Sophie of Sweden
| Sophie of Sweden | |
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Portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter of Sophie of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Baden (1854)
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| Grand Duchess of Baden | |
| Tenure | 30 March 1830 – 24 April 1852 |
| Born | 21 May 1801 |
| Died | 6 July 1865 (aged 64) |
| Spouse | Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden (m. 1819; d. 1852) |
| Issue |
Alexandrine, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Ludwig Louis II, Grand Duke of Baden Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden Prince Wilhelm Prince Karl Marie, Princess of Leiningen Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna of Russia |
| House | Holstein-Gottorp |
| Father | Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden |
| Mother | Frederica of Baden |
Princess Sophie of Sweden (Sofia Vilhelmina Katarina Maria Lovisa Charlotta Anna; 21 May 1801 – 6 July 1865) was, by marriage, Grand Duchess of Baden.
Sophie was born in , Sweden, on 21 May 1801. She was the daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and his wife, Frederica of Baden. After her birth, she was placed under the supervision of Hedvig Ulrika De la Gardie, who acted as the governess of the court of the royal children from 1799 until 1803.
Sophie was eight years old when her father was deposed by the Coup of 1809 and she left Sweden with her family. Between the time of the coup which deposed her father, and leaving Sweden, she and her mother were under house arrest. During this period, she was described in the famous diary of Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp as a stubborn girl who was much more haughty and possessed less self-control than her brother Gustav. An anecdote describes the contrast between the siblings. When Fredrika and her children were given permission to join the deposed king, famous Swedish nobleman Axel von Fersen came to discuss the arrangements. When he was about to leave, Sophie's older brother ran to the door to open it for Fersen. The former queen Fredrika is quoted as saying, "Sophie would never in the world have done that, she thinks of herself too highly for that."
In 1815, she was engaged, and on 25 July 1819 in Karlsruhe, Sophie married her half-grand-uncle Prince Leopold of Baden, the son of a morganatic marriage. The marriage with Leopold had been specifically arranged by her uncle, Grand Duke Karl I of Baden, to improve the chances that Leopold would one day succeed him as grand duke because of Sophie's royal lineage; Leopold, though his right to the throne was recognized, was originally the issue of a morganatic marriage. During the reign of Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden, they lived a modest life away from court, as Louis did not want the heir to the throne at court. In 1830, her husband ascended to the grand ducal throne as Leopold I, and Sophie became Grand Duchess of Baden.
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Wikipedia