Anna Sophie

Anna Sophie became Queen of Denmark in 1721. She was the daughter of the Great Chancellor Conrad Reventlow, and was married to Frederik IV. Anna Sophie met the King at a masked ball in 1711 and fell in love with him. The next year he abducted her and they entered a morganatic marriage. A few days after the death of Queen Louise in 1721, the couple married in full and she became Queen.

Anna Sophie is so far the only Danish Queen who was not of princely descent. The marriage brought about a break within the Royal Family; Crown Prince Christian (VI) detested her strongly, and the King’s siblings, Prince Carl and Princess Sophie Hedevig, left Copenhagen.

Several of Anna Sophie’s relatives, popularly known as the “Reventlow Gang”, gained great influence within the government, but it is unknown whether Anna Sophie herself had any real political power. After Frederik IV’s death in 1730, she was expelled from Copenhagen to her birth place, the manor house Clausholm near Randers, Jutland.