Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
| Antoinette Ernestine Amalie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Princess Antoinette, oil on canvas, 1794 | |||||
| Born |
28 August 1779 Coburg, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld | ||||
| Died |
14 March 1824 (aged 44) Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire | ||||
| Spouse | Duke Alexander of Württemberg | ||||
| Issue |
Marie, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Paul of Württemberg Alexander, Duke of Württemberg Ernest of Württemberg Frederick of Württemberg | ||||
| |||||
| House |
House of Wettin (by birth) House of Württemberg (by marriage) | ||||
| Father | Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld | ||||
| Mother | Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf | ||||
Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Antoinette Ernestine Amalie; 28 August 1779 – 14 March 1824) was a German princess of the House of Wettin. By marriage, she was a Duchess of Württemberg. Through her eldest surviving son, she is the ancestress of today's (Catholic) House of Württemberg.
Born in Coburg, she was the second daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Countess Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf. She was also the elder sister of King Leopold I of Belgium and the aunt of both Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. Her maternal grandparents were Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuß-Ebersdorf and Karoline Ernestine von Erbach-Schönberg, and her paternal grandparents were Ernst Friedrich and Antoinette of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel.
Life
In Coburg on 17 November 1798, she married Alexander of Württemberg. The couple settled in Russia, where Alexander, as a maternal uncle of both Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I made a military and diplomatic career.
Antoinette, who was regarded as influential,[1] was bearer of the Grand Cross of the Imperial Russian Order of Saint Catherine.[2]
Antoinette died in St. Petersburg. She was buried in the Ducal crypt of Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha, where her husband and sons Paul and Frederick found their final resting place.
According to Queen Louise of Prussia, Antoinette could have had an illegitimate child. Her brother George wrote on 18 May 1802: "[...] The Württemberg couple didn't speak to each other in 2 years, but she was with child and certainly the father was some Herr von Höbel, a Canon. I know all this from the Duke of Weimar, and is holy true."[3]
Issue
- Duchess Marie of Württemberg (1799–1860), who in 1832 married Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
- Duke Paul of Württemberg (1800–1801).
- Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1804–1881), Duke of Württemberg.
- Duke Ernest of Württemberg (1807–1868), who in 1860 married Nathalie Eschhorn von Grünhof (1829–1905). Their only daughter, Alexandra Nathalie Ernestine von Grünhof, married Robert von Keudell and had issue.
- Duke Frederick Wilhelm Ferdinand of Württemberg (29 April 1810 – 25 April 1815).
Notes
Ancestry
| Ancestors of Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld |
|---|
Bibliography
- von Wiebeking, Carl Friedrich. Biographie des Herzogs Alexander zu Württemberg. Munich, 1835.
- Sauer, Paul. "Alexander (I.)." In Das Haus Württemberg. Ein biographisches Lexikon, ed. Sönke Lorenz, Dieter Mertens, and Volker Press. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1997. ISBN 3-17-013605-4
External links
Media related to Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld at Wikimedia Commons