Lolotte Forssberg

Lolotte (Fredrika Charlotte) Forssberg, (1766-1840), was a Swedish noble and lady-in-waiting, later countess Stenbock. She was one of the most talked about people of her time as the possible child of king Adolf Frederick of Sweden.

Biography

Officially the child of a servant at the royal court, she was widely rumored to be the child of king Adolf Fredrik and the noblewoman Ulla (Ulrika Elisabeth) von Lieven,(1747-1775). The queen, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, was said to tolerate her husband's affairs as long as he was discreet and did not take an official mistress, and the king never did have a mistress openly. King Adolf Fredrik died in 1771. She was adopted by assistant Eric Forssberg and Hedvig Charlotta D'Orchimont.

When the dowager queen Louisa Ulrika died in 1782, she entrusted Lolotte to her daughter, Princess Sophia Albertina, and asked her to take care of Lolotte and see to her well-being. Lolotte Forssberg was then presented at court as the daughter of a priest from the country. She was described as a person with great charm, which was often given as the reason to why she became so favoured by the royal family. Sophia Albertina was very fond of Lolotte, who became her companion.

In 1795, Sophia Albertina received a letter and six months later a box whose contents convinced her that Lolotte was her half-sibling, and tried to get Lolotte's birth to be formally recognized. This did not succeed however. When Lolotte's adoptive mother was questioned, she revealed nothing and was suspected to be restricted under a vow of silence. The favoritism of the princess gave rise to the rumour that Lolotte was in fact the secret child of Sophia Albertina herself. In 1799, Sophia Albertina arranged a marriage between Lolotte and count Gustaf Harald Stenbock, (descendant of queen Katarina Stenbock), an unusual arrangement for a woman who was officially the child of a servant. Later, it was said that the story of her royal father was made up just so she could marry the count. Sophie Albertine continued by making Lolotte her formal and official companion in 1800, her lady-in-waiting in 1818, her head lady-in-waiting in 1823 and her heir in 1829.

Whatever the truth of Lolotte's true identity, the stories of her birth, both that she was the secret daughter of the king, and that she was the secret child of the princess, were among the most talked about scandals of the era; when she married in 1799, she was referred to as ”one of the most talked about people at that time”.

Issue

Lolotte Forsberg got, in her thirties, one and only child of hers. her son inherited in 1854 the Sundby castle, which, as entailed property, remained in his line to the present day.
* descendants of [http://genealogics.org/descend.php?personID=I00395397&tree=LEO Lolotte] Forsberg

Sources

* Herman Lindquist, "Alla Sveriges drottningar"
* http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GEN-ROYAL/2002-09/1033223081
* http://runeberg.org/sqvinnor/0164.html
* http://runeberg.org/nfcf/0652.html
* "Svenska män och kvinnor"