Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born on March 10,
1776 in Hanover, Germany, the daughter of Prince Charles of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Early in 1792, when Louise was 16, her
uncle, hoping to strengthen the ties between his family and the
Prussian royal family, carefully plotted a meeting between
Louise and Crown Prince Frederick William III. The plan worked,
and they married. The Prince became King when his father died in
1797 and Louisa became Queen of Prussia. The nation was charmed
by the young Queen’s grace, beauty, and wit. Historians have
commented that Queen Louise was Prussian nationalism
personified. In 1804, with Napoleon’s increasing violations of
Prussian treaty rights, Louise (formerly ignorant of foreign
policy) began to argue with King Frederick over his long-
standing position of neutrality, pleading with him to break off
all relations with the French Emperor. She took the initiative
of contacting the Tsar of Russia and Emperor of Austria, both of
whom, along with Frederick, signed the