Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark

Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark and Norway (; ) (18 January 1808 – 30 May 1891) was a Princess of Denmark by birth as the daughter of King Frederick VI.

In 1828, she married her agnatic second cousin, the future King Frederick VII. The marriage was arranged for dynastic reasons with the aim of uniting the two branches of the Danish royal family, but ended in divorce in 1837. The following year, she married another cousin, Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, who was the eldest brother of the future King Christian IX. Both her marriages were childless.

Early life

Princess Vilhelmine Marie was born on as the sixth daughter and youngest child of Crown Prince Frederick and Princess Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel. Her father, Frederick, was the only son of King Christian VII, and had assumed the role as regent at the age of 16 in 1784 because his father, King Christian VII, had major psychological problems and was mentally incapable of functioning as king. She was born at Kiel Castle in the Danish-ruled Duchy of Holstein, where her parents had lived since 1805, in order to be close to the border because of the threatening proximity of Napoleon Bonaparte in Germany during the Napoleonic Wars. Her parents became king and queen in 1808.

Frederick and Marie had eight children, of which only two survived infancy: Vilhelmine Marie and her elder sister, Princess Caroline. Within two months of Vilhelmine Marie's birth, her grandfather died of a cerebral aneurysm and her father became king.

Princess Vilhelmine Marie was confirmed on 16 May 1824 in the chapel of Frederiksberg Palace outside Copenhagen.

First marriage

Since her father had no surviving legitimate sons, Vilhelmine Marie was a very desirable bride. Among her suitors was the future Oscar I of Sweden of the newly established Bernadotte dynasty. On 28 May 1826, she was engaged to her second cousin, Prince Frederick of Denmark, the future King Frederick VII, who was a direct male-line descendant of King Frederick V through his second wife, Queen Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. The engagement was very popular as it united the two lines of the Royal House, which had been in a strained relationship since 1814.

The couple were married on 1 November 1828 by the royal confessor Jacob Peter Mynster at the chapel of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. The public celebrations were unusually vivid, with illuminations, poems, public festivities, and a foundation, Vilhelmine-Stiftelsen, for the benefit of providing brides with suitable equipment. The Danish play '' Elves' Hill'' () was commissioned by the King for the wedding and premiered on 6 November 1828.

It became evident, however, that the marriage was disastrous and unhappy: Frederick's debauched lifestyle, full of infidelity and heavy drinking, was said to have deeply hurt the 'female feelings' of the princess, who, being good hearted and mild, lacked character and influence over her husband. Her unhappy marriage concerned her parents, who felt sorry for her. The couple separated in 1834 and divorced in 1837.

Second marriage

In Amalienborg, on 19 May 1838, Princess Vilhelmine Marie married Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, the eldest brother of the future Christian IX, and took up residence in Kiel. Her second marriage was said to have been very happy, although, just like her previous, was childless. Many believe that she was infertile as there are no records of her having any miscarriages or stillbirths.

During the First Schleswig War, her spouse actively sided against Denmark, which severed Vilhelmine's relations with the Danish royal family for some time, and she resided in Dresden. In 1852, a reconciliation took place and she again enjoyed a close relationship with her family in Copenhagen. The couple returned to Denmark and settled in the Louisenlund Palace. Her status as the daughter of a popular king helped her to quickly regain her popularity among the people; something her consort never achieved. In 1870, she moved to Glücksburg Castle, where she lived for the rest of her life after Karl's death in 1878. Vilhelmine spent her old age isolated; communicating in social life was difficult after the loss of her hearing. She, however, continued to spend a lot of time on charity and became popular in Glücksburg because of this. She was reportedly sorry for Denmark's loss of the duchies in 1864 and happy over the new ruling dynasty in Denmark. At the time of her death, Princess Vilhelmine Marie was the last surviving grandchild of Christian VII.

Ancestry

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Princess Vilhelmine
at the website of the Royal Danish Collection at Rosenborg Castle

Profile
(in Danish)

{{Authority control

1808 births
1891 deaths
Princesses of Denmark
Norwegian princesses
Vilhelmine Marie
Children of Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VII of Denmark
Daughters of kings
Daughters of dukes