenmark1851-3.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Queen_Louise_of_Denmark-2.jpg

and links
http://glucksburg.heindorffhus.dk/frame-DenmarkFrederik8.htm
http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php/topic,4167.0.html

 

[Furienna]

its amazing how all the royal familys are so closley related !!

That's because a royal only were allowed to marry another royal way into the 20th century. Harald of Norway and Albert of Belgium are first cousins, and so are Carl Gustaf of Sweden and Margarethe of Denmark. And it was very common for cousins to get married to each other too. Especially Louise's children and grandchildren were found of getting marring to their cousins! Her son Carl, the future king Haakon of Norway, was married to his first cousin Maud. His sister Ingeborg was married to her mother's first cousin Carl, which made the couple each other's first cousins once removed. And two of Ingeborg's daughters were also married to first cousins, Olav of Norway and Axel of Denmark respectively. Also two other grandchildren got married to each other, Prince Knud and Princess Caroline Mathilde.

 

[magnik]

About her relationships/genealogy with other royals. You must only write who you want.

http://geneweb.inria.fr/roglo?lang=en;m=R;i=116351

Enjoy

 

[RachelD]

Wow!
In this picture Queen Mary of England really resembles Queen Louisa!
Anyone else see this??? What was thier relation?
Picture first posted by Magnik...from world roots?

 

[magnik]

I take this photo from Worldroots

Here you go family relationships/genealogy between two Queens
http://geneweb.inria.fr/roglo?lang=en;em=R;ei=116351;long=on;spouse=on;et=M;color=;i=116203

But what was there ralationships as women I don't know.

 

[Furienna]

So they were second cousins?

 

[Stefan]

That's because a royal only were allowed to marry another royal way into the 20th century. Harald of Norway and Albert of Belgium are first cousins, and so are Carl Gustaf of Sweden and Margarethe of Denmark. And it was very common for cousins to get married to each other too. Especially Louise's children and grandchildren were found of getting marring to their cousins! Her son Carl, the future king Haakon of Norway, was married to his first cousin Maud. His sister Ingeborg was married to her mother's first cousin Carl, which made the couple each other's first cousins once removed. And two of Ingeborg's daughters were also married to first cousins, Olav of Norway and Axel of Denmark respectively. Also two other grandchildren got married to each other, Prince Knud and Princess Caroline Mathilde.

And for the record Carl aka Haakons son Olav married again his cousin Märtha, the daughter of his fathers sister Märtha.

 

[Furienna]

Oh yeah. That's what I said. (Except Märtha's mother's name was Ingeborg.)

 

[Marengo]

I was wondering if Queen Louise had a bad relationship with all her in-laws or were there some that actually were nice to her? From what I have read most of the family mocked her and weren't exactly nice *though they didn't mind Louise's huge dowry). Did King Christian VIII and Queen Louise ( nee Pss of Hesse/Kassel) treat her well or did they have the same disdain as their daughters had?

 

[loali2]

Wow!

This IS Quuen Louise, Aunt Swan as she was known in the family, in later years.

She was never very attractive looking.

Here she is, looking quite lovely, with her sister-in-law Thyra, around the time of her marriage.
NOTE: This image was posted sometime ago by a friend on another forum. It is not being originally posted by me.

and with the rest of her sisters-in-law, Alix and Minny, and future husband Fred.

 

[loali2]

But speaking of Queen Mary...May once described her [Louise], as "a good soul, but a little queer in the head and quite difficult to get along with because she is so stiff".

Louise was very conservative and raised her children rather strict. She never quite fit into the happy, fun-loving, Danish royal family. She lacked the strong, easy going personality they all seem to have shared as well as any sense of humor.

Perhaps the fact that she was an only child had somthing to do with her inability to assimilate herself into her husband's family. Also her mother, Queen Louise of Sweden, seems to have been as rigid and boring as she was, not to mention over-bearing. I can only imagine she had quite a spartan upbringing.

 

[loali2]

Unfortunatly she was the spitting image of her mother, perhaps a bit prettier though.
Another of her with her mother, again, NOT ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ME. ...(come on...all the good photo books with her are hard to get and not in english .)

here is also a larger version of the portrait you posted...this is my favorite image of her.

Sorry they are all a bit big.

Although an only child she was the only child of a king, quite rich and therefore quite spoiled, by her father at least, something that none of her husband's siblings could relate too. This obviously helped to furthur the divides between Louise and the rather clique-ish (if i may) Danish royal family.
As she got older things only worsened. She became more withdrawn and isolated as her children grew.

 

[Royal historian]

ive always found her weird among danish royal [no offense]but how come she became that bitter woman she was since she has a happy childhood i was expecting her to have a happy marriage too .i actually hear the only reason he married her was for dowry .why could ;nt she say no to him because she must have known wether he like her or not .like the old say say ''your enemies always your friends'' which meant he could pretend to love her while he was after her money that call male gold-digger and another way i think she could have help her marriage was to show some skin to her husband instead of covering from head to toes everyday she should give a little style in her dress such as showing a quarter of the breast wears tight dress and tight corsett and long pantyose im sure he would be happy with a wife like that instead of a nun like strick cold woman[like a say no offense just my advice and opinion]

 

[betina]

ive always found her weird among danish royal [no offense]but how come she became that bitter woman she was since she has a happy childhood i was expecting her to have a happy marriage too .i actually hear the only reason he married her was for dowry .why could ;nt she say no to him because she must have known wether he like her or not .like the old say say ''your enemies always your friends'' which meant he could pretend to love her while he was after her money that call male gold-digger and another way i think she could have help her marriage was to show some skin to her husband instead of covering from head to toes everyday she should give a little style in her dress such as showing a quarter of the breast wears tight dress and tight corsett and long pantyose im sure he would be happy with a wife like that instead of a nun like strick cold woman[like a say no offense just my advice and opinion]

They still managed to get 8 children

 

[grandlordbenji16]

i think she was heartless she demande absolute respect from her children son were to receive military trains before breakfast bow to her when ever she was present and arrange their marriage wether they agree or not. i find it hard to believe she was in a loveless marriage but at the same time pushing her daughters into them
* she was mostly behind the conspiracy to announce the engagement of 19 year old princess ingeborg to 35 year old prince carl duke of vastergotland
* she encourage her sweet thyra not to get marry and discourage the chubby from bringing any foreign princess into her palace because her who was not a great beauty always had a fear and jealous of pretty princesses who since she was queen in 1906 the beautifull maud went to norway and the crown princess alexandrine chooce to live a quiet life she did not want no beauty take the attention away from her

 

[Lumutqueen]

I think she was a wonderful person and wanted the best for her children and monarchy. I think it's extremly sad that she couldn't visit sweden in later life. I think that her husbands infidelity had a huge affect on her and the way she brought up her children.

 

[snowflower]

But speaking of Queen Mary...May once described her [Louise], as "a good soul, but a little queer in the head and quite difficult to get along with because she is so stiff".

I am surprised that, of all people, Queen Mary was the one who had the nerve to characterize Lovisa as stiff .

Lovisa did have a hard time at Denmark. Her husband showed her in every way that he only tolerated her because of her large dowry, her mother in law judged her hard on etiquette and table manner ( she was a faste eater I think and Louise didn't like that), Frederick's sisters found her too serious to deal with and once her nephews became a little older they started making fun of her too ( it was Nicholas and George of Greece who came up with the "Swan" nickname) Lovisa in her turn became very cold towards them and she often said that , of all the family, it was only Queen Olga who was actually sweet with her and seemed to show some true kindness to her. Nevertheless, I think that Alexandra and Dagmar did became friendlier to her during their widowhoods and the sorrows they faced during their last years.

 

[grandlordbenji16]

i would've done the same thing she never try to fit in at first all she does in write to her mother in sweden and when she visit there she would have difficulty coming back to denmark i think she was homesick ingrid is much better a princess of sweden at birth but a danish queen at heart . she was stiff by the way look at most of the pics when most princess are laughing in pics she was serious like it was official portrait

 

[Vasillisos Markos]

I am surprised that, of all people, Queen Mary was the one who had the nerve to characterize Lovisa as stiff .

Queen Mary was very proper but I don't believe she was "stiff" as we commonly think that word implies. From everything I have read, it appears QM had a delicious sense of humor and behind closed doors she was delightful and fun company.

 

[Simply Amazing]

Truer words have never been spoken

I am surprised that, of all people, Queen Mary was the one who had the nerve to characterize Lovisa as stiff .

Lovisa did have a hard time at Denmark. Her husband showed her in every way that he only tolerated her because of her large dowry, her mother in law judged her hard on etiquette and table manner ( she was a faste eater I think and Louise didn't like that), Frederick's sisters found her too serious to deal with and once her nephews became a little older they started making fun of her too ( it was Nicholas and George of Greece who came up with the "Swan" nickname) Lovisa in her turn became very cold towards them and she often said that , of all the family, it was only Queen Olga who was actually sweet with her and seemed to show some true kindness to her. Nevertheless, I think that Alexandra and Dagmar did became friendlier to her during their widowhoods and the sorrows they faced during their last years.

Well said! You know, I've had the benefit of reading the official bios of both Alix and Dagmar, and given the treatment they metted out to their daughters-in-law (namely Queen Mary and Empress Alexandra, respectively), it really is no great shock to learn that they were indifferent towards their eldest brother's wife. Furthermore, Lovisa may very well have been rigid and dare I say, embittered, towards her lot in life and as a result, channelled that frustration in her relationships with her family, but Queen Mary was never the best person qualified to issue such criticism.

 

[Viv]

IMO the fate of Queen Lovisa is one of the less charming chapters of Danish royal history. She was said to be gauche when she first came to Denmark, but how unusual is that for a 17-18 year old girl being shipped off to a new life with a new family in a foreign country?
Anyway, I for one am wondering whether she was vilified because she actually was rigid or 'strange' or 'difficult' to begin with or whether she was embittered later in life because she was ill-treated by her Danish relations, particularly her better looking sisters-in-law?. Apparently they maintained a strong influence at the Danish court despite living in the UK and Russia respectively. Again IMO there was nothing strange in Lovisa's Christian faith as such, however the unusual thing was that it was a very right wing, austere version of Christianity. It must have filled a void in her life.

Or maybe jealousy played a part in this sad tale? She arrived with her dowry and jewellery! It must have been a thorn in the side of the impoverished Danish royal family, keen to meddle with the more illustrious RFs in Europe!

I'm intrigued by Lovisa's story and I wish that it would be properly researched some day.

Viv

 

[theresa_225]

I am surprised that, of all people, Queen Mary was the one who had the nerve to characterize Lovisa as stiff .

Lovisa did have a hard time at Denmark. Her husband showed her in every way that he only tolerated her because of her large dowry, her mother in law judged her hard on etiquette and table manner ( she was a faste eater I think and Louise didn't like that), Frederick's sisters found her too serious to deal with and once her nephews became a little older they started making fun of her too ( it was Nicholas and George of Greece who came up with the "Swan" nickname) Lovisa in her turn became very cold towards them and she often said that , of all the family, it was only Queen Olga who was actually sweet with her and seemed to show some true kindness to her. Nevertheless, I think that Alexandra and Dagmar did became friendlier to her during their widowhoods and the sorrows they faced during their last years.

Because she was a fast eater, her nephews and nieces called her "Aunt Hallelujah." Not very nice I suppose...
If I am not mistaken, one of the reason she was called "Swan" was because her overly long neck. There is another reason but it slips my mind.
The next king was not fond of Dagmar because of her treatment towards his mother. I do not have the exact source now, so correct me if I'm wrong

 

[theresa_225]

I was wondering if Queen Louise had a bad relationship with all her in-laws or were there some that actually were nice to her? From what I have read most of the family mocked her and weren't exactly nice *though they didn't mind Louise's huge dowry). Did King Christian VIII and Queen Louise ( nee Pss of Hesse/Kassel) treat her well or did they have the same disdain as their daughters had?

I think she was quite close to Thyra .

 

[Furienna]

Because she was a fast eater, her nephews and nieces called her "Aunt Hallelujah." Not very nice I suppose...

Can someone explain to me why they would call her that because she was a fast eater? It doesn't make sense.

 

[SLV]

Family jokes are rarily understood by outsiders. So, no idea.

 

[Meraude]

She could have become queen of Sweden, since she was the daughter of a king, if her uncle Oscar and aunt Sophie hadn't gotten four sons. Because she was a female, her male cousins basically threw her out of the line of succession.

Princess Lovisa of Sweden was never "thrown out" of the line of succession to the Swedish throne by her male cousins, of the simple reason that she never had had a place in it (nor had any other Bernadotte princess before Victoria and Madeleine). Sweden had absolute agnatic (Salic) primogeniture from 1810, when Karl Johan became crown prince of Sweden until 1980, when there was a change in the order of succession to absolute cognatic primogeniture.

 

[Furienna]

It seems like she's a parallell to Sophie Magdalene, a Danish princess born in 1746, who became the queen of Sweden. She's been described as our unhappiest queen ever. Her marriage to king Gustaf III wasn't all that happy, and her mother-in-law was incredibly mean to her. She was criticised for hanging out too much with Danish people. (Even though Sweden and Denmark are brothers now, we were often at war with each other back in the day, so a queen hanging out with Danish people, even though she too was Danish, was seen as very inappropriate at the time.) And she also lived to see her son, Gustaf IV Adolf, lose the throne and have to leave the country with his family.