Wilhelmine Baden, Princess

Princess Wilhelmine of Baden (21 September 1788 – 27 January 1836), was by birth Princess of Baden and by marriage Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and the Rhine.

She was the youngest daughter of Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden and Amalia of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Life

In Karlsruhe on 19 June 1804, Wilhelmine married the then Hereditary Prince Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt. The union proved to be unhappy due to Louis' affairs, and they separated after the birth of her three older children.

In 1820 she acquired the Heiligenberg Castle, where she met her chamberlain Baron August von Senarclens de Grancy, with whom she maintained a longtime affair; her last four children, including Alexander and Marie, were believed to have been fathered by Senarclens de Grancy, although they were recognized by Grand Duke Louis II as his own. In 1830, following her father-in-law's death, she became in Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and the Rhine.

Issue

• Prince Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt (9 June 1806 – 13 June 1877); (the future Grand Duke).
• Stillborn son (18 August 1807).
• Prince Karl Wilhelm Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt (23 April 1809 – 20 March 1877).
• Princess Amalia Elisabeth Luise Karoline Friederike Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt (20 May 1821 – 27 May 1826).
• Stillborn daughter (7 June 1822).
• Prince Alexander Ludwig Georg Friedrich Emil of Hesse-Darmstadt (15 July 1823 – 15 December 1888)
• Princess Maximiliane Wilhelmine Auguste Sophie Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt (8 August 1824 – 3 June 1880); the future Empress consort of Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

Her descendants included both Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, as well as Lord Louis Mountbatten, Earl of Burma, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Titles and styles

• 21 September 1788 - 19 June 1804: Her Serene Highness Princess Wilhelmine of Baden
• 19 June 1804 - 13 August 1806: Her Serene Highness The Hereditary Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt
• 13 August 1806 - 6 April 1830: Her Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine
• 6 April 1830 - 27 January 1836: Her Royal Highness The Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine