Frederick William, Prince von Hessenstein (26 November 1735, Panker

Panker

Panker is a municipality in Plön county, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.The municipality of Panker includes the villages Darry, Gadendorf, Matzwitz, Satjendorf, Todendorf and Panker estate...

 - 17 April 1808, Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

), was a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 soldier and statesman. He was an extramarital son of King Frederick of Sweden and his mistress Hedvig Taube

Hedvig Taube

Hedvig Ulrika Taube also Countess von Hessenstein was a Swedish noble and salonist, official royal mistress to King Frederick I of Sweden...

.

Biography

King Gustav III, treated him with great respect. He was appointed Field Marshal in 1773, Privy Councillor

Privy Council of Sweden

The High Council of Sweden or Council of the Realm consisted originally of those men of noble, common and clergical background, that the king saw fit for advisory service...

 in 1776, and Governor-General of Pomerania

Swedish Pomerania

Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...

 between 1776 and 1791. Hessenstein was made a count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

 of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 (in which his father's German realm, the landgraviate

Landgrave

Landgrave was a title used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor...

 of Hesse-Kassel

Hesse-Kassel

The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel was a state in the Holy Roman Empire under Imperial immediacy that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1567 upon the death of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the...

, was located) on 28 February 1741, and created a Swedish count on 29 March of the following year. He was elevated to Prince

Prince

Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

 von Hessenstein in the Empire in November 1772, and hereditary Furste

Fürst

Fürst is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince.The term refers to the head of a principality and is distinguished from the son of a monarch, who is referred to as Prinz...

von Hessenstein in Sweden on 28 April 1785. In 1773 he was also made one of the Lords of the Realm

Lord of the Realm

En af rikets herrar or Lord of the Realm was a title introduced by King Gustaf III of Sweden after his bloodless coup d'état in 1772, and after the new constitution was passed by the Riksdag of the Estates. The title was not hereditary and was not connected with any special function or appointment...

.

According to unverified rumors, he might have been the father of an extramarital daughter by Princess Sofia Albertina

Sofia Albertina, Princess of Sweden

Princess Sophia Albertina of Sweden was the last Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg Abbey and as such reigned as vassal monarch of the Holy Roman Empire....

, (Gustav III

Gustav III of Sweden

Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....

's sister). Named Sophia, she was allegedly born in 1786, a year before the princess was sent to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 as Abbess

Abbess

An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....

 of Quedlinburg

Quedlinburg Abbey

Quedlinburg Abbey was a house of secular canonesses in Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 936 on the initiative of Saint Mathilda, the widow of Henry the Fowler, as his memorial...

.

Honors

• Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
• Commander of the Royal Order of the Sword
  Order of the Sword
  The Order of the Sword is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on February 23, 1748, together with the Order of the Seraphim and the Order of the Polar Star.Awarded to officers, and originally intended as an award for bravery and particularly long or useful service, it...
  
  

Other sources

• Lindquist, Herman (2002) Historien om Sverige. Gustavs dagar (Norstedts Förlag) ISBN 978-9113014555)
• Lagerqvist, Lars O. (1976) Sveriges regenter - från forntid till nutid (Bonnier) ISBN 978-9100415389