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German Emperor Wilhelm I, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, House of Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, King Carl XIV of Sweden and Norway, King Gustaf IV Adolph of Sweden, King Gustaf V of Sweden, Princess Royal, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of Baden
Victoria of Baden (August 7, 1862 – April 4, 1930) was Queen of Sweden from December 8, 1907 until her death in 1930 as the wife of King Gustaf V. She was politically active in a conservative fashion during the development of democracy and known to be pro-German during the First World War.
Princess Victoria was born at Karlsruhe Palace, Baden. Her parents were Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, and Princess Louise of Prussia, the second child and only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm I and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. She was the younger sister of German Emperor Friedrich III, and aunt of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Princess Victoria of Baden
Victoria was named after her aunt by marriage, Victoria, the Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Victoria was tutored privately in the Karlsruhe Palace, by governesses and private teachers, in an informal “Palace School” with carefully selected girls from the aristocracy. She was given a conventional education for her gender and class with focus on art, music and languages, and could play the piano, paint and speak French and English.
Victoria was given a strict and Spartan upbringing with a focus on duty. Among other things, her mother ordered her to sleep on hard mattresses by an open window. Such spartan methods were recommended at the time as beneficiary and something that would harden the child’s future health; but it is believed, that this had bad consequences for Victoria’s health later in life.

Photograph of Crown Prince Gustav, c. 1897
Victoria was given her confirmation in 1878. After this, she made her debut in adult social life and marriage prospects were discussed.
On September 20, 1881 in Karlsruhe Princess Victoria married Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden and Norway, the son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway and Sofia of Nassau.
Her grandparents parents German Emperor Wilhelm I and Empress Augusta were present at the wedding, and the marriage was arranged as a sign that Sweden belonged to the German sphere in Europe.

Princess Victoria of Baden and Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden
The marriage was popular in Sweden where she was called “The Vasa Princess”, because of her descent from the old Vasa dynasty, and she received a very elaborate welcome on the official cortege into Stockholm October 1, 1881.
Victoria of Baden’s father, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, was the son of Princess Louise of Sweden who in turn was the daughter of King Gustaf IV Adolph of Sweden and his wife Frederica of Baden.
This means Princess Victoria brought in the blood of the old Swedish Royal Family. Victoria’s husband, King Gustaf V of Sweden, was the great-grandson of King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden and Norway of the House of Bernadotte. In 1810, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was unexpectedly elected the heir-presumptive (Crown Prince) to the childless King Carl XIII of Sweden, (uncle of the deposed King Gustaf IV Adolph. Jean Baptiste assumed the name Carl Johan.Upon Carl XIII’s death on February 5,1818, Crown Prince Carl Johan ascended the Swedish throne as King Carl XIV Johan. In Norway he was known as King Carl III. He was initially popular in both countries.

Princess Victoria of Baden and Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden
With the election of Jean Baptiste Bernadotte to the Swedish throne this created a new Swedish Dynasty that had no relationship by blood to any previous Swedish Dynasty. With the marriage of Princess Victoria of Baden to the future King Gustaf V of Sweden she brought into the Swedish Royal Family the blood of the previous Swedish Dynasties making her descendants and the current King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden a descendant of the older Swedish Royal Dynasties.
Sadly, Victoria and Gustaf were brought together by their families and their marriage was reported not to have been a happy one. Their marriage produced three children. In 1890–1891, Victoria and Gustaf travelled to Egypt to repair their relationship, but it did not succeed, allegedly due to Victoria’s interest in one of the courtiers, and she repeated the trip to Egypt in 1891–1892.
After 1889, the personal relationship between Victoria and Gustaf is considered to have been finished, in part, as estimated by Lars Elgklou, due to the bisexuality of Gustaf.