Louisa Ulrica of Prussia
| Louisa Ulrika of Prussia | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Ulrika Pasch
|
|
| Queen consort of Sweden | |
| Tenure | 25 March 1751 – 12 February 1771 |
| Born |
24 July 1720 Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia |
| Died | 16 July 1782 (aged 61) Svartsjö, Sweden |
| Burial | Riddarholmen Church, |
| Spouse | Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden |
| Issue |
Gustav III, King of Sweden Charles XIII, King of Sweden Frederick Adolf, Duke of Östergötland Sophia Albertina, Abbess of Quedlinburg |
| House | Hohenzollern |
| Father | Frederick William I, King in Prussia |
| Mother | Sophia Dorothea of Hanover |
Louisa Ulrika of Prussia (Swedish: Lovisa Ulrika; German: Luise Ulrike) (24 July 1720 – 16 July 1782) was Queen of Sweden between 1751 and 1771 by her marriage to King Adolf Frederick, and queen mother during the reign of King Gustav III.
Louisa Ulrika was born in Berlin as the daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and his wife Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, and was thus a younger sister of both Wilhelmine of Bayreuth and Frederick the Great. She was given the Swedish name Ulrika because Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden had been her god mother. She exchanged letters with her godmother, and it was thought that she would marry a future son by Ulrika Eleonora, as Ulrika Eleonora herself had once been considered as a consort for Louisa Ulrika's father. However, Ulrika Eleonora remained childless.
Louisa Ulrika was described as beautiful, intelligent, with a fierce temperament and a strong will. She was given an advanced education in accordance with the French age of enlightenment by the governess Marthe de Roucoulle and the governor Maturin Veyssiére la Croze, both French Huguenots. Her intellectual interests were not opposed by her father who, while disapproving in her brothers interest for learning, did not do so in the case of Louisa Ulrika, who was reportedly a favorite of her father. She and her eldest brother, the future Frederick the Great, had a reasonably good relationship, sharing their interest in science and culture. Her favorites among her siblings were her younger brother Prince Augustus William of Prussia and her sister Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia. At the court of her mother, she was introduced to Voltaire, with whom she engaged in a lifelong correspondence, and Maupertuis. Several dynastic marriages were considered for her from 1732 onward, including Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, Charles III of Spain and Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt, but none came to fruition. She was appointed co-adjutrix of Quedlinburg Abbey with the prospect of becoming a reigning princess-abbess in 1743, a future of which she did not approve.
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