Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (24 August 1758 – 29 November 1794) was born a Princess and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and by marriage Hereditary Princess of Denmark and Norway.
Contents
Life
Family
Born in Schwerin, she was the only daughter of Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, second son of Christian Louis II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Princess Charlotte Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Her only sibling was Frederick, who was about two years older.
Life in Denmark
On 21 October 1774 in Copenhagen, she married Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway, the son of King Frederick V of Denmark and his second wife Juliane Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who was the regent in Denmark between 1772 and 1784. She was sixteen years old when she was married.
Sophia Frederica, known as Sofie Frederikke af Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Denmark, was described as jolly, charming and intelligent. She had a hard time in the beginning adapting to her new, stiffer environment, but became quite popular. During the first ten years of her marriage (1774-1784), she gave birth to three daughters, the eldest two were stillborn and the third lived only five months; it was only in 1786 when she had the first of her living children, the future King Christian VIII.