Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg

Duchess Sophia Charlotte
Princess Eitel Friedrich of Prussia
A photograph of Sophia Charlotte, 1913.
Born	(1879-02-02)2 February 1879 Schloss Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
Died	29 March 1964(1964-03-29) (aged 85) Westerstede, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Spouse	Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia (m. 1906; div. 1926) Harald van Hedemann (m. 1927)
Full name German: Sophie Charlotte
House	Holstein-Gottorp
Father	Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg
Mother	Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia
Religion	Lutheran

Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg (2 February 1879 – 29 March 1964) was a member of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. She was the only surviving child of Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg by his first wife Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia.

Sophia Charlotte ("Lotte") is best known for her unhappy and well-publicized marriage to Prince Eitel Friedrich, second son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. The marriage later led to divorce; Sophia Charlotte would remarry a few years later to Harald van Hedemann, a former police officer.

Sophia Charlotte (or "Lotte") was born on 2 February 1879 in the dynastic residence Oldenburg Castle in Oldenburg, Germany. She was the eldest child of Frederick Augustus, the then Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg and his wife Elisabeth Anna of Prussia. Sophia Charlotte had a younger sister named Margaret, but she died young. She was named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, the wife of the first Prussian king Frederick I. Sophia Charlotte was her father's constant companion as they went yachting on trips together; due to these trips, she always had a great love of water like her father. She spent much of her girlhood abroad, and often visited her maternal aunt Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn in London. She also often stayed with her widowed maternal grandmother Princess Frederick Charles of Prussia in Italy.