Sophie of Württemberg, the unhappy queen of the Netherlands
Biography
Sophie of Württemberg (17 giugno 1818 – 3 giugno 1877) was born in Stuttgart; her parents were King Wilhelm I of Württemberg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, the fourth eldest daughter of Tsar Paul I. Shortly after Sophie’s birth, her mother died and the child was cared for by her aunt, Catharina of Württemberg. Sophie’s maternal great-grandmother was the great Catherine II of Russia.
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Her father gave her a broad education: after being trained by governesses in the common subjects, as was usual for the upper middle-class girls of her time, she was also educated by male teachers in history, geography and literature and became acquainted with the works of Corneille, Racine, Kant and Hegel. At the age of sixteen, she and her sister were accompanied by their father on an educational trip to Italy, which was customary only for upper-class males.
Related to the Bonaparte family through her maternal aunt, she personally knew the future Napoleon III and Mathilde Bonaparte from childhood and corresponded with the latter throughout her life. Through her progressive father, Sophie came into contact with liberal ideas from an early age and supported democracy rather than absolutism.
Crown princess
On 18 June 1839, Sophie married her first cousin on her mother’s side, the future Prince of Orange (later King Wilhelm III), who was notoriously hot-tempered, with the idea that she would eventually be able to dominate him.
The marriage was arranged. Her father, although a liberal progressive in many respects, still favoured dynastic marriages and wanted his daughters to marry monarchs.
Before the marriage, King Otto of Greece and Duke Wilhelm of Brunswick were possible suitors for Princess Sophie. The engagement to the first one did not go ahead because Princess Sophie’s ambitious father had no confidence in Otto’s newly established Greek monarchy. Chance prevented the proposal of the second candidate because her father let it be known that Princess Sophie was already betrothed. Sophie herself would have preferred to marry Wilhelm of Brunswick and declared that her marriage to Wilhelm of the Netherlands was a sacrifice she would make for her father.
Queen
In March 1849, King Wilhelm II died suddenly. Wilhelm III and Sophie became King and Queen of the Netherlands on 12 May 1849 and settled in Noordeinde Palace.
Relations between Sophie and Wilhelm did not improve and continued to be contentious. Their son Maurice died in 1850, aged seven, after both parents hired a different doctor and could not agree on how to treat his illness. When Sophie became pregnant with her third son, Alexander, Wilhelm arranged for his eldest son to be sent to boarding school despite Sophie’s opposition.
From an intellectual point of view, Queen Sophie was superior to her husband and did not suit his sensual character. Sophie also made it known publicly that she found him inferior and unfit to be king and that he would do better as regent for their son.
Discussions about the divorce continued even after the two became king and queen. Both Sophie and Wilhelm wanted to divorce each other, but the divorce was seen as an impossible scandal because of their position.
With the mediation of Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, a separation without divorce was achieved in 1855 and it was decided that the couple would remain formally married in public, but that in practice they could live separate lives. Wilhelm was given full rights to decide on the upbringing of their eldest son, while Sophie was given full custody of the youngest, Alexander. Sophie had to fulfil her representative duties as queen in public, but was allowed to live her private life as she wished.
Sophie maintained a close correspondence with various friends and intellectuals, as well as travelling and meeting them in person, and many expressed admiration for her intellect. She regularly visited her father, who remained her advisor and confidante until his death. She also travelled regularly to France to visit Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie. In addition to her interests in culture and science, she also took an interest in spiritualism and published an article in which she argued that royal houses should keep up with the new times.
Queen Sophie protected and stimulated the arts and supported various charities, including animal welfare and the construction of public parks. As queen, she participated in the industrial expositions of the 1860s and was involved in the education of the mentally disabled. Sophie also supported the women’s movement when it was formed in the Netherlands and became patron of the first women’s organisation in 1871.
Sophie was undoubtedly an unusual queen with her left-wing political views and scientific interests; her non-dogmatic views on religion, her support for progressive development and her disdain for etiquette earned her the nickname ‘la reine rouge‘ (‘the red queen‘).
On 3 June 1877, Sophie died in the Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague. She was buried in her wedding dress, because, in her own view, her life had ended on the day she married.
Perhaps out of mercy, she did not live to see the death of both her other sons. Her husband, King Wilhelm III, remarried two years later to avoid a succession crisis. By his second wife, Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, he had a daughter named Wilhelmine, who was to succeed him as Queen of the Netherlands.
