Louisa Ulrika of Prussia - Crown Princess

Crown Princess

In Drottningholm on 18 August/29 August 1744, Ulrika married Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, who had been elected crown prince of Sweden in 1743 and after his succession to the throne in 1751 reigned as King Adolf Frederick of Sweden. She was recommended as a bride by Empress Elizabeth of Russia, just as her spouse was recommended as an heir to the throne by Russia. At first, however, it was her sister Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia who was considered, as her brother warned that Louisa Ulrika was perhaps too ambitious to be a good queen in a monarchy without power, as Sweden was during the Age of Liberty. Her brother king Frederick said that Louisa Ulrika was "arrogant, temperamental and an intriguer", and that they should not let themselves be fooled by her friendliness towards them, while Amalia was mild and "more suitable". It has been suggested, that Fredrick's judgment was given because he believed that Amalia would be easier to control as a Prussian agent than the more dominant Louisa Ulrika. But the Swedish representatives preferred Louisa Ulrika.

Louisa Ulrika was escorted to Sweden by Count Carl Gustaf Tessin. She was received with great enthusiasm in Sweden when she arrived in 1744, as it was hoped that she would finally solve the succession of the Swedish crown, and she gained popularity with her beauty and by the birth of her children; at the birth of her first child, no children had been born in the Swedish royal house in over fifty years.

At her arrival, she was given Drottningholm Palace, where she resided with her young court. She was described as beautiful, cultivated - entirely according to the French tradition - and interested in science and culture. Count Carl Gustaf Tessin called her: "A mind of a god in the Image of an angel", but she was also seen as extremely proud and arrogant, which made her less and less liked outside of the aristocracy over the years.

The court of the crown prince couple, called "The young court", amused themselwes with picnics, masquerades and French amateur theatre. Her first favorite among her ladies-in-waiting was Henrika Juliana von Liewen, who was an eager follower of the Hat's Party, and another well known lady-in-waiting were Cathérine Charlotte De la Gardie. The "young court" was also strongly affected by count Tessin. Count Carl Tessin had escorted Louisa Ulrika to Sweden, and he and his wife maintained a strong influence over Louisa Ulrika during her first years in Sweden. Prince Adolf Frederick never cared much for Tessin, but in 1745, Count Tessin was appointed royal court marshal Countess Ulla Tessin as first lady-in-waiting. Soon, Tessin also acquired the position of governor to Louisa Ulrika's first son. Tessin was behind many happy surprises and arrangements for amusements in the young court, and it was said that he was only too eager to please Louisa Ulrika in any way possible

During her time as a crown princess, there were rumors that Louisa Ulrika had an affair with count Tessin. This was with all certainty not true: her son Gustav III later replied to these rumors, that although Count Tessin had been in love with her, his feelings were one-sided and not answered by his mother, as a love affair with a noble contradicted the "natural contempt" which Louisa Ulrika herself felt for every subject, noble or not

Already as a crown princess, she was politically active. In the Christmas of 1744, she visited Tessin and gave him a lantern in the guise of the goddess Diana with the inscription: "Made only to shed light on the political system of the day". Her political ideal was absolute monarchy, and she disliked the Swedish constitution from the moment it was explained for her. She also disliked the legal system; when she at one point thought herself exposed to a plot, she wrote: "The laws are so strange, and one does not dare to arrest someone on mere suspicion without proof, which benefit the individual more than the kingdom."

At her own court, she was surrounded by nobles loyal to the Hats (party), and initially she allied herself with them in her ambition to restore the power of the royal throne. After the first years, however, she soon begun to gather followers from all parties to establish the Hovpartiet, English:"Royal court party") After the birth of her eldest son in 1746, she and the crown prince gathered followers also from the Caps (party). She learned Swedish and visited several of the Cap's most prominent members. At the visit of the Cap's parliamentary Kalsenius, she wrote that he was: "The biggest villain in the world, but I will not leave until I have bribed him. That is the only means by which one can reach the goal one has in mind" She disliked the alliance between Sweden and Russia, and in 1747, she affected the votes in the parliament by bribing. Whether it was because of this or not, the parliament voted for an alliance between Sweden, Prussia and France that year.