Queen Louise of Sweden: The Democratic Queen

Queen Louise of Sweden. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Queen Louise of Sweden was born on July 13, 1889, the second daughter and child of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse-Darmstadt . Her older sister, Alice, married Prince Andrew of Greece, whose only son, Philip, married the future Queen Elizabeth II. The Earl Mountbatten of Burma was also a younger brother.

In 1917, at the height of World War I and amidst raging anti-German sentiments, King George V, her mother's cousin, renounced for himself, his family and his relatives their German titles and anglicized their names. The House of Battenberg, thus, was renamed  the House of Mountbatten and Prince Louis was ennobled as Marquess of Milford Haven.

During World War I, Louise actively served with the Soldiers and Sailors Families Association and the Smokes for Soldiers and Sailors. She later joined the Red Cross, working as a nurse in France. Her work was later commended with the the British War- and Victory Medals, a medal from the British Red Cross, as well as the Médaille de la Reconnaissance française.

Louise' beauty and charm attracted several royal suitors, but it was to a commoner, Alexander Stuart-Hill, a Scottish artist living in Paris, whom she first fell in love with. They initially kept their relationship a secret for fear her parents would go against it. In fact, her family took a liking to Stuart-Hill and they found him "eccentric" and "affected".  However, Louise decided that a marriage with him was impossible.

In 1923, Louise met her future husband, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, in London. The crown prince was a widower. Her wife and Louise’s cousin, Princess Margaret of Connaught, died in 1920. Crown Prince Adolf immediately started courting her the moment he placed her eyes upon her. As a young woman, Louise was adamant that she would never marry a king or a widower, but she relented. The couple's impending marriage initially triggered public discussion regarding Lady Louise' position.  The British government, eventually confirmed with the British Government that the crown prince's choice for a future wife was in compliance with the succession law, thereby concluding debate on the imminent nuptials. The "Treaty between Great Britain and Sweden for the Marriage of Lady Louise Mountbatten with His Royal Highness Prince Gustaf Adolf, Crown Prince of Sweden" was signed shortly before their marriage.

Their marriage took place on  November 3, 1923, at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, before King George V and members of the British and Swedish royal families. Their marriage was London’s biggest social event of the year.

While the couple did not have a child of their own, Louise raised Adolf’s children as if they were her own.

At the outbreak of World War II, Louise leaped to service once again, joining the Red Cross and organizing a relief brigade that sourced candles and other non-electric light sources for the needy during the campaign. Since Sweden was a neutral country, she used it as an opportunity to act as a messenger to her relatives and friends across warring borders.

In 1950, Louise became queen after her husband succeeded as king of Sweden.  She immediately reformed the court, relaxing the somewhat stiff customs observed by her mother-in-law. In 1962, she abolished the court presentations and replaced them, instead, with "democratic ladies' lunches", where career women were invited. She also renovated and redecorated the interior of the Royal Palace in Stockholm.

Louise’s good heart, sense of humour, and sense of self-irony made her popular among the Swedes. She ably distinguished herself from her royal role and her sympathy was taken as a form of her honesty.

Queen Louise died on March 7, 1965 at Saint Göran Hospital, in Stockholm, Sweden, after six hours of emergency surgery following a period of ill health. She was buried beside husband at the Royal Cemetery in Solna north of Stockholm.