Queen Louise
Louise was born as Princess of Hesse-Kassel, daughter of Duke Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark. In 1842, she married Prince Christian (IX), who had already been chosen as the future king of Denmark.
Christian (IX) and Louise had six children:
Prince Frederik (VIII), Princess Alexandra (later Queen of the United Kingdom), Prince Vilhelm (later King George I of Greece), Princess Dagmar (later Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia), Princess Thyra (later Duchess of Cumberland) and Prince Valdemar.
In fact, Prince Christian’s marriage to Princess Louise was crucial for his accession to the Danish throne, because Louise’s mother was Christian VIII’s sister. Louise was also so adept at arranging advantageous marriages for the couple’s children that the Royal Couple were widely known as ‘Europe’s parents-in-law’ at the time. She also took the lead in the couple’s social activities. Thus, Queen Louise deserves much of the credit for the Danish people’s acceptance of the Royal House of Glücksborg, despite their profound initial scepticism of Louise and Christian IX.
In many ways, Queen Louise personified the contemporary ideal of a woman. She was the central figure in an exemplary family and possessed artistic talents and social skills but stayed in the background, as was expected of women at the time. Queen Louise was also deeply engaged in charity work, including in the founding of Diakonissestiftelsen (the Deaconess Foundation) in Frederiksberg.