Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg

Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg (; 2 February 1879 – 29 March 1964) was a member of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. She was the only surviving child of Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg by his first wife Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia.

Sophia Charlotte ("Lotte") is best known for her unhappy and well-publicized marriage to Prince Eitel Friedrich, second son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. The marriage later led to divorce; Sophia Charlotte would remarry a few years later to Harald van Hedemann, a former police officer.

Family and early life Sophia Charlotte (or "Lotte") was born on 2 February 1879 in the dynastic residence Oldenburg Castle in Oldenburg, Germany. She was the eldest child of Frederick Augustus, the then Hereditary Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and his wife Elisabeth Anna of Prussia. Sophia Charlotte had a younger sister named Margaret, but she died young. She was named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, the wife of the first Prussian king Frederick I. Sophia Charlotte was her father's constant companion as they went yachting on trips together; due to these trips, she always had a great love of water like her father. Her father succeeded as Grand Duke of Oldenburg in 1900.

Early press accusations There had always been a fear that Sophia Charlotte had inherited her mother's delicate health, so sojourns to various spa towns was a common component of her childhood. He had written an article about her return from a long stay on the Riviera "for her health". He alluded to her "illness" as the same that afflicted two princesses of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, about whose morals there had been much gossip. The Oldenburgs were also an ancient family with strong ties to both the Empress and Emperor (as Sophia Charlotte's mother had been a Prussian princess). Her family also had other strong ties to the Hohenzollerns, as Sophia Charlotte's mother had been a great intimate of the Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, the Emperor's sister. The Duchess was also Sophia Charlotte's godmother, and Sophia Charlotte was herself a favourite of the Emperor. One contemporary disparagingly described how the events came about: "Prince Eitel Fritz, who is his father's favourite, being as tall as he is brutal, and as ferocious as he is fat, took to himself a wife almost by compulsion, and in order to put an end to ugly rumours that were flying about Berlin concerning him and his strange propensities".

Marriage

On 27 February 1906, Sophia Charlotte married Prince Eitel in Berlin. The wedding fell on the anniversary of the Emperor and Empress's silver wedding, which amplified the event considerably. The wedding had 1,500 guests, which included many members of Germany's royal families. Sophia Charlotte wore a four-yard long dress that was made of pearl white silk and embroidered with silver roses. She was warmly welcomed in Berlin.

They had an unhappy marriage. Despite her warm Berlin welcome, Sophia Charlotte failed to make friends there. They rarely saw each other during his time fighting in World War I. It was a lonely time for Sophia Charlotte, and she resided mostly in Bellevue Castle in Berlin, where she spent her time mainly reading, painting, and socializing with a small number of friends. These events began when Sophia Charlotte was summoned as a witness in a divorce case, and apparently admitted to having an affair with the male defendant. In the case, she stated that she had known the defendant for a number of years before her marriage when he served her father in Oldenburg. When asked by the judge, she said "our intimate relations continued even after my marriage with the Kaiser's son". In the end, a verdict given out by the court merely stated that Eitel was the guilty party.

Later life After many rumors of potential husbands circulated after her divorce (including the aforementioned Baron von Plettenberg), Sophia Charlotte married on 25 September 1927 Harald von Hedemann (22 September 1887 – 12 June 1951), a former Potsdam police officer. He was forty and she was forty-eight. Sophia Charlotte was considered one of the richest women in the country, and the couple took up residence at the same castle where they were married. She was also a water-color painter. Contemporaries state she inherited some of the good looks and charm of her mother. As she was the only child of the Grand Duke by his first wife, she was a great heiress. Her wealth was often stressed when mentioned in articles and newspapers. One book called her "pretty, rich, and supposed to be very clever". Another contemporary source however calls her plain and uninteresting.

Ancestry