Frederica of Baden

Frederica of Baden (German: Frederica Dorothea Wilhelmina; 12 March 1781 – 25 September 1826) was Queen of Sweden from 1797 to 1809 as the consort of King Gustav IV Adolf.

Frederica was the fourth of eight children (including six daughters) to Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden, the only surviving legitimate son of Charles Frederick, Margrave (and later Grand Duke) of Baden, and Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

In 1797, at the age of sixteen, she married King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, and they had five children, but the marriage was otherwise unsuccessful. Despite being admired for her beauty, she made a poor impression due to her reserved nature. Frederica was shocked by and disliked the promiscuous Swedish court.

By 1809, the political atmosphere at the Swedish court had become unstable, and King Gustaf was captured in Stockholm during the Coup of 1809, the day after leaving his wife and children at the Haga Palace, and imprisoned then deposed in favor of his uncle, now King Charles XIII. Frederica later joined her husband, and their relationship improved. Her son Gustav, however, was removed from the succession and the former royal family was forced to go into exile.

In exile, the formal royal couple's relationship took a turn for the worse; they divorced in 1812, despite Frederica's resistance, and after several attempts at reconciliation.

Her final years were spent in poor health, and she died of heart disease in 1826, at the age of 45. She had been in exile for over fifteen years.