Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden

Who was Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden?

Ulrika Eleonora or Ulrica Eleanor, also known as Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, was queen regnant of Sweden from 5 December 1718 to 29 February 1720, and then queen consort until her death.

She was the youngest child of King Charles XI and Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark and named after her mother. After the death of her brother King Charles XII in 1718, she claimed the throne. Her deceased older sister, Hedvig Sophia, had left a son, Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, who had the better claim by primogeniture. Ulrika Eleonora asserted that she was the closest surviving relative of the late king and cited the precedent of Queen Christina. She was recognized as successor by the Riksdag after she had agreed to renounce the powers of absolute monarchy established by her father. She abdicated in 1720 in favor of her husband, Landgrave Frederick I of Hesse-Kassel.