Princess Wilhelmine | |
---|---|
Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and by Rhine | |
Born |
Karlsruhe |
21 September 1788
Died | 27 January 1836 Rosenhöhe |
(aged 47)
Spouse | Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse |
Issue |
Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse Prince Karl Prince Alexander Marie, Empress of Russia |
House | Zähringen |
Father | Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden |
Mother | Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt |
Religion | Lutheran |
Princess Wilhelmine of Baden (21 September 1788 – 27 January 1836), was by birth Princess of Baden and by marriage Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and the Rhine.
She was the youngest daughter of Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden and Amalia of Hesse-Darmstadt.
In Karlsruhe on 19 June 1804, Wilhelmine married the then Hereditary Prince Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt. The union proved to be unhappy due to Louis' affairs, and they separated after the birth of her three older children.
In 1820 she acquired the Heiligenberg Castle, where she met her chamberlain Baron August von Senarclens de Grancy, with whom she maintained a longtime affair; her last four children, including Alexander and Marie, were believed to have been fathered by Senarclens de Grancy, although they were recognized by Grand Duke Louis II as his own. In 1830, following her father-in-law's death, she became in Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and the Rhine.
Her descendants included both Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, as well as Lord Louis Mountbatten, Earl of Burma, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.