Princess Louise of Denmark

Princess Louise of Denmark (Louise Caroline Josephine Sophie Thyra Olga) (17 February 1875 – 4 April 1906) was a member of the Danish royal family who became a princess of Schaumburg-Lippe by marriage.

The third child and oldest daughter of King Frederik VIII and his wife, Queen Louise, Princess Louise grew up in Copenhagen as a Danish princess. Known for her shy and quiet personality, Louise remained a low-key member of the royal family throughout her life. In 1896, she married her second cousin Prince Friedrich of Schaumburg-Lippe who belonged to a cadet branch of the German princely house of Schaumburg-Lippe and was heir to the lordship of Náchod in Bohemia. After the wedding, she moved with him to Bohemia where she died in 1906, aged 31.

Early life Princess Louise was born on 17 February 1875 in Frederik VIII's Palace, an 18th-century palace which forms part of the Amalienborg Palace complex in central Copenhagen, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King Christian IX. She was the third child and first daughter of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark and his wife Louise of Sweden.

The couple lived in Ratiboritz Castle in Bohemia. They had three children. The marriage was not a happy one, however. Princess Louise suffered from melancholy and homesickness, longed for Denmark and spent much time visiting her family, staying for 2 to 3 months at a time. Her father also came and visited with her each year.

Death Princess Louise died at Ratiboritz Castle on 4 April 1906, within five hours of the death of her father-in-law Prince William, and 65 days after her paternal grandfather King Christian IX. The official cause of death of Princess Louise was "cerebral inflammation" caused by meningitis, after weeks of being ill. It was rumoured that she attempted to drown herself in the castle lake on her husband's estate, Ratiboritz, and caught a chill in the attempt, eventually leading to her death. She was the only child of Frederick VIII of Denmark and Louise of Sweden to have predeceased her parents.

Issue Frederick and Louise had three children: Princess Marie Luise Dagmar Bathildis Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe (10 February 1897 – 1 October 1938) She married Prince Friedrich Sigismund of Prussia and had issue. Prince Friedrich died in a riding accident after a fall from his horse. Prince Christian Nikolaus Wilhelm Friedrich Albert Ernst of Schaumburg-Lippe (20 February 1898 – 13 July 1974) He married his first cousin, Princess Feodora of Denmark and had issue. Princess Stephanie Alexandra Hermine Thyra Xenia Bathildis Ingeborg of Schaumburg-Lippe (19 December 1899 – 2 May 1925). She married Viktor Adolf, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1883–1961) (son of Alexis, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt and Princess Pauline of Waldeck and Pyrmont) and had two sons; Prince Alexis (30 July 1922 – 2 December 1943, KIA over the Mediterranean) and Prince Christian (9 December 1923 – 12 December 2023). Stephanie died in childbirth with twin boys. Both boys died on 2 May 1925, one stillborn, the other living only a few hours.

Ancestry