The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – The life and death of Louise of Prussia (Part two)

Read part one here.

Louise’s two daughters were taught French, German, and a little English and Russian. They also practised their painting, needlework and maths. They were given instruction in music by the director of the The Hague music school.¹ Frederick had been unhappy with the way his nephews were being raised and was looking for a more conservative tutor for his own son. He found one in Major Ernest van Löben Sels.²

Tragedy struck in 1846 when the 10-year-old Fritzi fell during a gymnastic exercise. A newspaper wrote, “Our sympathy for the plight of the young Prince is immense, especially considering that the sufferer is now the only son of Prince and Princess Frederick. One sincerely hopes that the princely parents may be spared a repeat of the fateful blow that struck them in 1834 with the tragic loss of their then-only son, Prince Nicolaas Karel.”³

They were not spared a repeat, and the little Prince died ten days after the accident at Huize de Paauw. Sophie of Württemberg, wife of the future King William III, wrote, “I am deeply saddened. The poor Prince Frederick has lost his only son. He died this morning, after being ill for over a week, at the age of ten. With him, the future of the Prince is destroyed – everything he has gained, built, and the ties with this country – everything is gone. He is desperate. She is very controlled, I would say – cold. But I think she is hiding her grief. During the illness of his son, Prince Frederick aged a lot; that’s how much it affected him. The child was the apple of his eye, not very sweet but still intelligent and promising. Saturday. After writing the above, yesterday, I went to see Prince Frederick and his wife. They took me to the little body. I had never seen a dead child before, it is awful. […] Frederick sobbed like a little child and said, ‘There is all my love, it is over now.'”⁴ The devastated parents kept the boy’s room as it was.

On 30 April 1850, their eldest daughter Louise made a brilliant match and was engaged to the future King Charles XV of Sweden. On 8 June, the family began their journey to Stockholm, and the wedding ceremony took place on 19 June 1850. She kept her succession rights upon marriage. After the wedding, Louise, Frederick and Marie took a steamboat to St Petersburg to visit her sister Charlotte, who was known as Empress Alexandra Feodorovna as the wife of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. On 31 October 1851, Crown Princess Louise of Sweden gave birth to a daughter – the fourth Louise in a row.⁵

The elder Louise went to visit her daughter in Stockholm every few years. She travelled a lot and also spent time in Berlin and St. Petersburg. In the summer, she and Marie often visited spas. From 1859, a lung condition made the Princess less mobile. Their other daughter, Marie, was much younger and would not marry until 1871. She eventually married William, Prince of Wied.

In August 1865, Louise visited Bad Ischl, where she met Archduchess Sophie, the mother of Emperor Franz Joseph I. She was joined there by Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Princess Alexandrine of Prussia (the daughter of Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, Louise’s sister-in-law) and Archduchess Sophie’s sister Elisabeth Ludovika, the Dowager Queen of Prussia. Her daughter Louise joined them a month later.⁶ She travelled on to Berlin to attend the wedding of Alexandrine to Duke William of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Louise would not return to Wassenaar until a few days before Christmas.

Louise spent the early months of 1870 in Cannes due to her health. She was joined there by her husband and daughter. They returned home at the end of May when Louise had regained her health somewhat. However, it would soon prove to be temporary. Louise got worse in November, and even her daughter and son-in-law, who had become Queen and King of Sweden in 1859, travelled to the Netherlands to be with her. Newspapers reported on 30 November 1870, “It is deeply regretted that the condition of Her Royal Highness Princess Frederik, who has been suffering for a long time, has deteriorated considerably in recent days.”⁷

Princess Louise died on 6 December 1870 at Huize de Paauw, surrounded by her husband, daughters Marie and Louise and son-in-law Charles. She had just become a great-grandmother.

Despite the cold on the day of her funeral, the streets were lined with people. It took place on 21 December. Her sister-in-law, Queen Sophie, wrote, “Today my poor sister-in-law is being buried. I hear the mournful cannon salvos as I sit writing. She is now being taken to the Orange family crypt in Delft, which is filling up more and more.”⁸

She had been a quiet Princess in the background, but she had still been loved by the people. “The dead (person) shall be mourned by the people because everyone knew this royal family was a model family”, wrote the Vice-President of the Council of State.⁹

1. Prins Frederik der Nederlanden 1797-1881. Gentleman naast de troon by Anton van de Sande p.54
2. Prins Frederik der Nederlanden 1797-1881. Gentleman naast de troon by Anton van de Sande p.55
3. Delpher
4. Prins Frederik der Nederlanden 1797-1881. Gentleman naast de troon by Anton van de Sande p.56
5. This Louise would become Queen of Denmark, and she would also name her eldest daughter Louise. This Louise’s eldest daughter was named Marie Louise, and Marie Louise’s eldest daughter was also named Louise.
6. Prins Frederik der Nederlanden 1797-1881. Gentleman naast de troon by Anton van de Sande p.90
7. Delpher
8. Sophie in Weimar by Thera Coppens p.462
9. Prins Frederik der Nederlanden 1797-1881. Gentleman naast de troon by Anton van de Sande p.63