Queen Consort
Queen Sophia Magdalena was a serious and shy person and was never a member of the King's inner circle. She and Gustav had very different personalities which put even more distance between them. She did her ceremonial duties, but disliked the vivid lifestyle of the Court around her outgoing spouse. When she performed her duties as Queen, her sister-in-law, Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, described her as "Forced to meet people". She preferred to stay at her private residence, Ulriksdal Palace, whenever she could.
In the famous diary of Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, she is described as beautiful, cold, silent and haughty, very polite and formal, reserved and unsociable. On formal occasions, she was at her best: she performed beautifully according to Court etiquette, and was seen as dignified and impressive. She had two very intimate friends, Maria Aurora Uggla Ehrengranat and Baroness Virginia Charlotta Duwall Manderström. She loved solitude, spending her days in her apartments and dining alone. She held a grand formal salon every two weeks and loved the theatre, which she often attended. During the King's Italian journey in 1783–84, she held a grand formal public dinner for the city every two weeks. Several of her ladies-in-waiting were well known Swedish women of the era; among them were The Three Graces, as Augusta von Fersen, Ulla von Höpken and Lovisa Meijerfelt were called, and the artists Marianne Ehrenström and Charlotta Cedercreutz.
She did not have anything to do with politics, except on one occasion; during the War in 1788, she was given the task of initiating peace negotiations with Denmark, and called upon the Danish Ambassador, spoke to him and handed him a letter for the Danish King. During the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790), there is a note that she met two Russian prisoners of war in the park of the Haga Palace, and gave them 100 kronor each. It is said that she preferred English fashion because French fashion was too revealing.
Read more about this topic: Sophia Magdalena Of Denmark
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