Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1800–1831)

For her grandmother, the Duchess consort of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, see Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1756–1808).

Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Duchess consort of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Painting by William Corden, 1844 known as William Corden the Elder (1795-1867)
Consort	1817–1826
Spouse	Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Issue
Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom
Full name
Louise Dorothea Pauline Charlotte Fredericka Auguste
House	House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father	Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Mother	Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Born	21 December 1800(1800-12-21) Gotha
Died	30 August 1831(1831-08-30) (aged 30) Paris
Burial	Burials at the Ducal Family Mausoleum, Glockenburg Cemetery, Coburg

Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Louise Dorothea Pauline Charlotte Fredericka Auguste; 21 December 1800 – 30 August 1831) was the wife of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the mother of Duke Ernst II and Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.

Family

Princess Louise was the only daughter of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and his first wife Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (her namesake).

Marriage and issue

On 31 July 1817 in Gotha, sixteen-year old Louise married her thirty-three year old kinsman Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld after he failed to win the hand of a Russian grand duchess.^[1] Louise was considered "young, clever, and beautiful".^[2]

They had two children: Ernst, who inherited his father's lands and titles, and Albert, who was later the husband of Queen Victoria.

The marriage was unhappy because of Ernst's infidelities and the couple separated in 1824. St. Wendel, in the Principality of Lichtenberg, was assigned as her new residence and Louise was forced to leave her two sons behind. Biographer Lytton Strachey noted in 1921: "The ducal court was not noted for the strictness of its morals; the Duke was a man of gallantry, and it was rumoured that the Duchess followed her husband's example. There were scandals: one of the Court Chamberlains, a charming and cultivated man of Jewish extraction, was talked of; at last there was a separation, followed by a divorce."^[3]

Post-divorce

On 31 March 1826 their marriage was officially dissolved. Seven months later, on 18 October 1826, Louise secretly married in St. Wendel her former lover, the Baron Alexander von Hanstein (later created Count of Pölzig and Beiersdrof). In her previous marriage, she had taken great interest in the social life of the principality and was revered as its Landesmutter (literally, "mother of the region"). Nevertheless, this happy life ended in February 1831, when her secret marriage to von Hanstein was discovered and she lost her children permanently.

Louise died of cancer on 30 August 1831, when she was only 30 years old. Years after her death, Queen Victoria described Louise in a 1864 memorandum: "The princess is described as having been very handsome, though very small; fair, with blue eyes; and Prince Albert is said to have been extremely like her".^[4]

References

1. ^ Grey, p. 29.
2. ^ Weintraub, p. 21.
3. ^ Strachey, Lytton (1921). Queen Victoria. London: Chatto and Windus. pp. 97–98
4. ^ Grey, p. 30.

Sources

• Grey, Hon. Charles (1868). The Early Years of His Royal Highness The Prince Consort. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers. http://books.google.com/books?id=pCU2AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Early+Years+of+His+Royal+Highness+The+Prince+Consort.&hl=en&ei=PiKJTNW_IpWpngfZoOXQDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Weintraub, Stanley (1997). Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert. London: John Murray Inc.. ISBN 0719557569. http://books.google.com/books?id=4Z1S6CSXV2UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=stanley+weintraub+albert+uncrowned+king&source=bl&ots=8VSLNVsPpN&sig=yuENiClwpDKwvGWUVQD_FnhPyqY&hl=en&ei=W9KHTPrpEsKFnQex49WlCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

External links

• Media related to Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg at Wikimedia Commons

Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1800–1831) House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Cadet branch of the House of Wettin Born: 21 December 1800 Died: 16 November 1831
German royalty
Vacant Title last held by Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf	Duchess consort of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 31 July 1817 – 31 March 1826	Succeeded by Duchess Marie of Württemberg as Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Persondata
Name	Louise Of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Princess
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	21 December 1800
Place of birth	Gotha
Date of death	30 August 1831
Place of death	Paris