Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark - Life at The Danish Court

Life At The Danish Court

The couple lived at the Danish court in Copenhagen for many years until the Christiansborg Palace fire of 1794 and the death of the elder Duke of Augustenborg (Frederik Christian I, 1721–1794), when her husband inherited the estate and the Duchy. The princess was often the center of court activities, and was proclaimed the “Venus of Denmark”; she was the real female center of the Danish royal court even after her brother's marriage in 1790. After 1794 they lived during the summer on the island of Als and at Gråsten. They lived in Denmark in the winters and in Augustenburg during the summers, where she held a lively court, where artists, such as the poet Jens Baggesen, were among her admirers.

They had three children:

• Caroline Amalie (b. 28 September 1796 – d 9 March 1881), who would become Queen of Denmark as consort to Christian VIII
• Christian August (b. 19 July 1798 – d 11 March 1869), the Duke of Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (who was to become a pivotal figure in the Question of Schleswig-Holstein in 1850s and 1860s). In order to hold to potential Danish feelings, he was married to a Danish relative, Countess of Danneskjold-Samsoe.
• Frederik Emil August (b. 23 August 1800 – d 2 July 1865), the “Prince” of Nør (Noer)

The spouses were dissimilar: while Louise Augusta was extrovert, lively, beautiful and pleasure-loving, her spouse was unattractive, serious, interested in philosophy and politics. She was said to have many lovers, among them most notably the doctor Carl Ferdinand Suadacini, who treated her for infertility and was believed to have fathered her children, though this cannot be proven. Louise Augusta felt sympathy for the French revolution and had therefore anti-British views from 1789 onwards.