Louise of the Netherlands (Wilhelmina Frederika Alexandrine Anna Louise; 5 August 1828 – 30 March 1871), also called Lovisa, was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 8 July 1859 until her death in 1871 as the wife of King Charles XV & IV.
Princess Louise was born on 5 August 1828 in The Hague. Her father was Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, the second child of King William I of the Netherlands and Wilhelmina of Prussia. Her mother Louise was the eighth child of King Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Her education was to large extent entrusted to her Belgian governess Victoire Wauthier, and she studied French, German, English, Russian and piano.
In 1849, Louise was selected as a suitable spouse for Crown Prince Charles, the son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway and Josephine of Leuchtenberg. The marriage was arranged after the negotiations to arrange a marriage between Charles and her cousin Princess Louise of Prussia had failed. King Oscar I of Sweden wished to secure royal family connections between the new Bernadotte dynasty and the old royal dynasties of Europe, and a Protestant princess was also seen as a necessary queen of the Protestant Sweden-Norway after two Catholic predecessors. Louise fulfilled these credentials, and a great dowry was expected from the rich House of Orange-Nassau. Cabinet secretary L Manderström was sent to inspect her, and diplomatically let it be known in his report that Louise had an excellent education and a good character but that she was not attractive. In August 1849, a meeting was arranged between Louise and Charles in the Hague. Reportedly, Louise fell in love with Charles and felt an immediate attraction, while Charles in contrast was disappointed in her appearance. Charles, however, was convinced to agree to the marriage by the King.
The engagement was officially declared in February 1850. The expectations of her great fortune was debated in Sweden, both in the parliament during the discussions about the allowance, and in the radical press, who suggested that the monarch would now be able to finance the construction of the Swedish rail road net by himself. In reality, however, her dowry turned out to be very small. During the engagement, Louise studied the Swedish language and history; she never learnt Norwegian, however. Because the Dutch government had supported the marriage, she did not have to renounce her rights to the Dutch throne upon her marriage.
Louise left Germany by a Swedish boat from Travemünde and arrived to Sweden with her parents and sister Marie, who were present at her wedding. Princess Louise and Crown Prince Charles married at Storkyrkan in Stockholm on 19 June 1850. She was given Countess Elisabet Piper as her hovmästarinna (senior lady-in-waiting) and Ottiliana Sparre and Ulrika Sprengsporten as maids-of-honor. After the wedding, her father-in-law the King took her on a tour through Sweden to introduce her to the country.
The relationship between Louise and Charles was unhappy. The couple had dissimilar personalities, with Louise being introverted, shy and with a preference for a simple life, and Charles extraverted and with a love for parties and social life. Louise was reportedly unhappily in love with Charles, who found her unattractive and was unfaithful to her, which pained her considerably.
From 1852 until 1860, Charles had a relationship with Josephine Sparre, maid of honor to Louise, which caused a scandal. Sparre was described as so domineering that the Crown Princess and her maid of honor were said to have changed places with each other, with Louise being the lady-in-waiting to Josephine Sparre rather than the other way around. Fritz von Dardel described Sparre: "The lady in question is a great favorite of the Crown Prince as well as with the Crown Princess, and she governs them both entirely in everything about their daily life. Gifted with an unusual talent to please and make herself indispensable, she has managed to capture the Crown Prince to a strange degree."
Louise was given sympathy and Charles was considered to be treating her with neglect. A known episode which attracted attention took place at the birthday garden party of Louise at Drottningholm Palace in 1857, when the Crown Prince proposed a toast to his "secret love" with both Louise and Josephine Sparre present. This caused a scene, and his brother, Prince Oscar, reprimanded him indirectly by asking his own spouse, Sofia of Nassau, to toast with him. This scene caused Louise to burst into tears and suffer a nervous attack.
Louise bore two children; Princess Louise in 1851, and Prince Carl Oscar in 1852. Due to complications that arose at the birth of Prince Carl Oscar, Louise was unable to have any more children. In 1854, her 1-year-old son, Carl Oscar, died. He had fallen ill with measles, but the cold baths he was prescribed caused him to catch pneumonia and he died as a result. As the Salic law prevailed at that time in Sweden (having been introduced by the constitution of 1809), Louise's daughter, princess Louise, was not eligible to ascend the throne. Charles was very chagrined and disappointed because this meant that his progeny would not be the next monarch of Sweden; his heir would be his brother Oscar. Louise offered Charles a divorce so he could remarry and produce a male heir, but he declined the offer.
Crown Princess Louise was not considered a social success, and her timid and shy nature was not appreciated in society because of her official position. Between 1857 and 1859, Crown Prince Charles was named regent during the incapacity of his father, and she took over the representational duties of first lady from her mother-in-law. During her spouse's reign as prince regent, she was described in the well-known court chronicle of Fritz von Dardel:
"A more lovable and talented woman would have entirely recreated the atmosphere in this circle and also exerted a good influence upon the Prince, who, of a good nature, easily let himself be led by those he likes, especially women. Although good, dutiful and not one to plot, the crown princess lacks higher qualities. She is a good housewife but thinks only of her husband, herself and those closest to her and she has not the good influence on him which her good character gives her the right to have. Because of her inborn shyness, she lacks the courage to meddle in his affairs, and her only wish is to gain his love. With one word; she seems not mature enough for her great task".
Louise became Queen of Sweden and Norway at the death of her father-in-law on 8 July 1859. She was the first queen of the union of Sweden-Norway to be crowned in both Sweden and Norway, as Norway had refused to crown her two predecessors because they were Catholics. Louise was crowned Queen of Sweden in Stockholm on 3 May 1860 and Queen of Norway in Trondheim on 5 August 1860. She was the first queen to be crowned in Norway since the Middle Ages. Louise was very celebrated in Norway during her stay there.
Louise exerted no influence upon state affairs whatsoever, nor did she show any ambition to do so. The fact that she did not meddle in politics was seen as a good role model and was favorably compared to previous queens who had, such as her predecessor, Queen Josephine, and this view is described in a contemporary encyclopedia from 1864: "At last, the two kingdoms can rejoice in the blessing of again having a Queen, who does not proceed the governmental power with her own thoughts, but calmly observes the natural process through King and legitimate authority. Loved by the Swedish people, she has enough opportunity for her noble wish to occupy herself in charity". She did not lack political views, however: she disliked the parliamentary reform of 1865, and she did not share the anti-German view of Charles.
Louise preferred to use her royal position for philanthropy, which was also expected of a female member of the royalty and upper class. She founded the charity organisations: "Kronprinsessan Lovisas vårdanstalt för sjuka barn" (The Crown Princess Louise's Asylum for Sick Children) in 1854; "Femöreföreningen till inrättande av barnhem i Lappland" (The Five Öre Foundation for Orphanages in Lappland) in 1864;