Prince Frederick Adolf, Duke of Östergötland

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Prince Frederick Adolf
Adolf Frederick of Sweden
MotherLouisa Ulrika of Prussia
Coronet created for Prince Frederick Adolf and worn at his brother Gustav's coronation in 1772.

Prince Frederick Adolf, Duke of Östergötland (

Duke of Östergötland
.

Life

During his childhood, Frederick Adolf was under the tutelage of

Sophia Albertina, were their mother's favourites
and also devoted to each other. During family conflicts, such as the famous succession scandal regarding the questioned legitimacy of the Crown Prince in 1778, he and his sister were on their mother's side against that of their brothers Charles and Gustav. As a child, he had a weak health and a fierce temperament. His education became somewhat lacking.

Frederik was made colonel in 1762, general major in 1768, general lieutenant in 1774, commander of the Västmanland regiment in 1775 and field marshal in 1792. He was given a minor role in the Revolution of 1772 of his brother Gustav III, who gave him the task of agitating in Södermanland and Östergötland.[1]

Reign of Gustav III

He was given the title Duke of Östergötland on 8 September 1772 and the Tullgarn Palace as his residence.

During the great succession scandal, the so-called Munck Affair in 1778, when the queen dowager Louisa Ulrika questioned the legitimacy of the Crown prince in reference to the rumors that Gustav III had convinced Adolf Fredrik Munck to impregnate the queen, Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, Frederick sided with his mother and defended her before the king by pointing out that these rumors had not been invented by their mother but were in fact widespread rumors, and he reportedly said to his brother the king: "The entire city is talking of it, and it is commonly believed that You are not altogether man, and that it is because of this reason, that You have enticed the Queen to it to have an heir to the Kingdom."[2] It was Frederick who convinced Louisa Ulrika to receive Gustav III on her deathbed in 1782, thereby accomplishing peace between them.[1]

His

Swedish Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and he did occasionally show a genuine interest in the affairs of the academy, as well as in the management of the Västmanland regiment.[1] He devoted much time to country life on his estate, Tullgarn. His economic affairs were in bad shape, and in 1791 he was finally declared bankrupt and placed under administration until 1802.[1]

Frederick served in the

Swedish Constitution of 1772, which she saw as a good tool for an enlightened aristocracy, and the war and the Union and Security Act had made her a leading part of the opposition. She cooperated with Prince Frederick Adolf and Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm.[3] The plan was to force Charles to act as a symbol of the opposition to the Union and Security Act when the time was right.[3] When the time arrived to make Charles act, however, he refused, which effectively discontinued the coup.[3]

Reign of Gustav IV Adolf

In July 1793, he was given the position to chair the government during the journey of the king and the regent in the southern provinces, but nothing whatsoever was apparently accomplished during his tenure, and during a similar journey in 1794, he was not entrusted again.[4]

In 1800, Frederick Adolf left Sweden for health reasons and travelled to Germany and then to France. He died in Montpellier in France in 1803.

Private life

Prince Fredrick Adolf is in fact most known in history for his love life. He was never married, and the ceremonial duties of his consort were performed by his sister

Sophia Albertina. He had several plans to marry, but none of them were realised. His first proposal was to the Countess Ulla von Höpken
, but she was married to another, and he accompanied his brother Gustav to France in 1770 to forget her.

In 1774, he proposed to the cousin of his former love,

Countess Sophie von Fersen, daughter of Axel von Fersen the Elder and sister of Axel von Fersen the Younger, the alleged lover of Marie Antoinette. She and her father refused, as they were afraid that she would be badly treated by his brother and mother, who were reluctant to give their consent, and because she was already engaged, and Frederick Adolf was sent to Italy in 1776 until she was married.[5]

He lived from 1778 to 1795, in a happy relationship with the ballet dancer Sophie Hagman, who was well liked at court, and had a daughter, Sophia Frederica, with her. In 1780, he temporarily ended his relationship with Hagman and proposed to the noble Margaretha Lovisa Wrangel, with whom he became informally engaged. The King gave his permission to the marriage with the condition that it was postponed for a year, during which Wrangel was sent to Scania, with the thought that his brother would change his mind when the time was up. This was also the case, and Frederick Adolf returned to Hagman in 1781.[6]

After his relationship with Hagman ended, he proposed to Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom in 1797, and after his relationship with Euphrosyne Löf ended, he proposed to Dorothea von Medem, dowager duchess of Courland in 1801, but none of the marriages was realized.[6]

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Åstrand, Sven (1920). "Fredrik Adolf". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). Vol. 16. Stockholm: National Archives of Sweden. p. 472. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  2. ^ Alma Söderhjelm (1945). Gustav III:s syskon. [The Siblings of Gustav III] Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag. 23033 (Swedish) page 68
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-91-7668-964-6
    (in Swedish)
  4. ^ Alma Söderhjelm (1945). Gustav III:s syskon. [The Siblings of Gustav III] Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag. 23033 (Swedish)
  5. OCLC 14111333. (search for all versions on WorldCat
    )
  6. ^ a b
    OCLC 14111333. (search for all versions on WorldCat
    )
  7. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 29.
  • Carl Rimberg: Svenska Folkets underbara öden VII. Gustav III:s och Gustav IV Adolfs tid 1756-1792
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