Princess Wilhelmine Louise of Baden (21 September 1788 – 27 January 1836), was by birth a

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subs ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

from the

House of Zähringen The House of Zähringen (german: Zähringer) was a dynasty of Swabian nobility. The family's name derived from Zähringen Castle near Freiburg im Breisgau. The Zähringer in the 12th century used the title of Duke of Zähringen, in compensation ...

and by marriage

Grand Duchess Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approxi ...

consort of

Hesse and by Rhine The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

. Her descendants include the last

emperor of Russia The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the monarch of the Russian Empire. The title originated in connection with Russia' ...

, Nicholas II and his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, King Charles III of the United Kingdom,

King Felipe VI of Spain Felipe VI (;, * eu, Felipe VI.a, * ca, Felip VI, * gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and ...

, and other members of European royalty. She was the youngest daughter of

Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden (14 February 1755 – 16 December 1801) was heir apparent of the Margraviate of Baden. Early life and family Born in Karlsruhe, he was the son of Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden, Margrave Charles F ...

and Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the younger sister of Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna of Russia, born Princess Louise of Baden.

Life

Princess Wilhelmine Louise of Baden was born on 21 September 1788 as the eighth and youngest child of

(1755–1801) and Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt (1754–1832). In

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

on 19 June 1804, Wilhelmine married her maternal first

cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

Louis, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt (1777–1848). The union proved to be unhappy due to Louis's

extramarital affairs An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...

, and they separated after the birth of their three older children. In 1820, she acquired Schloss Heiligenberg, where Baron August von Senarclens de Grancy (1794–1871) was the chamberlain, and they started an affair. Her last four children 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 Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine.

Issue

Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzog Ludwig III von Hessen und bei Rhein; 9 June 1806, Darmstadt – 13 June 1877, Seeheim) was Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine from 1848 until his death in 1877. Biog ...

(9 June 1806 – 13 June 1877). * Stillborn son (18 August 1807). * Prince ''Karl'' Wilhelm Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt (23 April 1809 – 20 March 1877). * Princess Amalia ''Elisabeth'' Luise Karoline Friederike Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt (20 May 1821 – 27 May 1826). * Stillborn daughter (7 June 1822). * Prince ''Alexander'' Ludwig Georg Friedrich Emil of Hesse-Darmstadt (15 July 1823 – 15 December 1888) * Princess Maximiliane Wilhelmine Auguste Sophie ''Marie'' of Hesse-Darmstadt (8 August 1824 – 3 June 1880); the future Empress consort of

Tsar Alexander II Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Fin ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. Her descendants include

Emperor Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of ...

(1868–1918) and his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (1872–1918), last emperor and empress of Russia, her great-grandchildren;

(born 1968), the incumbent sovereign of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, her great-great-great grandson; and King Charles III of the United Kingdom (born 1948), the incumbent sovereign of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, her great-great-great grandson.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* Egon Caesar Conte Corti: ''Unter Zaren und gekrönten Frauen. Schicksal und Tragik europäischer Kaiserreiche an Hand von Briefen, Tagebüchern und Geheimdokumenten der Zarin Marie von Rußland und des Prinzen Alexander von Hessen''. Editorial Pustet, 1949.
''Wilhelmine Louise, princess of Baden'' in: geneall.net
etrieved 5 February 2016 , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelmine of Baden 1788 births 1836 deaths House of Zähringen House of Hesse-Darmstadt Hereditary Grand Duchesses of Hesse Burials at the Mausoleum for the Grand Ducal House of Hesse, Rosenhöhe (Darmstadt)