Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg & the Danish Throne

Tags

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Christian VIII of Denmark, Countess Louise Sophie of Danneskiold-Samsøe, Duke Christian August II of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Johann Friedrich Struensee, King Christian VII of Denmark, King Frederik VI of Denmark, King Frederik VII of Denmark, Queen of Denmark and Norway

From the Emperor’s Desk: The post examines Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg a grandson of Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain and his claim to the Danish throne that was tainted by his alleged descent from Caroline Matilda and Johann Friedrich Struensee.

Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (July 19, 1798 – March 11, 1869, Christian Charles Frederik August), commonly known as Christian, Duke of Augustenborg, was a German prince and statesman.

During the 1850s and 1860s, he was a claimant to be Duke of the whole provinces of Schleswig and Holstein, and a candidate to become king of Denmark following the death of King Frederik VII.

He was the father-in-law of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (daughter of Queen Victoria) and the paternal grandfather of Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, German Empress, Queen of Prussia and wife of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Family and lineage

He was closely related to Kings Christian VII, Frederik VI and Christian VIII of Denmark through his mother and was a claimant for the Danish throne in the 1860s.

Born a prince of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and scion of a cadet-line descendant of the Danish royal House of Oldenburg, Christian August was the fiefholder of Augustenborg and Sønderborg.

He was also a claimant to the rulership of the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein, and he was also a candidate to become king of Denmark during the succession crisis caused by the childlessness of King Frederik VII of Denmark. He lost the chance to ascend the throne to his distant kinsman, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, the future King Christian IX of Denmark.

Christian August was the eldest son and heir of Frederik Christian II, Duke of Augustenborg and his wife Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark.

His father was the head of the senior cadet branch of the ruling house of Denmark, and thus the nearest agnatic kin of the kings of Denmark. Furthermore, his mother Louisa Auguste was (officially) the daughter of King Christian VII of Denmark and his wife Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain. Louisa Auguste was the sister of King Frederik VI and the first cousin of King Christian VIII.

Due to all this, Christian August was high in the line of succession to the Danish throne. He also enjoyed additional influence in the Danish court because his sister, Caroline Amalie, was the beloved second wife of King Christian VIII of Denm (his mother’s cousin).

Christian August’s family lost out in the competition for the throne of Denmark mainly because of the widely accepted belief that his mother, Louisa Augusteof Denmar, was actually fathered by Johann Friedrich Struensee, Christian VII’s royal physician, who had an affair with Christian VII’s wife Caroline Matilda of Great Britain.

If true, this would mean Christian August was not a true legitimate descendant of King Frederik III of Denmark and Norway, the first hereditary monarch of Denmark. His claim was further weakened by having married for love to Countess Louise Sophie Danneskiold-Samsøe, a woman of unequal rank.

Countess Louise Sophie of Danneskiold-Samsøe was born on September 22, 1796 in Gisselfeld, Denmark to Christian Conrad, Count af Danneskiold-Samsøe (1774–1823) and his wife Johanne Henriette Valentine Kaas (1776–1843), daughter of the Danish Admiral Frederik Christian Kaas and a descendant of the war hero Jørgen Kaas.

The House of Danneskiold-Samsøe is a non-dynastic branch of the House of Oldenburg, descended from Christian Gyldenløve, Count of Samsø, an illegitimate son of Christian V of Denmark by his mistress Sophie Amalie Moth.

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway. Conclusion

Tags

Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Duchess consort of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Johann Friedrich Struensee, King Frederik VI of Denmark and Norway, King George III of Great Britain, Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark and Norway

Divorce and exile

The interrogation of Johann Friedrich Struensee began on February 20, 1772, but concerning the “crime of familiarity” with respect to the Queen, he admitted to nothing for three days. Later, he tried to shift much of the responsibility for the adultery onto Caroline Matilda.

Struensee’s main political associate and friend, Enevold Brandt, was interrogated at the same time, and reportedly admitted his knowledge of the favourite’s crimes. In parallel to this, the Queen’s staff were also questioned, and the testimony of her chamber staff, particularly her head chamber woman Charlotta Hedevig Matthie, her lady’s maids Kristine Sofie Frederikke Bruun, Anna Charlotte Margrete Horn and Engel Marie Arensbach, and her chamber maid Anna Petersen, were particularly incriminating, as well as that of her lady-in-waiting Elisabeth von Eyben.

A committee of four nobles was sent to Kronborg to interrogate the Queen; during their first visit, probably following the advice of Keith, Caroline Matilda refused to speak with them, replying that “she doesn’t recognise anyone’s court other than the court of the King.”

On their later visits, she denied her relationship with Struensee in the hope of saving him. On March 9, a confession signed by Struensee was presented to Caroline Matilda; she also signed a confession and took much of the blame on herself, hoping thus to mitigate the fate of her lover, although she is believed to have been pressed or manipulated to admit the affair by the interrogator.

On March 24 an indictment against the Queen was presented to a court consisting of thirty-five members of the nobility; on April 2 she was given a lawyer, who said that the Queen was innocent and her confession was signed under pressure, and solely to protect Struensee.

The judgment was handed down on April 6 and two days later the Queen was notified: her marriage with Christian VII was dissolved, although not on dynastic or moral grounds; in addition, the name of the former Queen was banned during church services. Struensee and Brandt were sentenced to death, and were executed on April 28. As Caroline Matilda later recalled, she intuitively knew about the death of her lover.

In Great Britain the news of the arrest of Caroline Matilda was met with great excitement. After the divorce, and following the orders of her brother King George III, Robert Murray Keith began to negotiate her release, but without success. At the same time, George III had been provided conclusive evidence against his sister, and it was reported that he was advised that she could not remain at the Danish court.

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway

After Caroline Matilda’s death, it was discovered that the Danes had offered to send Struensee and his allies into exile in Aalborg in north Jutland, but the British government strongly refused to consent to this and even threatened to break diplomatic relations with Denmark-Norway and begin a military intervention.

A British squadron arrived off the shores of Copenhagen, but a few hours before its arrival George III received the news that the Danish government guaranteed the freedom of the former Queen. Keith was also able to secure the return of her dowry, a pension, and Caroline Matilda’s right to retain her royal title.

By May 1772 the British and Danish governments had been able to figure out where Caroline Matilda would live; at the suggestion of George III, the new residence of his “Criminal Sister” was to be Celle Castle, located in the Electorate of Hanover.

On May 3 the former Queen, accompanied by Keith and a delegation of Danish nobles, departed from Helsingør in two frigates and a sloop; her two children, Crown Prince Frederick and Louise Augusta, remained in Copenhagen and she never saw them again.

On June 5 she arrived in the district of Stade (where the Danish delegation finally left her), and was greeted in an elaborate ceremony, and the next day a reception was held in her honour. From Stade, the former Queen went to Göhrde, where she stayed for a few months before finally going to Celle. On October 20 Caroline Matilda made her solemn entry into the city, where a proper court was organised for her. Thereafter, she rarely left Celle, with only a few visits to Hanover.

Later life in Celle

In Celle, Caroline Matilda led a very quiet life. Here she was finally reunited with her beloved former hofmesterinde Countess Louise von Plessen. The former Queen was visited by many relatives and friends, among them her older sister Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, which many contemporaries considered a way to keep her watched.

Her main entertainment was a small theatre, built especially for her in the castle, as well a library with numerous books in German and English; in addition, she became known for her charity towards poor children and orphans.

Keith, who visited Caroline Matilda in November 1772, later reported to Lord Suffolk that he had found her in a contented mood and that she did not want to have any relations with the Danish court except those that directly affected the well-being of her children.

Frederik VI, King of Denmark and Norway

Although no longer Queen, Caroline Matilda still played an important role in Danish politics, because she was the mother of the future King. In September 1774 she was visited by the traveller and adventurer Nathaniel Wraxall; during this visit he collected a lot of information about her life in Denmark that later formed the basis of his memoirs.

He returned in October as a secret agent for a group of restive Danish nobles. Some were exiled in Hamburg for their support for the former Queen (notably Baron Frederik Ludvig Ernst Bülow (spouse of Anna Sofie Bülow), and Count Ernst von Schimmelmann (son of Caroline von Schimmelmann) and one remained in Copenhagen.

They were eager for a change: the return of Caroline Matilda as Regent and Guardian of the Crown Prince. Caroline Matilda was ready to act, but only with the consent of her brother George III; she also feared for the lives of her children.

Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark and Norway, Duchess consort of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

George III was ready to support his sister and the plot, but on the condition that first, the conspirators had to gain enough power in Denmark. Wraxall visited the former Queen three more times in Celle and discussed with her the details of the plot; then he went to London, to discuss the plan with George III.

With him, Caroline Matilda sent a letter to her brother, in which she asked for his approval for the conspiracy, which she referred to as “this scheme for my son’s happiness”. However, while waiting for an audience with the King in London, Wraxall learned of Caroline Matilda’s death.

Caroline Matilda died suddenly of scarlet fever on May 10, 1775. On her deathbed, she wrote a letter to her brother in which she proclaimed her innocence. She was buried in the crypt of the Stadtkirche St. Marien near her paternal great-grandmother Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who was also divorced and exiled.

Great Denmark Street in Dublin is believed to have been named in her honour in the year of her death.

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway. Part III.

Tags

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Dowager Queen of Denmark and Norway, Julianne of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttle, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, Queen of Denmark and Norway, Struensee

On June 17, 1771 the court took summer residence at Hirschholm Palace in present-day Hørsholm municipality. Here, Caroline Matilda lived happily with her son and her lover, and was painted with the Crown Prince in the style of the newly modern country life by Peter Als; this summer is described as an idyll, and has come to be referred to as the “Hirschholm Summer” in Danish historiography. She also planned a new summer villa, Frydenlund in Vedbæk.

One month later, on July 7, the Queen gave birth to a second child, a daughter named Louise Augusta. The event was coldly received at court, although the Dowager Queen Juliana Maria agreed to be the newborn’s godmother if the Queen agreed.

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway

The King recognised the paternity of the child, who officially became a Princess of Denmark and Norway, but the Queen’s behaviour and the girl’s resemblance to Struensee caused the courtiers to begin to think that he was probably the biological father of the princess, and to refer to her as “la petite Struensee”.

However, during the divorce proceeding against Caroline Matilda, her daughter was never mentioned in any document, because Struensee had previously given “satisfactory answers” about the circumstances of her birth.

Shortly after Louise Augusta’s birth, rumours began in the court and population that Caroline Matilda and Struensee wanted to imprison the King and declare the Queen regent; these accusations in fact were absurd in themselves, as Christian VII was more a protection than an obstacle to the lovers.

By the end of 1771 the lovers began to worry, and Caroline Matilda suspected that the Dowager Queen Juliana Maria planned a plot against her and Struensee. In October, Struensee thought it necessary to abolish freedom of the press, which was one of his major reforms.

According to legend, Struensee rushed to the Queen’s feet, begging her to let him leave the country for both their sakes, but Caroline Matilda refused to let him go. At the same time he confessed to one of his friends it was only thanks to the support of the Queen that he retained his post.

On November 30 the court moved to Frederiksberg Palace, where security measures had been increased by orders of Struensee. Then the order to disband the Royal Guard caused a military march to Fredericksberg on Christmas Eve, and the court became clear about the real mood of the people.

Johann Friedrich Struensee

At the same time, there were rumours that the British diplomat Robert Murray Keith proposed to give Struensee a large sum of money if he were to leave the country, but there is no documentary evidence for this.

The court returned to Copenhagen on January 8, 1772. By this time, Struensee and Caroline Matilda were already in serious danger. In early January, a former supporter of Struensee, Count Schack Carl Rantzau, discontented with the fact that Struensee did not accept his political views, decided to overthrow the favourite.

Dowager Queen Juliana Maria had during the summer watched the progress of events from Fredensborg Palace, where she lived in seclusion with her son. Rantzau gave her fake evidence that the lovers were going to overthrow the King, prompting the Dowager Queen to act against them.

Details of the case were specified on January 15, at the Dowager’s residence, and the execution of their conspiracy was scheduled for the night of January 16–17 after the end of a masked ball at the Hofteatret in Christiansborg Palace. Although Rantzau hesitated at the last moment, everything went according to plan: at the agreed time, Struensee, Brandt, and their followers were arrested.

On the same night Caroline Matilda was captured by Rantzau who, with cynical cruelty, hastily escorted her with her daughter to Kronborg Castle, in Helsingør, where they remained imprisoned under close surveillance by guards.

Christian VII, King of Denmark and Norway

She was only accompanied by the maid-of-honour Frederikke Louise Møsting, who was not sympathetic towards her and who had been ordered by Rantzau to accompany her. As the Queen later told the court, on the evening of January 17 she saw from the windows of her chamber the festive illuminations made in honour of her fall in Copenhagen.

Only a few friends were allowed to visit the Queen at Kronborg, where her only consolation was her daughter, because her son the Crown Prince stayed with his father. At Kronborg, she was attended by the maids-of-honour Frederikke Louise Møsting, Sofie Magdalene Sperling, Margrete Vilhelmine Schmettau, her chamberlain count Christian Frederik Holstein and courtier Karl Adolf Råben, “who were all against her”, while her favourite maid-of-honour Charlotte Amalie Trolle had been refused permission to accompany her.

The fall of Caroline Matilda was necessary to overthrow Struensee, although he had not achieved power thanks to the Queen, but because of his dominance over the King; however, the Queen was a powerful ally of his, and for this reason it was necessary to remove them at the same time.

Queen Caroline Matilda of Denmark and Norway part II.

Tags

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Copenhagen, Dowager Princess of Wales, Johann Friedrich Struensee, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, Louise von Plessen, Queen of Denmark and Norway, Royal physician

Queen Caroline Matilda became close to her Overhofmesterinde, Louise von Plessen, who regarded the King’s friends, such as Conrad Holck and Enevold Brandt, as immoral and acted to isolate Caroline Matilda from her spouse. This was not difficult, as Christian VII did not like her.

The couple were further estranged when Louise von Plessen advised Caroline Matilda to claim to be indisposed when the King expressed a wish for physical intimacy, with the thought that distance would make the King more eager; instead, though, it only made him more unwilling.

At the end, and after being persuaded by his old tutor Reverdil, Christian VII consummated his marriage for the sake of the succession, and after the Queen gave birth to Crown Prince Frederik on January 28, 1768, he turned his interest to the brothels of Copenhagen.

Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Norway.

Though Caroline Matilda was not interested in politics, after the birth of an heir, she came to play a key role at the court. Her dislike of her husband’s favourites increased when, in 1768, Holck managed to exile Louise von Plessen from court, leaving the Queen even more isolated. She refused to accept von Plessen’s successor, Anne Sofie von Berckentin, whom she suspected had taken part in the plot to exile Plessen. Thus, Plessen was not replaced until Margrethe von der Lühe agreed to accept the post in 1768.

In May 1768 Christian VII took a long tour of Europe, including stays in Altona, Paris, and London. During his absence, Caroline Matilda took care of her son and aroused attention when she took walks in Copenhagen; this was considered scandalous, as royal and noble Danish women normally only travelled in town by carriage.

Caroline Matilda spent the summer at Frederiksborg Castle with her son before returning to Copenhagen in the autumn. During the absence of the King, there were rumours about an affair of the Queen with a certain La Tour, a handsome actor and singer from the French-language theater Hofteatret. La Tour was the lover of her lady-in-waiting Elisabet von Eyben, but he was known to receive gifts from “a higher hand” and it was said that his visits to von Eyben’s chamber were in fact visits to the Queen.

The allegation of an affair is not considered to have been true, but La Tour was exiled after the return of King Christian VII, perhaps because the rumour was damaging enough in itself. In addition to von Eyben, Caroline Matilda made friends with Christine Sophie von Gähler, Anna Sofie Bülow, and Amalie Sofie Holstein, who were known for their love affairs. According to the letter writer Luise Gramm, they encouraged her to participate more in social life, dance, and flirt.

Affair and Scandal

Royal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee

The King returned to Copenhagen on January 28, 1769, bringing with him Johann Friedrich Struensee as Royal Physician. He had met Struensee in Altona at the beginning of his travels. During 1769, the King’s mental health deteriorated, but Struensee could apparently handle the King’s instability, to the great relief of the King’s advisers, and Christian VII developed a confidence in him.

During 1769, Struensee encouraged the King in his attraction to Birgitte Sofie Gabel, reportedly because he believed a relationship with an intelligent woman would make the King more mentally stable and his insanity easier to handle, but this project failed, and the attempt to provide the King with a mistress made the Queen hostile toward Struensee.

Struensee then encouraged the King to improve his relationship with Caroline Matilda, and Christian VII showed his attention to her with a three-day birthday celebration on July 22, 1769. The Queen was well aware that Struensee was behind her husband’s improved behavior.

Her gratitude was reflected in her new interest in the charming doctor. In the summer of 1769, Caroline Matilda had an attack of dropsy, and at the insistence of her husband, she turned to Struensee. He advised the Queen that entertainment and exercise were the best medicine; this advice helped Caroline Matilda, and Struensee gained credibility with her.

Her confidence in him was further strengthened when Struensee successfully inoculated the infant Crown Prince Frederick against smallpox. The attraction that had arisen between the Queen and Struensee amused the King.

In January 1770, Struensee was given his own rooms at Christiansborg Palace. In the meantime, the King became more and more passive, isolated and uninvolved in government as his mental health deteriorated. He entrusted more and more of the daily state affairs to Struensee, as he had by then become accustomed to trusting him.

By the spring of 1770, Struensee had become the Queen’s lover. Later, during the divorce proceedings between Caroline Matilda and Christian VII, courtiers who accompanied the Queen during this time reported that they had suspected an affair since at least late 1769.

The rumours forced the Queen to limit her contact with Struensee for a while, but not for long: by the summer of 1770 Caroline Matilda and Struensee were known to be close throughout the capital and the provinces. When the royal couple made a tour through the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein and the German border, accompanied by Struensee, he and the Queen were observed behaving in a suspicious manner towards each other, and rumors started spreading that they were lovers.

With the help of Caroline Matilda, Struensee was able to expel Holck and other political enemies from court, including Margrethe von der Lühe, Holck’s sister and Royal Mistress of the Robes, who, despite her blood relation with Caroline Matilda’s enemy, was close to her.

In the summer of 1770, Caroline Matilda’s mother, the Dowager Princess of Wales, made a visit to the continent, where for various reasons she wanted to communicate with her daughter. The meeting was originally scheduled in Brunswick, but later was moved to Lüneburg, where Caroline Matilda saw her mother not earlier than August 1770.

It was the last meeting between them; reportedly, the Queen received her in breeches, which at that time was regarded as scandalous. During this meeting, Struensee was constantly at the Queen’s side, so the Dowager Princess of Wales had no opportunity to talk freely with her daughter and could only instruct Woodford, the British Minister to Saxe-Lauenburg, to caution Caroline Matilda about her behaviour. In the end, neither Woodford nor the Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (who visited his sister in the same year in Copenhagen) succeeded in this purpose.

In September 1770 came the fall of the Chancellor Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, reportedly thanks to the intrigues of both Struensee and Caroline Matilda; when the Dowager Princess of Wales asked her daughter about these rumours, the Queen responded to her mother’s lamentations with an arrogant phrase: “Pray, madam, allow me to govern my own kingdom as I please!”

On December 18, Struensee became Maître des Requêtes (“Master of Queries”; Privy Counsellor), and in July 1771 when he entered the cabinet it was declared that his orders would have the same effect as if they were signed by the King himself; on July 22, (the day of the Queen’s birthday) the signatures of Struensee and his assistant Count Enevold Brandt were officially announced.

From then, Struensee’s authority became paramount, and he held absolute sway between March 20, 1771 and January 16, 1772: this period is known as the “Time of Struensee”.

The Life of Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Dowager Princess of Wales. Conclusion

Tags

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Carlton House, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, King George III of Great Britain, Lord Bute, Louise von Plessen, Princess of Wales

Augusta had an acknowledged political influence upon her son when he first came to the thronein 1760. The King “strove to follow the counsels she gave”, and in which he trusted. Reportedly, she was in turn influenced by Lord Bute, who was appointed prime minister with her support in 1762. His appointment caused a serious crisis and exposed both Augusta and Bute to such public hostility that Bute had to resign from his post the following year.

Thackeray described the public sentiments and the circulating rumours: “Bute was hated with a rage there have been few examples in English history. He was the butt for everybody’s abuse; for Wilkes, for Churchill’s slashing satire, for the hooting of the mob who roasted his booth, his emblem, in a thousand bonfires; that hated him because he was a favourite and a Scotsman, calling him Mortimer, Lothario, and I known not what names, and accusing his royal mistress of all kinds of names – the grave, lean, demure, elderly woman, who, I dare say, was quite as good as her neighbours.

Chatham lent the aide of his great malice to influence the popular sentiment against her. He assailed, in the House of Lords, ‘The secret influence, more mighty than the throne itself, which betrayed and dogged every administration’. The most furious pamphlets echoed the cry ‘Impeach the King’s mother’, was scribbled over every wall at the Court end of the town”.

When the King had a first, temporary, bout of mental illness in 1765, Augusta and Lord Bute kept Queen Charlotte unaware of the situation. The Regency Bill of 1765 stated that if the King should become permanently unable to rule, Charlotte was to become Regent. Augusta was suggested as regent, but there was fierce opposition to her appointment, as there were concerns of the influence of Lord Bute in her potential regency, and fears that should she become regent, Bute would de facto rule as “King”.

Augusta reportedly resented the marriages of her younger sons, which took place without her consent.

In 1769, Christian VII of Denmark, the spouse of her daughter Caroline Matilda, visited Great Britain. During his visit, Augusta, upon the initiative of Caroline Matilda, asked him publicly during a dinner to reinstate Louise von Plessen, a favourite of Caroline Matilda whom Christian had fired, to her position.

King Christian answered that he had made a sacred vow never to do so, but that if Caroline Matilda preferred von Plessen’s company over his, so be it. In the end, Louise von Plessen was not reinstated, and Augusta apparently asked Caroline Matilda not to press the matter and to show more affection to Christian.

In 1770, rumors about Caroline Matilda, the Queen of Denmark, began to circulate. In particular these concerned the mental state of her spouse as well as the fall of prime minister Bernstorff, in which Caroline Matilda was rumoured to have participated.

When Augusta visited her eldest daughter in Brunswick that year, she also took the opportunity to see Caroline Matilda, who received her in breeches, which at that time was regarded as scandalous. Upon Augusta’s lamentations, her daughter answered: “Pray, madam, allow me to govern my own kingdom as I please!”

Augusta died of cancer of the throat at age 52 at Carlton House.

September 28: Birth of Friedrich Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

Tags

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Christian VII of Denmark, Denmark, Frederik VI of Denmark, Friedrich Christian II of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Johann Friedrich Struensee

Friedrich Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (September 28, 1765 – June 14, 1814) was a Danish prince and feudal magnate. He held the island of Als and some other castles (such as Sonderborg) in Schleswig.

Life

Friedrich Christian II was born the eldest son of Friedrich Christian I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1721–1794), by his wife and cousin Princess Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (1744–1770). Until his father’s death, he was styled “Hereditary Prince of Augustenborg”.

He was a prince with an exceptionally high level of Danish blood in his ancestry: his maternal grandmother, paternal grandmother, and paternal great-grandmother having been born, respectively, Countess of Reventlow, Countess of Danneskiold-Samsøe, and Countess of Ahlefeldt-Langeland.

Friedrich Christian II was closely related to all important families of the Danish high nobility of the time. The negative side was that his ancestry was rather too much “comital” and too little royal. Instead of including royal princesses and duchesses of small and large German states, as was customary with the Oldenburg royal family, their marriage connections had been mostly with the nobility (chiefly of Denmark).

Thus, although they were undoubtedly the senior cadet line of the royal house of Denmark (Oldenburg), the family was regarded as a bit lower than the Ebenbürtige which the rulers of small Germany principalities thought to be the standard.

By marriage, however, Friedrich Christian II drew closer to his cousins, the Danish royal family. In 1786, the twenty-year-old hereditary prince married his distant cousin, the fourteen-year-old Louise Auguste of Denmark and Norway (1771–1843), purported daughter of Christian VII of Denmark by his wife, the late Queen Caroline Mathilde. Louise Auguste’s father, the king, was a man with mental disabilities and, throughout his reign, effective control was in the hands of other people (ranging from his step-mother to his wife to his half-brother to various courtiers).

The king’s mental condition, and his unharmonious relationship with his wife, gave rise to speculation that Louise had been sired by someone other than him, and rumour awarded fatherhood to Johann Friedrich Struensee, the king’s court physician and de facto regent of the country at the time of Louise’s birth. Indeed, she was at times referred to as la petite Struensee.

The truth of the matter cannot be definitely ascertained.
The story of antecedents of the prince’s marriage goes as follows: In February 1779, the nation’s foremost statesman, Chief Minister Count Andreas Peter Bernstorff, hatched an ingenious plan for the young princess, something that often has been customary with a royal child suspected of not being sired by its nominal father but in its mother’s illicit liaison: to marry such a child to another member of the royal house.

Since a male child of hers could inherit the throne some day, it would be advantageous to arrange a marriage early, and to marry the “half-royal” back into the extended royal house, to the Hereditary Prince of Augustenborg.

This plan had the positive effect of more closely connecting the Danish royal house’s two lines, the ruling House of Oldenborg and the cadet House of Augustenborg, thus not only discouraging any breakup of the kingdom but also forestalling the possibility of a foreigner gaining influence into Danish affairs through marriage with her. This would certainly happen, for instance, if Louise were to marry her closer relations, the Swedish royals.

The danger of Louise Auguste marrying into the Swedish royal house (the latter danger was rather low, however: at that time, there were Swedish princes only twenty years or more her senior, and her first cousin, the future King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, had just been born when she already was seven).

Binding agreements were made as early as in 1780, when Friedrich Christian was 15 and Louise was only 9 years old. Five years later, in the spring of 1785, the young Friedrich Christian came to Copenhagen. The engagement was announced then, and a year later, on May 27, 1786, the wedding was celebrated at Christiansborg Palace.

The couple lived at the Castle for many years until the Christiansborg Palace fire of 1794 and the death of his father, the Duke of Augustenborg Friedrich Christian I, at which point the prince inherited the estate and the duchy. After 1794, the couple lived during the summer on the island of Als and at Gråsten.

The couple had three children:

• Caroline Amalie (born September 28, 1796, at Copenhagen; died March 9, 1881), married 1815 Prince Christian Friedrich of Denmark (died 1848), the future Christian VIII of Denmark and earlier, 1814, briefly proclaimed king of Norway before the Swedish conquest; became Queen of Denmark; she died childless in 1881, then the Queen Dowager of Denmark.
• Christian August II (born July 19, 1798, at Copenhagen; died March 11, 1869), the Duke of Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg who was to become a pivotal figure in the Question of Schleswig-Holstein in the 1850s and 1860s; so as not to offend Danish national feelings, he was married in 1820 to a Danish relative, Countess of Danneskjold-Samsoe (Lovisa-Sophie Danneskjold-Samsøe, 1797–1867), a kinswoman of the kings of Denmark, belonging to a bastard branch of House of Oldenburg; Duke Christian sold his rights to the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark in aftermath of Treaty of London but later renounced his rights to the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in favor of his son Friedrich August; he was the brother-in-law of King Christian VIII of Denmark, nephew of Frederik VI of Denmark, and father of, amongst others, Friedrich August (Friedrich Christian August), Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (born 1829 at Augustenborg, he was nephew of the Danish king himself, after whose death in 1863 he claimed to succeed as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein; died in 1880, living one surviving son and a number of daughters).
• Frederick Emil August (born August 23, 1800, at Kiel; died July 2, 1865, at Beirut), the “Prince” of Nør (Noer); he was married in 1829 to Countess Henriette Danneskjold-Samsøe (1806–1858), a Danish noblewoman belonging to a bastard branch of the House of Oldenburg; in 1864, he was created Prinz von Noer (“Prince of Noer”); he was father of:
  • Friedrich Christian Charles August (born at Gottorp in 1830; died at Noer in 1881), who married Carmelita Eisenblat; and
  • Luise Karoline Henriette Auguste, Graefin von Noer (born at Schleswig in 1836; died in 1866), who married Michael Vlangali-Handjeri.

Over the years, conflict arose between Duke Friedrich Christian II and Louise Auguste’s brother, King Frederik VI of Denmark, especially over the relationship of the double-duchies of Schleswig-Holstein and the Duke’s own small appanage around Sonderborg on the one hand and the Danish monarchy on the other. His wife remained loyal to the Danish royal house throughout these differences. The marriage eventually fell into acrimony and reproach, and Frederick Christian tried to legally limit Louise Auguste’s influence over their children’s futures.

In 1810, Frederik Christian’s younger brother Charles August was chosen by the estates of the Swedish realm as that nation’s crown prince, to succeed the elderly and childless King Carl XIII. Following Charles August’s death in May 1810, Frederik Christian himself was the leading candidate to become the new heir to the Swedish throne. On August 8, 1810 he was elected crown prince by the estates. His election however, was reconsidered and withdrawn two weeks later and Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, was elected instead.

Frederik Christian II died on June 14, 1814. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Christian August II, then but sixteen years old. Louise Auguste took control of the Augustenborg estates and the children’s upbringing. The estates were turned over to the son and heir on his return from an extended foreign tour in 1820.

Who’s Your Daddy?

Tags

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Christian VII of Denmark, Denmark, Johann Struensee, King George III of Great Britain, Kingdom of Denmark, Louise Augusta of Denmark, Queen Victoria of Great Britain, Royal Geneaology

When I began my interest in European Royalty one of my great pleasures, and still is to this day, is perusing genealogy charts and trying to memorize who all these people are and how many different ways they are connected to one another. However, at one point the thought occurred to me that these charts may not accurately reflect what actually happened. In other words, was the parentage of each royal accurate or was someone else, in reality, the father of certain children. I have discovered there are times when who the actual father of a royal really is.

In legal terms as long as the legal spouse acknowledges the paternity of the child then that child is said to be the legal offspring of the marriage. In all or royal circles this has been the majority practice. I know of only one case, Princess Louise-Auguste of Denmark (1771-1843), where paternity was well known not to be that of the queen’s legal husband, King Christian VII of Denmark, but he acknowledged the child as his anyway. It is broadly accepted that her real biological father was Johann Friedrich Struensee, the king’s royal physician and de facto regent of Denmark at the time of her birth. It was also known at the time that the mentally unstable king was estranged from his queen, Caroline-Matilda of Great Britain. After the affair the king and queen were divorced in 1772.

Struensee, who had initiated many modernizing and emancipating reforms, was arrested and executed for high treason for his affair with the queen that the same year. Christian VII reluctantly signed Struensee’s arrest and execution warrant under pressure from his stepmother, Queen Juliane-Marie, the power hungry queen led the movement to end the marriage and hopefully advance her son (Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway) in his claims to the Danish throne.  Caroline Matilda, retained her title of Queen but her children were taken away from her. She was eventually exiled from Denmark and passed her remaining days at Celle Castle in her brother, King George III of Great Britain’s German territory, the Electorate of Hanover. Her life was tragic. She died there of scarlet fever on May 10, 1775, at the age of 23.

Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark, though officially regarded as the daughter of King Christian VII, was, in fact, the daughter of Queen Caroline Matilda and Johann Friedrich Struensee. Their daughter had a better life than her mother and her actual illigitimacy did not affect her position in society. She was married to a Danish cousin, Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. He was born the eldest son of Friedrich Christian I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1721–1794), and his cousin Princess Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (1744–1770). Until his father’s death, he was styled “Hereditary Prince of Augustenborg”.

This marriage was arraigned by Danish Chief Minister Andreas Peter Bernstorff, because he theorized that since a son of Louise Auguste could ascend the throne some day, it would be beneficial to arrange a marry to the “half-royal” and to keep her in the family. The result of this plan closely re-connected the Danish royal house’s two lines, the ruling House of Oldenburg and the offshoot House of Augustenburg. The marriage took place on May 27, 1786 and the 14-year-old Louise Augusta was married to the 20 year old Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg at Christiansborg Palace.

The couple lived at the Danish court in Copenhagen for many years until the Christiansborg Palace fire of 1794 and the death of the elder Duke of Augustenborg, Frederik Christian I, 1721-1794, when her husband inherited his father’s the estate, title and the Duchy. The new radiant Duchess of Augustenburg was often the center of court activities, and was proclaimed the “Venus of Denmark”; she was the real female center of the Danish royal court even after her brother, King Frederik VI, married in 1790 to Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel. Sadly the union was a mismatch for the spouses were different: Louise Augusta was extrovert, lively, beautiful and pleasure-loving, Frederik-Christian II was homely, serious, and only interested in philosophy and politics. This is where history repeated itself. Louise Auguste was said to have had many lovers, and the most notably among them was the doctor Carl Ferdinand Suadacini, who treated her for infertility and was believed to have fathered her three children. Unlike the situation with her mother and Friedrich Struensee, this rumor cannot be proven. Despite being a great-granddaughter of King George II of Great Britain and having many British royal cousins, Louise Auguste felt sympathy for the French Revolution and from 1789 onward held anti-British views.

Frederik-Christian II died on June 14, 1814. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Christian-August II, who was only sixteen years old. Duchess Louise Auguste took control of the Augustenborg estates and the children’s upbringing. However, the estate was turned over to Christian-August II, on his return from an extended foreign tour in 1820. After her short period as a regent for her son, Louise-Aguste then resided in the Augustenborg Castle, where she established an eccentric court. She had a close and warm relationship with her daughter, Caroline Amalie (September 28, 1796-March 9, 1881), who would become Queen of Denmark as consort to Christian VIII, but her relationship to her sons was tense. Louise-Aguste died at Augustenborg in 1843, when her brother’s reign in Denmark had already ended (Frederik VI 1808-1839) and Christian VIII (1839-1848)*, her son-in-law, ascended – she thus died as the mother of the then Queen of Denmark.

* Christian VIII (September 18, 1786-January 20, 1848) was the King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian-Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. His paternal grandparents were King Frederik V of Denmark and his second wife, Duchess Juliane-Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

This will be a relatively short series. The parentage of the following monarchs will be looked at: King Edward III of England, King Alfonso XII of Spain, Archduke Maximilian of Austria (Emperor of Mexico), Emperor Pavel of Russia.

Oh, here is another interesting bit of trivia. Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark was the grandmother of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg who was married to Princess Helena of Great Britain, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Survivial of Monarchies: Denmark, Part II

Tags

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, Elector of Hanover, George III of Great Britain, Johann Friedrich Struensee, Kingdom of Denmark

With the Danish monarchs having absolute power after 1660 there were times when relying on a minister was essential. This happened during the reign of King Christian VII (1766-1808). The entire reign of Christian VII was taken up with the king’s mental illness. Because of the kings incapacity many ministers vied for power. In the late 1760s, Christian VII came under the influence of his personal physician, the German born Johann Friedrich Struensee. By 1770 Struensee had risen to completely control the king and was the “de facto” regent of the country. In 1772 Struensee introduced progressive reforms that was signed into law by Christian VII. Struensee also had complete control over the Queen Caroline-Matilda. Struensee was very unpopular in Denmark and also in the year he was deposed by a coup in 1772. Although Christian VII remained in power the country was ruled by Christian’s stepmother, Princess Juliane Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, his half-brother Frederik and the Danish politician Ove Høegh-Guldberg.

King Christian VII was married to his first cousin Princess Caroline-Matilda of Great Britain, the brother of King George III of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover. The marriage was doomed from the start. At the age of fifteen, Caroline Matilda left Britain in order to travel to Denmark and marry her cousin, Christian VII of Denmark. The wedding took place on November 8, 1766 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. Her eldest brother, King George III, was anxious about the marriage, even though he wasn’t fully aware that the bridegroom was mentally ill. Caroline-Matilda was described as vivid and charming and although not considered conventionally pretty she was regarded as attractive. However, her natural and unaffected personality was not popular at the strict Danish court. She was close to her first lady-in-waiting, Louise von Plessen, who regarded the king’s friends as immoral and acted to isolate Caroline-Matilda from her husband. This was not difficult as her husband did not like her. The Danish king was persuaded to consummate the marriage for the sake of the succession, and after a son was born (future Frederik VI), Christian VII turned his interest to courtesan Støvlet-Cathrine, with whom he visited the brothels of Copenhagen. Caroline-Matilda was unhappy in her marriage, neglected and spurned by the king. When Plessen was exiled from court in 1768, she lost her closest confidante, leaving her even more isolated.

In time Queen Caroline-Matlida became friends and eventual lover of the king’s minister, Johann Friedrich Struensee. Since marital relations between Caroline-Matilda and Christian VII had ceased it is very likely that Caroline-Matilda’s daughter, Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark was Johann Friedrich Struensee was the biological daughter even though Christian VII did not deny or contest paternity. Since the population of Denmark was extremely loyal to the royal family the rumor of an affair between the Queen and Struensee was not tolerated. In January of 1772 both Struensee and the queen were arrested. The marriage of Caroline-Matilda and Christian VII was dissolved by divorce in April 1772. After the divorce, Johann Friedrich Struensee and his accomplice Count Enevold Brandt were executed on April 28,1772.

On May 28, 1772, Caroline-Matilda was deported on board a British frigate to Celle, Hanover and was inprisoned at Celle Castle in her brother’s German territory of Hanover. She never saw her children again. In 1774, she became the center of a plot with the intent to make her the regent of Denmark as the guardian of her son, Crown Prince Frederik, instigated by Ernst Schimmelmann with the Englishman Nathaniel Wraxall as a messenger. Wraxall met her many times and she used him as messenger to her brother, whose support she desired. She herself wrote a letter to her brother George III in 1775, in which she asked for his approval for the plan, which she referred to as “this scheme for my son’s happiness.” However, the coup fell apart when Caroline-Matilda died suddenly of scarlet fever at Celle on May 1775 at the age of only 23.

Nest week is the start of Liberal reform in Denmark.

Historical Fiction

Tags

A Royal Affair, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Historical fiction, Johann Friedrich Struensee, King Christian VII of Denmark, King George III of Great Britain, King Henry VIII of England, King John of England, King Richard I of England, Queen Elizabeth I of England, William I of England, William the Conqueror, William Wallace

I enjoy writing short stories. I have written several short stories in the science-fiction genre. After viewing several royalty related movies I began to long for certain stories to be made into feature films. One story I wish Hollywood would make is a story on William the Conqueror. Yet one of the reasons I realize why this probably never would happen is the fact that William the Conqueror is not as well known as other English royals.

The American population is familiar with the present royal family, Queen Victoria and the Tudors, specifically Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. King Richard the Lion Heart and King John are well known as long as they are tied to a story about Robin Hood. Beyond that I am not sure there would be a big interest in a film about William the Conqueror in this country. On the other hand, If Mel Gibson can make Braveheart, about William Wallace who was obscure to many Americans prior to the film, then I guess any story about European royals may be open. There is a foreign film, A Royal Affair, that is up for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. That is the story about King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway and the affair his wife, Queen Caroline Matilda (sister to King George III of Great Britain) had with Johann Friedrich Struensee a royal physician. So maybe it is possible other films will be made about Englisdh and other royals?

In the meantime I have decided to write some historical fisction, in the form of short stoiries. I am beginning with the story of William the Conqueror. I will cover his life in three self-contained stories. One story about his youth and how he withstood tests to his rule of the Duchy of Normandy. The second story will cover his conquest of England and the third will cover the end of his life.

I am in the research mode right now and as I complete these stories I will share them on this blog.

A Royal Affair

Tags

A Royal Affair, Alicia Vikander, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Celle Castle, Christian VII of Denmark, Frederick Prince of Wales, George III, Hanover, Mads Mikkelsen, Mikkel Følsgaard., Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark

Today I get to unite my love of cinema and royalty. A Royal Affair is a 2012 Danish production set in the 18th century at the court of King Christian VII of Denmark and the  romance between the queen, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, and the royal physician  Johann Friedrich Struensee. The movie was directed by directed by Nikolaj Arcel and stars Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Følsgaard.

HRH Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark, (1751-1775) was the daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha and the sister of King George III of Great Britain. She married her first cousin, King Christian VII of Denmark at the tender age of 15. The marriage was difficult and unhappy. The King did not get along with his wife and there were rumors that he was a homosexual and he also suffered from a mental illness. 

As the king’s mental health deteriorated Struensee was the virtual ruler of Denmark in the name of the king and by 1770 Caroline and Struensee had become lovers. In 1771 Caroline gave birth to a daughter, Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark (1771-1843), and although officially recognized as the daughter of the king, it was widely known she was the daughter of Caroline and Struensee. After a masked ball in 1772 both Caroline and Struensee were arrested for their affair. The king and queen were divorced in April of 1772. Caroline was imprisoned and Struensee, and his accomplice, Enevold Brandt, were executed on April 28, 1772. King George III was able to obtain his sister’s release from prison and she was sent to Celle Castle in her brother’s German Electorate of Hanover. She never saw her children and died three years later from scarlet fever at the age of only 23. A sad tragic life.

I do not know when or if A Royal Affair will be released in the US but even if it is not I will have to get an all region DVD player to watch this!

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark

Christian VII of Denmark

Johann Friedrich Struensee