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Sophia Frederica Mathilda of Württemberg was born in Stuttgart on June 17th, 1818.
Her parents were William Frederik Charles, King of Württemberg and his 2nd wife Catherine Paulowna, daughter of the Russian Tsar Paul 1st. Her nickname was Sophie, seven months after her birth her mother died and she was raised by her aunt Catharina
Her father remarried her stepmother Pauline, who from then on took care of her upbringing.
She and her sister Maria received a royal education, learned several languages and received music lessons. Sophie also appeared to have a great interest in politics and government.
When she was old enough, her father started looking for a marriage candidate, this had to be someone who was king or crown prince. Love played no role in this. Her father and the Dutch King William IInd agreed that Sophie and Crown Prince William should marry.
Willem thought this was great but Sophie was not very enthusiastic
Willem’s mother Anna was also not in favour of this marriage. .
Anna and Sophie’s mother were sisters, so Willem and Sophie were first cousins.
The marriage took place in Stuttgart on June 18th, 1839.
The young couple went to live in the palace on the square in The Hague.
Her mother-in-law Anna soon made it clear that she did not like Sophie as a daughter-in-law.
When Willem was inaugurated in 1849 as King, Sophie became Queen of the Netherlands.
The marriage was a failure from the start, Willem abused Sophie and had several affairs, yet the couple had 3 children, all of whom died young.
Sophie loved literature and painting and collected miniature paintings and portraits, which are now housed in the Royal House archives.
The conflicts between Willem and Sophie became increasingly worse and she asked for a divorce, which was not granted, but in 1855 a legal separation was achieved. She continued to fulfil her function as queen and was present at official occasions. After that, she could usually be found at Huis ten Bosch, but she also traveled a lot and had many contacts with friends. In 1864 she and Willem III were married for 25 years, but not much attention was paid to this, although a commemorative plate was made for the Dutch East Indies market.
Sophie also often visited industrial exhibitions and was also very interested in spiritualism and took part in séances.
In 1871 she became patron of the Dutch women’s movement.
In 1874, King Willem III celebrated his silver jubilee, and the necessary souvenirs were made, on which Sophie is also depicted.
In the last years of her life, Sophie was often ill and in 1877 she died of a heart and liver disease. She was buried in her wedding gown because she felt that her life ended at the moment of her wedding. She was laid out at Huis ten Bosch Palace, where people could say goodbye to her by presenting a mourning coin of the queen.
She was not embalmed at her own request and her body was buried in the crypt of the Oranges in the Grote Kerk in Delft on June 20, 1877.
leather case for playing cards with hand painted portrait of Sophie ca 1840.
Porcelain figurine of Sophie ca 1849 made to commemorate her inauguration
Plate to commemorate their silver wedding anniversary in 1864
several souvenirs to commemorate the silver jubilee
in Memoriam Cloth 1877
Mourning coins 1877
Queen Sophia in her bridal gown on her deathbed
Photo by De La Vieter Den Haag
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