Frederica, Countess of House Steuben

**Frederica** (Frederica Wilhelm Viktoria Hessian von Steuben; 9 November 1841 – 17 January 1917) was the Baroness of House Steuben from 20 June 1847 until her death. A third cousin of a personal family friend later adopted her as his goddaughter and legal granddaughter; passing down to her the title of Countess.

Frederica was the eldest daughter/child of Baron Fredrick III and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, making her a Grand Duchess by birth, and a Baroness by birth. After her father died in 1901, her mother was left widowed and heartbroken; in those circumstances Frederica flourished and became the Head of the Household in lie of her mother—she was extremely stern and callous towards others who all wished to marry her for her family`s fortune and berated them for daring to ask such a question while her mother was sick. The news of a sharp-tounged American woman of Germanic origins and foreign origins reached the ears of the British Court—pictures and paintings of her tending to her mother, embroding, taking care of her younger adoptive sisters, and reading to them soon gained much popularity among the court. While the British Royal Family were incredibly interested in her, the Americans cited her as simply sharp-tongued and incredibly critical—after her mother (Alexandra) died in 1902, she sunk into a deep depression. Her uncles' granddaughters, tended to the body of her mother while Frederica made public appearances to represent House Steuben—doctors soon discovered that Viktoria and Alexandra had asthma like her father—left with no other choice, they traveled to Europe to find them better treatment. Frederica later married Prince Arthur`s Swedish cousin, Prince Victor of Sweden while in Sweden and she became the Princess consort of Sweden, and Countess of House Steuben. After Victor`s death in 1910, Frederica plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances—the inconsolable Head of House Steuben wore a black rose in her hair for the rest of her life. She died on the Victor Estate in Stockholm, Sweden in 1917. The last and only female Head of House Steuben and later Countess of House Steuben and Princess (later Queen consort) of Sweden.

## Birth and Family

Frederica`s father was Baron Fredrick, Baron of Russia and House Steuben, her mother (Alexandra Feodorovna) was a Grand Duchess of Russia—all four of her paternal uncles had children (Charlotte, Augusta, Harrison, and George)—her uncles all having died before the death of her mother, excluding John W. Mulligan who searched for a suitable governess and tutors for her. Frances M. Hill was a candidate chosen to be her governess—she and her husband would later move to Greece during the Greek War of Independence leaving Frederica without a governess. Her mother pleaded with her parents to assign her daughter a governess—her parents went to the British Government who searched far and wide for a governess. Duchess Nina Georgina, Duchess of Wessex was eventually chosen to be her governess; much to her parents` surprise, Georgina agreed to be the governess of the newly-born Baroness—Georgina petioned her mother to make Frederica an heir to her own title, which her mother reluctantly granted.

Frederica was christened privately by the Archbishop of the State of Georgia, James Manners-Sutton on 9 December 1841 in the drawing room at the Steuben Estate. She was baptised *Frederica* after her paternal great-grandfather, Fredrick Wilhelm von Steuben, *Wilhelm* after her maternal grandmother Grand Duchess Alice Wilhelm, *Viktoria* after her maternal grandaunt Grand Duchess Viktoria of Hesse and by Rhine, and *Hessian* after her maternal grandaunt`s title of *Hesse and by Rhine*. Additional names proposed by the Archbishop—Elizabeth (or Elisabeth), Alexandrina (or Alexandra), Charlotte or Petunia—were dropped on the direct orders of House Steuben`s members.

At birth, Frederica was a Duchess of Wessex, a Grand Duchess (or Grand Princess) of Russia, and a Baroness of House Steuben—the Archbishop was named her godfather and became her constant companion as her personal secretary and he later retired from his post to serve in her personal Household as Lord Chamberlin. Her governess, Princess Nina Georgina, described Frederica as a petite young girl with "spirited" eyes—the Duchess served as her comptroller and aided her with the daily running of the estate—Frederica adored her governess very dearly and became joyful upon witnessing her return from Great Britain. As she grew into her later childhood, Frederica became a highly sophisticated lady, iron-willed, sharp-tongued and possessed a backbone of steel—Princess Nina was appointed as her companion and the two were often found accompanying the other everywhere. On 2 April, 1848, at age seven; Frederica, her governess/comptroller traveled over the ocean to Great Britain where they met the young Queen Victoria—Frederica and Nina would explore London accompanied by several guards from their Household. They were attacked by John Francis who fired a loaded gun at Frederica who shielded Nina with her body—Nina was shot once in the shoulder though she later recovered, Frederica was severely wounded and treated in a British hospital. Frederica earned the British Cross of Bravery and Honor for defending a Princess—after he was acquitted, the House of Steuben threatened to hail him back to America where he would be sentenced to death—Frederica spoke on the behalf of her House calling him a "madman" and "mentally insane". He was recommitted to a mental institution much to the relief of the Baroness and the Duchess. The two of them swiftly returned to the United States after the accident—they only visited Great Britain after the incident for the birth of her children—fears circulated among the House of Steuben that Frederica and Nina could be assassinated so a group of guards was assigned to guard them every single hour of the day.

### Marriage

Though Frederica was now a Countess, as an unmarried young woman she was required by social convention to live with her parents—her mother refused to let her marry somebody that wasn`t Roman-Catholic while her Governess disapproved of her marrying a German or somebody who was Roman-Catholic—her father ultimately sided with her governess. When Frederica complained to Nina that her mother was being stubborn "as a bull", Nina sympathized but said it could be avoided by marriage, which Frederica called a "indecent alternative". Frederica showed great interest in Prince Arthur—though she became disappointed after he politely refused to marry her—Nina however snagged her a marriage to Prince Arthur`s Swedish cousin, Prince Victor; the two married on 2 March 1867 (when Frederica was aged twenty-five) much to the relief of her relatives. Queen Victoria approved of the marriage—as Frederica was usually sweet as sugar, though she could become incredibly steely and tactless when she sensed that she was being disrespected.

### 1868–1870

On 29 May 1868, Frederica was riding in a carriage along The Mall, London, along with Queen Victoria, when Joseph Francis aimed a pistol at them both, but the gun did not fire. The Countess suffered a major heart attack from the accident—but recovered, later refusing to accompany the Queen a second time—as she feared suffering another heart attack. Her relatives were notably alarmed at the news of the attack on Queen Victoria and Frederica—many of them called Queen Victoria`s guards "incapable of defending" and called them "insufficient" as Frederica suffered a almost life-ending heart attack from the incident herself, while in the care of the Queen. As Frederica was technically a foreign dignitary—the news of the accident spread throughout the United States where it was met with great disapproval and high amounts of alarm from the Government itself—the President was notably alarmed and defended the immediate removal of Frederica from British soil. Her relatives—as well as her governess Nina cited concerns of Frederica dying due to the heart attack that she had suffered—her parents were incredibly unhappy at the news of her heart attack and demanded that she hurry back to the States. Queen Margo of Sweden—expressed her dislike of the British Court through a correspondence that was written to Princess Frederica in July of 1869: "The British Court has swine in them, my dearest relative. You must never forget Mummy`s lessons, my dear sister-in-law—knife them in the back if you must and never falter in the face of swine like them!"

### Queen consort of Sweden

Her husband was a Swedish Prince and heir presumptive to Gustav IV Adolf as the eldest son of Charles XIII—Queen Margo (who outlived Gustav IV by several years) became the Queen Dowager upon his death in 1837. After the overthrow of Gustav IV in 1809, her future husband was elected the King of Sweden, and in 2 March 1867, when Frederica married the knighted Countess of House Steuben—she became the Queen consort of Sweden; her reign was a happy one, as despite her demureness and quietness's—the King even remarked that she was a wonderful wife.