Victoria of Baden - Queen

Queen

Victoria became Queen-consort of Sweden with her father-in-law's death on 8 December 1907. As queen, she was only present in Sweden during the summers, but she still dominated the court. She arranged the marriage between her son William and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlova of Russia in 1908. She was also devoted to various kinds of charity, both in Sweden, Germany and Italy.

Queen Victoria had substantial political influence over her husband, who was often considered pro-German. In 1908, Victoria made an official visit to Berlin with Gustaf, where she was made an honorary Prussian Colonel: she was described as strict and militant and it was said that she had the heart of a Prussian soldier. She was very strict with discipline, and if any of the members of the palace guard forgot to salute her, they were generally put under arrest. She was deeply conservative in her views and resented the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian union (1905), the Great Strike of 1909, the 1911 election victory of the radicals and the Socialists as well as the liberals, and when her son was temporary regent in 1912, she warned him in letters from Italy that he should not be too "intimate" with the elected government.

Queen Victoria lost a lot of popularity among the Swedes for her often noted Pro-German attitude, particularly politically during World War I when she is said to have influenced her husband to large extents. During WWI, she gave a personal gift to every Swedish volunteer to the German forces. She kept up a close contact with the German emperor, whom she often visited during the war She founded "Drottningens centralkomittée" ("The Queen's Central Committee") for defence equipment. She deeply resented the social democratic election victories in 1917 and worked to prevent them from taking part in the government. Victoria's political influence was founded upon the power position of her first cousin, German Emperor William II, and when he was deposed in 1918-19, she lost all political influence in Sweden.

Queen Victoria suffered from very poor health (much due to poor treatment by several doctors in her youth), and often went on trips to make her health better (she suffered from bronchitis and possibly tuberculosis). She was treated with mercury and undue heavy medications during her difficult pregnancies, possibly the cause of her chronic conditions. From 1892 to her death, Axel Munthe was her personal physician and recommended for health reasons that she spend winters on the Italian island of Capri. While initially hesitant, in the autumn of 1901 she travelled to Capri, arriving to an official welcome and a crowd which escorted her from the Marina Grand to the Hotel Paradise. From then on, except during World War I and for the last two years of her life, she spent several months a year on Capri. After some time, she decided to purchase her own residence on Capri, an intimate rustic two-story farmhouse she named Casa Caprile, which she had extensively landscaped, surrounding it with a dense park. In the 1950s, twenty years after her death, the property became a hotel.

The Queen went to Munthe's residence, the Villa San Michele, most mornings in order to join Munthe for walks around the island. Munthe and the Queen also arranged evening concerts at San Michele, at which the Queen played the piano. They also shared a love of animals, with the Queen frequently being seen with a leashed dog, and she was known to support Munthe's (eventually successful) efforts to purchase Mount Barbarossa for use as a bird sanctuary. It was rumored that Munthe and the Queen were lovers, but this has never been confirmed.

Queen Victoria spent a lot of her time abroad because of health reasons, as the Swedish climate was not considered good for her, and during her last years as queen, she was seldom present in Sweden: she participated in an official visit to Norrland in 1921, a visit to Dalarna in 1924, and to Finland in 1925. The visit to Finland was her last official appearance as queen; although she did visit Sweden at her husband's birthday 1928, she did not show herself to the public. During those celebrations, however, someone noticed the figure of a woman behind a curtain in the Royal Palace of Stockholm: he waved to her, and she waved back with her handkerchief. After this, she left Sweden for Italy for good: she died two years afterward.

She was the 855th Dame of the Royal Order of Queen Maria Luisa.