page_title: Sophia Magdalena of Denmark
section_title: Succession scandal
hierarchical_section_title: Sophia Magdalena of Denmark / Queen / Succession scandal
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Portrait de Charles-Gusta e de Suède, duc de Småland
context_page_description: Sophia Magdalena of Denmark was Queen of Sweden as the consort of King Gustav III.
context_section_description: Munck actually acted as sexual instructor. The King, claiming to be sexually inexperienced, called upon Munck to help him with a reconciliation with his spouse, instruct the couple in the ways of sexual intercourse, and physically show them how to consummate their marriage. Munck, a Finnish nobleman and, at the time, a stable master was, at that point, the lover of Anna Sofia Ramström, the Queen's chamber maid.  Through Anna Sofia Ramström, Munck contacted Ingrid Maria Wenner, who was assigned to inform the queen of the king's wish, because she was married and the confidant of the queen. Munck and Ramström were to be present in a room close to the bedchamber, ready to be of assistance when needed, and he was, at some points, called into the bedchamber.  Munck himself writes in his written account, which is preserved at the National Archives of Sweden, that in order to succeed, he was obliged to touch them both physically.
  When it became known that Munck participated in the reconciliation between the royal couple, there were rumours that he was the father of Sophia Magdalena's firstborn.
  These became the subject of accusations from the political opposition, as late as in 1786 and 1789, where it was claimed that the whole nation was aware of the rumour that the King had asked Munck to make the Queen pregnant.  Pamphlets to that end were posted on street corners all over Stockholm.
  This was also caricatured by Carl August Ehrensvärd in private letters discovered later — his drawing was published in 1987 —, where he passed on a number of rumors and jokes about Gustav III, Sophia Magdalena and Munck without inferring that he believed they were true.  There was also a rumour that the King and Queen had divorced in secret and that the Queen had married Munck.
  There is no proof that Munck was the father of the crown prince. Erik Lönnroth has suggested that the anatomical problems mentioned in Munck's account, known only to a few initiated persons, were the primary factor in their delay in producing an heir. At the time, the rumors became more persistent, however, when the royal couple presented Munck with gifts: the King promoted him, and the Queen gave Munck a pension, a diamond ring, and a watch with her image.
  A few socialites took the Queen Mother's side in supporting and spreading the rumors, such as Anna Charlotta Schröderheim and Eva Helena Löwen.
  The circle around the King's brother, Duke Charles, the future Charles XIII of Sweden, who desired the throne, also encouraged these rumors. Their mother was quoted as saying, during the pregnancy of Sophia Magdalena, that there were rumors among the public that the future child was illegitimate, and that she herself believed that the King had hired Munck to impregnate the Queen, and that she would never accept that the throne would come into the hands of "a common nobleman's illegitimate offspring".
  The Queen Mother ordered Duke Charles to interrogate Munck, and word spread to the King, who was shocked. Sophia Magdalena was equally shocked by the accusations. She swore she would never speak to the Queen Dowager again, and indeed she never did.
  The King arranged for his mother to make a public apology for her accusation in the presence of the rest of the Royal Family the 12 May 1778. The scene gained a lot of attention and broke the bonds between Gustav III and his mother. The scandal disturbed celebrations, as did an accident with the public banquet. The public was invited to a great feast to celebrate the birth of the heir, but too many people were let in, and the crowd panicked. Between sixty and one hundred people were trampled to death in the crowd.
  Sven Anders Hedin, a medical doctor at the royal court, and married to one of the Queen's chambermaids, Charlotta Hellman, contributed two statements which have been quoted in connection with the scandal. In the summer of 1780, during the King's absence abroad, he passed through the private apartments of the Queen, which were expected to be empty at that hour. There, he claimed to have seen the Queen and Baron Munck embracing ea
caption: Prince Carl Gustav (1782-1783), Duke of Småland, second son of Sophia Magdalena and Gustav III.
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