Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was a German princess who became the wife of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the mother of Duke Ernst II and Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. She was the paternal grandmother of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Louise was born on 21 December 1800 in Gotha, the only daughter of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and his first wife Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was a descendant of several European royal families, including the House of Wettin, the House of Mecklenburg, the House of Hohenzollern, and the House of Romanov. On 31 July 1817 in Gotha, Louise married her 33-year-old kinsman Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who later became Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. They had two sons: Ernst, who inherited his father's lands and titles, and Albert, who married Queen Victoria and became the Prince Consort of the United Kingdom. The marriage was unhappy because of Ernst's infidelities and Louise's rumored affairs. They separated in 1824 and their marriage was officially dissolved on 31 March 1826. Louise was forced to leave her two sons behind and was assigned a new residence in Sankt Wendel, an exclave of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha. Seven months later, on 18 October 1826, Louise secretly married her former lover, Alexander von Hanstein, Count of Pölzig and Beiersdorf. They lived together in Paris until Louise's death from tuberculosis on 30 August 1831. She was buried in the ducal family mausoleum in Coburg. Louise was a beautiful and intelligent woman who suffered from the scandals and intrigues that surrounded her life. She was also a devoted mother who tried to maintain contact with her sons despite her exile. Her son Albert later described her as "the most amiable and affectionate creature that ever lived". Her grandson Edward VII named his daughter Louise after her.