by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2017
Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna of Russia was the second wife of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg. She was born at the Catherine Palace, Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg, Russia, on May 10, 1788, the sixth child of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and his second wife Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. Ekaterina had nine siblings:
- Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia (1777-1825) – married Princess Luise Auguste of Baden, had issue
- Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia (1779-1831) – married (1) Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, no issue; (2) Countess Joanna Grudzińska, had issue
- Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (1783-1801) – married Archduke Joseph of Austria, Count Palatine of Hungary, had issue
- Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (1784-1803) – married Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had issue
- Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786-1859) – married Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, had issue
- Grand Duchess Olga Pavlovna of Russia (1792-1795) – died in childhood
- Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia (1795-1865) – married King Willem II of the Netherlands, had issue
- Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia (1796-1855) – married Princess Charlotte of Prussia, had issue
- Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia (1798-1849) – married Princess Charlotte of Württemberg, had issue
Ekaterina was particularly close with her eldest brother, the future Emperor Alexander I. They maintained an extensive correspondence their entire lives, and he viewed her as one of his closest confidantes.
By 1809, the French Emperor Napoléon had made it known to Emperor Alexander I that he was interested in marrying Ekaterina. He was in the midst of divorcing his wife, Joséphine, in order to find a wife who could provide him with an heir. He was also desperately hoping to gain an alliance with Russia. But Ekaterina’s family – particularly her mother – would have no part of such an idea, and the Dowager Empress quickly arranged a marriage for her daughter.
On August 3, 1809, Ekaterina married her first cousin, Duke Georg of Oldenburg, the son of Peter I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Duchess Friederike of Württemberg. The couple had two sons:
- Duke Alexander Georgievich of Oldenburg (1810-1829) – unmarried
- Duke Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg (1812-1881) – married Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg, had issue
On the day of their marriage, Georg was given the style of Imperial Highness and appointed Governor-General of the province of Tver. Despite being arranged, the marriage was a happy one. Sadly, however, it was short-lived. Georg contracted typhoid and died on December 27, 1812.
Ekaterina took refuge with her family and often traveled with her brother, Emperor Alexnader I of Russia. On a visit to Great Britain in 1814, she first met another first cousin, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Württemberg. He was the son of King Friedrich I of Württemberg and Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. It was love at first sight, even though Wilhelm was married at the time to his first wife Karoline Augusta of Bavaria. Soon after that first meeting, in August 1814 Wilhelm received a divorce from his wife because the marriage had not been consummated. It had been an arranged marriage and the two had little in common and little interest in each other, and an annulment was granted by the Pope on January 12, 1816. Twelve days later, on January 24, 1816, Ekaterina and Wilhelm were married in St. Petersburg. They had two daughters:
- Princess Marie Friederike of Württemberg (1816-1887) – married Alfred, Count von Neipperg, no issue
- Princess Sophie of Württemberg (1818-1877) – married King Willem III of the Netherlands, had issue
On October 30, 1816 – the day she gave birth to her first daughter – Katharina (having taken the German version of her name) also became Queen of Württemberg when her husband succeeded to the throne following his father’s death. She became very active in charity work in her new country, which was in a period of great need due to crop failures and widespread famine. In 1817, Katharina established the Central Charitable Society which worked to help people in need. She also established the Queen-Katharina-Stift, a school for girls.
Despite their happy marriage, Wilhelm continued his relationships with numerous mistresses, including the Italian Blanche de la Flèche. When Katharina was made aware of this, she drove to Scharnhausen on January 3, 1819, where she found Wilhelm and his mistress together. She quickly returned to Stuttgart, the Kingdom of Württemberg, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and just six days later, on January 9, 1819, 30-year-old Queen Katharina died of complications from pneumonia which she had apparently contracted from not being dressed warmly enough on her travels to confront her husband. King Wilhelm had the Württemberg Mausoleum built in Rotenberg, Stuttgart, and her remains were interred there in 1824.
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