Editing Sophia of Nassau (section)

== Early life ==
Sophia was the youngest daughter of [[Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau]], by his second wife [[Princess Pauline of Württemberg (1810–1856)|Princess Pauline Friederike Marie of Württemberg]].

Her father died when she was three and was succeeded by her half-brother [[Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg]]. Sophia was given what was considered a suitable education for princesses at the time by private tutors. She was trained in [[fencing]], a sport normally reserved for males, to strengthen her back and correct her posture.<ref name="Anne-Marie Riiber 1959 page 8">Anne-Marie Riiber (1959). ''Drottning Sophia.'' (Queen Sophia) Uppsala: J. A. Lindblads Förlag. page 8. ISBN (Swedish)</ref>
Sophia socialized with academics and artists, and the court of Nassau was considered more democratic than what was usual at most German courts. She learned the English language early on and felt sympathy for the British parliamentarian system. The language spoken in her childhood home was not German but English.<ref name="Anne-Marie Riiber 1959 page 8"/> Sophia was given what has been referred to as an upbringing more similar to the middle-class Victorian life style, which she preferred rather than a royal one. Her brothers used to refer to her as Unsere demokratische Schwester (our democratic sister).<ref name="Anne-Marie Riiber 1959 page 8"/> She was described as serious, intelligent and dutiful, and interested in language and history: she was also genuinely religious.

In 1848, she witnessed a rebellion in the [[Duchy of Nassau]], which was suppressed by her mother and brothers. She spent the winter of 1853-54 with her mother at the court of her maternal aunt in [[Saint Petersburg]] in [[Russia]]. Her maternal aunt, [[Princess Charlotte of Württemberg]], was married to [[Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia]]. The trip was not made to arrange a marriage with a Russian prince because her mother did not wish her to convert, which would have been necessary, but rather, to have her study the life in a grand court. During her stay in Russia, she was a student of the pianist [[Anton Rubinstein]]. Sophia and her mother were forced to leave Russia at the outbreak of the Crimean war. After the death of her mother in 1856, Sophia lived with her half-sister, [[Princess Marie of Nassau|Princess Marie Wilhemine of Wied]].

In July 1856, at her sister Marie's summer residence [[Monrepos (archaeology)#History|Monrepos castle]] outside Nassau, she received a visit from [[Oscar II|Prince Oscar of Sweden, Duke of Östergötland]]. Oscar was the second living son of the reigning king. Following the death of his elder brother Gustaf in 1852, he had become the future heir to the Swedish throne because his brother, the reigning Crown Prince, was unable to have more children with his spouse. It was therefore politically necessary for Oscar to marry. In 1855-56, Oscar was sent to visit various royal courts in Europe in order to find a suitable marriage partner in both rank and to his own taste. He visited the British court but did not wish to marry [[Princess Mary of Cambridge]], and the Belgian and Prussian princesses who had been suggested did not wish to marry him. The marriage of Sophia and Oscar should not be regarded as an arranged marriage: Oscar had been given the freedom to choose a princess he liked from the many courts he visited, and Sophia, who had previously been proposed to, did not wish to be pressured into marriage.<ref>Ibid. page 24</ref> Sophia and Oscar, however, fell in love with each other.<ref>Ibid. page 25</ref>

After the visit, Oscar returned to Sweden to ask for his parents' consent to marry, which was granted. He then returned to Nassau, where the engagement was made in September and announced in October. During the engagement, Sophia was educated in the Swedish language and history, and corresponded with her future spouse: soon, the correspondence was conducted in Swedish. She also mastered Norwegian quickly.