Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark

Charlotte Amalie of Denmark and Norway
Portrait of Princess Charlotte
Born(1706-10-06)6 October 1706
Copenhagen Castle
Died28 October 1782(1782-10-28) (aged 76)
Copenhagen
Burial
Roskilde Cathedral
HouseOldenburg
FatherFrederick IV of Denmark
MotherLouise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
Danish Royalty
House of Oldenburg
Main Line
Frederick IV
Children
Prince Christian
Christian VI
Prince Frederick Charles
Prince George
Princess Charlotte Amalie
  • v
  • t
  • e

Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark and Norway (6 October 1706 – 28 October 1782) was a Danish princess, daughter of King Frederick IV of Denmark and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow.

Life

Charlotte Amalie of Denmark. Portrait by Johann Salomon Wahl.

Charlotte Amalie never married. In 1725, she was placed on the list of 99 princesses regarded as suitable for marriage with Louis XV of France (which would require that she convert to Catholicism), but she was removed from the list because Denmark-Norway was an arch enemy toward Sweden, the traditional ally of France, and that such a marriage could potentially disturb the French-Swedish alliance.[1] In the early 1730s, her brother the king tried to arrange a marriage between her and Frederick, Prince of Wales, but the negotiations did not succeed and she remained unmarried.

As was the custom for unmarried princesses, she lived with her mother until her mother's death, and then with her stepmother. In contrast to her brother and sister-in-law, she had a good relationship with her stepmother, Anna Sophie Reventlow. Charlotte Amalie tried to prevent the worst hostility toward her stepmother at court. She was separated from Anna Sophie when her brother succeeded to the throne in 1730. After this, she lived at the royal court in winters, and at Charlottenlund Palace in summer with her own court.

Charlotte Amalie was described by her contemporaries as a lovable character with the ability to keep the peace with most: she had a good relationship with her father and stepmother, and still managed to have a good relationship also with her brother, who hated his own father and stepmother. She had no influence upon the affairs of state, and lived a peaceful life at court her entire life.

On 8 April 1771, she was ordered to leave court. She spent the rest of her life with her nephew's widow, the queen dowager Juliana Maria. This meant that she continued to spend much of her time at court, when the queen dowager attended it: Juliana Maria became de facto regent in 1772. As she preferred black wigs, she had ordered her staff to wear them, and her court became known as "The court of the black wigs".[2] After 1778, she no longer showed herself to the public, as she had become senile.[3]

Charlotte Amalie is known as the benefactress of the writer Charlotte Baden, who was the niece of one of her chief ladies-in-waiting, Anna Susanne von der Osten. Baden was raised at her court, and Charlotte Amalie provided her with an education and an allowance.[4] In her will from 1773, Charlotte Amalie created a foundation, Prinsesse C.A.s stiftelse, to finance the upbringing of poor girls of all classes.

Legacy

Charlottenlund Palace, where she spent her summers, was built and named after her in 1731–1733.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark
16. Christian IV of Denmark
8. Frederick III of Denmark
17. Anne Catherine of Brandenburg
4. Christian V of Denmark
18. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
9. Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
19. Landgravine Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt
2. Frederick IV of Denmark
20. William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
10. William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
21. Countess Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg
5. Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel
22. George William, Elector of Brandenburg
11. Margravine Hedwig Sophie of Brandenburg
23. Countess Palatine Elizabeth Charlotte of Simmern
1. Charlotte Amalie of Denmark and Norway
24. Johann VII, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
12. John Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg
25. Sophia of Holstein-Gottorp
6. Gustav Adolf, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
26. Christian I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg
13. Eleonore Marie of Anhalt-Bernburg
27. Anna of Bentheim-Tecklenburg
3. Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
28. John Adolf, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp
14. Frederick III, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp
29. Princess Augusta of Denmark
7. Magdalena Sibylla of Holstein-Gottorp
30. John George I, Elector of Saxony
15. Duchess Marie Elisabeth of Saxony
31. Duchess Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia

References

  1. ^ Edmond et Jules de Goncourt: La duchesse de Châteauroux et ses soeurs, Paris, 1906
  2. ^ Charlottas, Hedvig Elisabeth (1902) [1775–1782]. Bonde, Carl Carlson, ed. Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok [The diary of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte] (in Swedish). I 1775-1782. Translated by Carl Carlson Bonde. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag. p. 130. OCLC 14111333. (search for all versions on WorldCat)
  3. ^ Charlottas, Hedvig Elisabeth (1902) [1775–1782]. Bonde, Carl Carlson, ed. Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok [The diary of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte] (in Swedish). I 1775-1782. Translated by Carl Carlson Bonde. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag. p. 130. OCLC 14111333. (search for all versions on WorldCat)
  4. ^ Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon
  • Dansk biografisk Lexikon / III. Bind. Brandt - Clavus 1889
  • Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 1979-84.
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20110609124413/http://www.ses.dk/en/SlotteOgHaver/Slotte/CharlottenlundSlotOgSlotshave/CharlottenlundSlot.aspx
  • Charlottas, Hedvig Elisabeth (1902) [1775–1782]. Bonde, Carl Carlson (ed.). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok [The diary of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte] (in Swedish). Vol. I 1775-1782. Translated by Carl Carlson Bonde. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag. p. 130. OCLC 14111333. (search for all versions on WorldCat)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Generations are numbered from the implementation of hereditary monarchy by Frederick III in 1660.
1st generation
2nd generation
3rd generation
  • Princess Charlotte Amalie1
4th generation
  • Louise, Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen1
5th generation
6th generation
7th generation
8th generation
9th generation
10th generation
11th generation
12th generation
13th generation
1 Also princess of Norway
2 Also princess of Greece
3 Also princess of Iceland
4 Not Danish princess by birth, but created princess of Denmark
Princesses that lost their title are shown in italics
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
International
  • VIAF
National
  • Germany
People
  • Deutsche Biographie