Chapter Text
The Austrian Emperor Joseph II had not expected to marry for a 3rd time, yet his ministers had mounted the pressure on him until he relented. He married a Princess from an obscure Protestant Princely realm, Princess Caroline Louise of Waldeck and Pyrmont. The wedding took place in March of 1768.
The marriage was rather controversial considering the Princess was a divorcee, and many courtiers at the Austrian Imperial court ignored the 19-year-old. Little did they know the Princess had just escaped an abusive marriage which she had been forced into at 17.
The Emperor allowed her the freedoms he had given both of his previous wives. He too had learned from his past, as he regretted not having shown his 2nd wife more kindness, respect, and warmth. Despite his 3rd wife’s youth, he did not expect to have a child with her.
Yet a child did arrive.
A daughter was born. Maria Louisa Isabella.
Joseph cried tears of joy as he once again held a living baby. He hadn’t felt such joy anymore since the death of his first wife Isabella, hence he named the little girl after his first love.
The new-born Archduchess was surprisingly well-received at court, despite the initial difficulties regarding the girl’s mother (who was no longer being ignored as much as before). She would receive less attention than her older sister Maria Theresa, but that was because she was not the heir.
That however changed when Maria Theresa died aged 7 from pleurisy the next year.
Suddenly, Archduchess Maria Louisa Isabella was the heir to the throne.
Being the heir changed young Niki’s life, despite being totally unaware of the situation. She was not yet a year old when her sister died.
She would spend less time with her mother and more time with nannies. And in the future, nannies would turn into tutors in order to prepare her for life on the throne. After all, she was the future Empress.
As the Archduchess grew, the many preparations for the throne included meeting foreign dignitaries as well as Royals to get familiar with Imperial protocols at a young age. And… the search for a husband was started the second she turned 11.
For the Archduchess’s marriage, Prince Maximilian of Saxony was considered as both his grandmothers were Austrian Archduchesses by birth. But so were Prince Charles Felix of Sardinia & his younger brother Prince Giuseppe of Savoy. Prince John of Portugal and Brazil was also considered, yet eventually excluded due to political tensions with Portugal.
The 3 candidates often ferried to Vienna to meet with the future Holy Roman Empress, yet none were able to catch the young woman’s interest. Soon after the Archduchess’s 18th birthday in 1787, all marriage negotiations were stopped.
Courtiers were getting rather worried whether the young woman would ever marry, and thus looked at a possible successor in one of her uncle Leopold’s sons. Some were even hoping that perhaps there would be an inter-dynastic marriage within the House of Habsburg, which would mean a marriage between the future Holy Roman Empress and one of her male-line cousins.
However, it was Archduchess Maria Louisa Isabella who announced her own engagement to the court shortly before her 19th birthday. She had sought negotiations of her own, supported by her unwed aunts Maria Anna and Maria Elisabeth, and corresponded with noble houses in Europe. She had opted for a younger Prince of the House of Oldenburg, namely the 3rd surviving son of King Frederick V of Denmark.
Perhaps not everyone at court agreed with the 18-year-old, even disliking her choice for a Protestant Prince, but there was not much they could do with the engagement contract signed.
Prince Jarl of Denmark arrived in Vienna in mid-Spring 1788, only bringing along his personal possessions. He did not exactly impress the courtiers on his first day, coming across a bit too flirty and rather unrestrained regarding his emotions.
But the Emperor accepted his daughter’s choice, which allowed the wedding preparations to go ahead.
Thus, the wedding was scheduled.
There were, however, a few small delays. First, a few strict Catholics objected to the marriage as they were not convinced of the Danish Prince’s conversion. Secondly, there was an outbreak of the flu sweeping through the court which killed a bunch of people. And thirdly, there were a few state visits to get through.
In the end, the wedding was pushed back three-quarters of a year and was finally conducted at Saint Augustine’s Church on 18 April 1789.
The next year in March, the couple’s first child was born. She was named Caroline Louise, after her maternal grandmother who died young in ’82.
Archduchess Caroline Louise was born 5 weeks after the death of her maternal grandfather, and was immediately titled as her mother’s heir presumptive. However, she was not to be raised by nannies. Instead, her father would be carrying most of the responsibilities regarding raising the children.
She would soon be joined by a younger sister, Sophie Eleonore, prior to her 1st birthday.
There were a few initial discussions about whether to raise the 2nd born daughter Protestant, to give her a right to the throne of Denmark would the House of Oldenburg be threatened with extinction. But this plan was abandoned in the summer of 1791.
Yet the Archduke consort kept revisiting this idea of allowing at least 1 of his children to be raised Protestant and continue the House of Oldenburg. He was finally given his wish once his 4th daughter was born, and he named her after his mother. Juliana Maria, Princess of Oldenburg. She was the younger twin of Hedwig Magdalena, who would be raised in her mother’s Catholic faith.
Jarl would again get his wish in 1800 when his 9th child and 4th son was born. He named the boy Christian, and he too would carry the title Prince of Oldenburg.
All 9 children would experience a happy childhood at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, primarily raised by their loving father and a mother who despite her absence loved her children to death.
As it turned out, the Danish Prince’s effort to have at least 1 Protestant heir to the Danish throne would not be in vain. His cousin Frederick VI of Denmark did not have sons, thus the throne went to the eldest son of Jarl’s older brother Frederick. The Archduke Consort’s nephew would only have 1 son, and that son would remain childless despite being married multiple times.
It was thus decided by Parliament that Jarl’s Protestant son Christian, who had conveniently married Frederick VI’s 2nd daughter Vilhelmine Marie in 1828 and thus strengthened his claim, would succeed King Frederick VII of Denmark as King Christian IX of Denmark. That succession would come to fruition when Frederick VII died on 15 November 1863.
And with 4 sons, it was unlikely that the Danish line of the House of Oldenburg was ever going to die out.
The House of Habsburg-Oldenburg would also thrive on the Austrian throne, as the other 3 brothers had also married and produced 3 or more heirs.