Queen
The marriage was celebrated in the city of Vadstena 22 August 1552 at great expense, at the same time as the plague swept through the country and the city of Turku burned down, and people claimed to see bad omens and evil signs in the sky. The day after, Katarina was crowned Queen, the parties lasted for three days. When the court departed, the city of Vadstena burned down in a great fire, which was seen as another bad omen. The marriage was not a happy one, which was admitted by the king himself; he was even said to contemplate writing a law which would prevent any future marriage between: "Two people, of which one was young and one was old". It is said that the king heard her talking of her former fiance, Gustav Tre Rosor ("Three Roses"), in her sleep, during which she said : "King Gustav is very dear to me, but I will never forget the Rose". The king's health declined during the next years, and she was more a nurse than his wife for the eight years she was queen. In 1554 and in 1556, there were signs that she was pregnant, but no pregnancy was ever officially announced and none was ever confirmed. She visited Finland in 1555, where she stayed until 1556.
Read more about this topic: Catherine Stenbock
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