Editing Sophia of Nassau (section)

== Queen of Sweden and Norway==
[[File:Sofia of Sweden (1857) coronation 1873.jpg|thumb|Sofia at Oscar's and her coronation, wearing the Queen's Crown]]
[[File:Sofia of Sweden (1857) c 1872 (2).jpg|thumb|left|Sofia of Nassau as queen of Sweden, ca 1873.]]

Upon the death of her brother-in-law on 18 September 1872, Sophia became [[List of Swedish royal consorts|queen consort of Sweden]] and [[List of Norwegian royal consorts|Norway]]. At that time, there was a tense political situation and demands for a republic. Oscar was initially not popular, but there were hopes that he would let himself be guided by the advice of Sophia, who was considered politically insightful.<ref>Ibid. page 84</ref> Also in Norway, there were hopes that Sophia would use her influence on Oscar to introduce a more equal place in the union.<ref>Ibid. page 121</ref> Sophia was crowned with Oscar in [[Stockholm]] in Sweden 12 May and in Trondhjem (now [[Trondheim]]) in Norway 18 June 1873. In Norway, the couple made a tour around the country in connection to the coronation which has been described as a triumph.

In 1875, the king and queen made a tour in Europe. They first visited [[Denmark]] and after this [[Berlin]] and then [[Dresden]]. The visit to [[Albert, King of Saxony|King Albert of Saxony]] and his Queen, [[Carola of Vasa]] in Dresden was considered significant, as this meant a symbolic peace between the [[Bernadotte dynasty]] and the deposed [[Vasa dynasty]], as Queen Carola was the granddaughter of the deposed king [[Gustav IV Adolf]] and let it be known that the past was forgotten.<ref>Ibid. page 144</ref> After Dresden, Sophia interrupted the tour for health reasons while Oscar continued to [[Weimar]] and [[Russia]]. Another important event was the uncovering of the statue of [[Charles XIV John]] in Christiania (since 1926 [[Oslo]]) on 7 September 1875, which was celebrated with great festivities with invited foreign royalty and military parades and considered a memorable propaganda occasion. Another important event as Queen of Norway was the stay at [[Moss]] in 1877 with the former [[Napoleon, Prince Imperial|Prince Imperial Napoleon of France]].
[[File:Oscar II & Sofia coronation medal 1873.jpg|thumb|Norwegian coronation medal for Oscar and Sophia]]
[[File:Minnesmedalj drottning Sophia, Ö 3327.jpg|thumb|1874 medal for Queen Sophia]]
During the autumns, the royal couples normally stayed at [[Drottningholm Palace]], where they received foreign royal dignitaries and hosted ceremonial parties. During the winters, they engaged in representation in both Stockholm and in Christiania. When visiting Norway, they were met by the border by a separate Norwegian court, who served during their stay there. In Norway, her principal ladies-in-waiting were [[Alette Due]] and [[Elise Løvenskiold]]. Sophia was known to dress spectacular at formal occasions, with many jewels, much lace and ornaments and bright colors such as red and blue. Oscar II normally spent his summers with his friends at his yacht [[Drott (yacht)|''Drott'']] at [[Marstrand]], while Sophia often spent her summers first at the [[Ulriksdal Palace]], and in later years more often in Norway. From 1892 until 1904, she spent her Norwegian summers at [[Skinnarbøl]] manor outside [[Kongsvinger]], where she is remembered for her simple life style and generosity toward the local population. She was popular in Norway, and described as the queen who had spent the most time in Norway among all the queens during the union Sweden-Norway.

Sophia herself described the years between 1873 and 1878 as years of crisis for her.<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se">[http://www.nad.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=6102 Sofia W M H, urn:sbl:6102, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Torgny Nevéus), hämtad 2013-11-07.]</ref> During these years, Oscar had several affairs, notably with [[Magda von Dolcke]] and with [[Marie Friberg]]. Oscar's affair with Magda von Dolcke begun in 1874 and attracted great attention, and he benefited her career at the Royal Dramatic theatre and gave her an allowance.<ref>Anne-Marie Riiber (1959). ''Drottning Sophia.'' (Queen Sophia) Uppsala: J. A. Lindblads Förlag. page 135. ISBN (Swedish)</ref> Though she did not demonstrate, Sophia is believed to have suffered from his adultery.<ref>Ibid. page 179</ref> It is related how Sophia traveled to Germany to look for comfort with her half sister [[Princess Marie of Nassau|Marie of Wied]], who, it is believed, advised her to accept the situation.<ref name="Anne-Marie Riiber 1959 page 136">Ibid. page 136</ref> At one occasion, the king had a courtier sent to the opera singer [[Ida Basilier-Magelssen]] with a request of a "private audience", and she replied: "Tell His Majesty that he may have a private audience with his good and beautiful Queen. I have others things to do than to have private conferences with old gentlemen!" <ref name="Anne-Marie Riiber 1959 page 136"/> Being told of this, Queen Sophia sent for Basilier-Magelssen and their meeting reportedly ended with mutual tears over their adulterous husbands.<ref name="Anne-Marie Riiber 1959 page 136"/> Her health requested her to take frequent trips abroad, and her marriage apparently underwent a crisis where her marital relations were discontinued.<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se"/> The marital crisis was observed and mentioned by her closest surroundings, and during a trip on the continent in 1876, Sophia sent Oscar what she referred to as a farewell letter.<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se"/>

The year of 1878 was a turning point for Queen Sophia. This year she became a follower of the teachings of the British preacher [[Granville Waldegrave, 3rd Baron Radstock|Lord Radstock]], to whom she was introduced by her lady-in-waiting [[Märta Eketrä]]. After this, she spent a great deal of her everyday life in prayer with her favorite ladies-in-waiting Eketrä, Ebba von Rosen and Ida Wedel-Jarlsberg.  
Oscar II was skeptical toward this because of his position as the head of the Swedish church, but their relationship was in fact improved after her new religious conviction.<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se"/>

Queen Sophia was after 1878 much engaged in her religious interests, and her work for the so-called new evangelical movement was quite significant. This made her less interested in participating in representation and society life, and [[Carl Fleetwood]] remarked that the master of her court was in fact reverend Beskow.<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se"/> She eventually restricted participation in court and society life to when it was absolutely necessary. When she attended the Amaranter Ball in 1885, the occasion was rare enough to attract attention.<ref name="Lars Elgklou 1995 141">{{cite book  | first = Lars| last = Elgklou  | title = Familjen Bernadotte. En släktkrönika. (The Bernadotte family. A family chronicle)  | publisher =  Skogs Boktryckeri Trelleborg  | year = 1995  | page = 141  | language = sv  | isbn=91-7054-755-6 }}</ref> Sophia preferred a private life, such as dinners and musical soirees in the company of family members and her ladies-in-waiting. Queen Sophia suffered from poor health: in 1875-1877, for example, she was almost constantly absent abroad for health reasons, and though it was better after 1877, she continued to visit particularly [[Amsterdam]] for the medical care of Doctor Metzger. During a visit to [[Paris]], she caused great attention when she dined at a public restaurant: this was unusual for a royal woman at this time, and it was also the only time she ever did that.<ref name="Lars Elgklou 1995 141"/> In 1885, her son [[Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland]] Carl fell sick in [[Istanbul]], and she and Oscar II visited the Ottoman Empire, where they were received by Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] and Sophia was given permission to visit the [[Imperial Harem]].<ref>Anne-Marie Riiber (1959). ''Drottning Sophia.'' (Queen Sophia) Uppsala: J. A. Lindblads Förlag. page 219. ISBN (Swedish)</ref> They also visited Romania. 
[[File:Sofia of Sweden (1857) c 1900.jpg|thumb|Queen Sofia in formal [[court dress]], ca 1900.]]
Queen Sophia performed a great effort in her work to improve medical care, and founded the first [[nursing school]] in Sweden. She studied the work of [[Florence Nightingale]], and visited [[Great Britain]] with Oscar in 1881, where they were received by [[Queen Victoria]]. During her visit, she studied the modern medical institutions in [[London]]. Upon her return, she launched a project to educate professional nurses in Sweden. This work was only just started by the pioneering work of [[Emmy Rappe]] in 1867, but there was as yet no proper educational institution for nurses, and the medical world was sceptical. In 1882 she managed to arrange classes for nurses at the [[Sabbatsberg Hospital]]; 1884 she opened the [[Sophiahemmet University College]] for the students; and in 1889 it was developed to the [[Sophiahemmet]], a combined hospital and school for nurses. The Sophiahemmet was seen as a role model for the education of nurses in Sweden, and it is also seen as the proper establishment of the nurse profession in Sweden. Sophia was very active in increasing respect for the nursing profession among doctors, who did not consider the work to be suitable for an educated female, and to make the profession respected, she wished for the profession to be seen as a religious calling and that it be undertaken by medically educated women, and she encouraged upper-class women to be nurses, all because she wanted nurses to be respected: the first head of her nursing school was the noble Alfhild Ehrenborg, who was a student of [[Florence Nightingale]], and the Queen was actively involved in the institution until her death. In her nursing school, even students from the aristocracy were expected to scrub the floors. Two students of Sophiahemmet, Alma Brunskog and Olga Claréus was to have great significance for the medical care in Norway. Sophia chaired about fifty different charity organisations in Sweden and Norway. She received help seekers once a week, supported [[The Salvation Army]] and founded many organisations herself.

Sophia was reportedly closest to her sons [[Oscar Bernadotte|Oscar]], whose religious interests she shared, and [[Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke|Eugen]]. In 1886, she supported Eugen, who wanted to study art in Paris. She also supported Oscar in his wish to marry the noble lady-in-waiting [[Ebba Munck af Fulkila]]. Her son Eugen said of her that human worth and justice almost had a higher standing with her than her deep piety.<ref name = "Elgklou 140">
{{cite book  | first = Lars| last = Elgklou  | title = Familjen Bernadotte. En släktkrönika  |trans-title=The Bernadotte family: a family chronicle  | publisher =  Skogs Boktryckeri Trelleborg  | year = 1995  | page = 140  | language = sv  | isbn=91-7054-755-6
}}</ref> In 1887, she was forced to undergo an [[ovariotomy]] operation. The operation was considered potentially life-threatening. Before the operation, she made her will. She also took a vow of Oscar II, that should she survive the operation, the King would allow for Oscar to finally marry Ebba Munck.<ref>Anne-Marie Riiber (1959). ''Drottning Sophia.'' (Queen Sophia) Uppsala: J. A. Lindblads Förlag. page 222. ISBN (Swedish)</ref> After the operation, Oscar made use of this and the wedding could finally take place. The surgery was considered a success, but afterwards she had difficulty walking and was occasionally forced to use a wheelchair. Despite this she continued riding.

In 1881, she attended the wedding of her son, [[Gustav V|Crown Prince Gustav]], to [[Victoria of Baden]] in [[Karlsruhe]]. Sophia had preferred her son to marry [[Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom]], as she had great admiration for [[Queen Victoria]], but was initially very enthusiastic about the choice of Victoria of Baden, as she was a descendant of the former Swedish [[Vasa dynasty]]. Her relationship with her daughter-in-law was, however, to become tense.<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se"/> Sophia and Victoria had opposing political views, and Sophia took offence when Gustav started to listen to Victoria rather than to her, while Victoria criticized Sophia's influence on the king: the German diplomat [[Philipp, Prince of Eulenberg|Eulenberg]] reported that Victoria had stated, that Queen Sophia pressured the King to give in to the opposition to avoid conflicts, that she was relentlessly willful and that Oscar was afraid of her.<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se"/> Sophia disliked Victoria's cousin [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Emperor William II of Germany]] with whom she had several conflicts.<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se"/>

Politically, Sophia has been described as [[Liberalism|liberal]] and almost democratic in her views. Her political influence upon Oscar II is regarded as significant. She is regarded to have acted as his political adviser and is known to have used her political influence on several occasions, at least after 1878. Sophia showed a great interest in Norway and the questions surrounding the union between Sweden and Norway. The King was expected to visit Norway regularly during a reign when the crisis of the union became more and more frequent, and the Queen normally accompanied him, sometimes also against his will.<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se"/> In [[Kristiania]], she often invited the spouses of politicians to the Royal Palace and created an important net of contacts from both the right wing royalists and the left wing republicans. In 1882-84, there was a serious crisis in Norway and talk of revolution, which eventually led to the ban of the royal veto and the loss of royal power there, and she was actively involved in the crisis. Though opposed to the reform, she saw it necessary to give in. [[Yngvar Nielsen]] related a scene when he read the news for the Queen: the King entered to room, fell on his knees before her and said: "Yes, Sophia, now you are in!", upon which she kissed his hand before he rose and stated that he took it hard but that he would keep his word.<ref>Ibid. page 213</ref> During the 1884 crisis, her influence was evident as it was she who convinced Oscar to allow the left wing [[Johan Sverdrup]] to form a Norwegian government: "Her influence over the King was great and well known. She was as firm as he was weak, as calm as he was unstable and nervous. Until March 1884 she supported him in his resistance, but in April 1884 she changed strategy and realized that resistance would only damage the monarchy. As early as that, she told the King to support Johan Sverdrup."<ref name="nad.riksarkivet.se"/> 
[[File:Sofia of Sweden (1857) 1898.jpg|thumb|left|Sofia crowned]]
During the union crisis of 1895, when the Norwegians wished to have their own embassies, the royal family had a family council at the sick bed of the queen in the presence of the German Emperor [[William II, German Emperor|William II]]. William recommended united German-Swedish military intervention, but Sophia firmly forbade anything of the sort, told the Emperor that he did not understand the situation and advocated friendly negotiations.<ref>Ibid. page 253</ref> During the crisis of 1898, the Norwegians began to use their own flag, Oscar II threatened to abdicate and Prime Minister [[Erik Gustav Boström|Boström]] to resign. The queen calmed the situation and convinced them both to remain at their posts. Queen Sophia is credited with using her influence to prevent military intervention and war during the dissolution of the union Sweden-Norway in 1905.<ref>Ibid. page 255</ref>