Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Duchess consort of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Painting by William Corden, 1844
Consort	1817–1826
Spouse	Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Issue
Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom
Full name
Louise Dorothea Pauline Charlotte Fredericka Auguste
House	House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Father	Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Mother	Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Born	21 December 1800(1800-12-21) Gotha
Died	30 August 1831 (aged 30) Paris
Burial	Burials at the Ducal Family Mausoleum, Glockenburg Cemetery, Coburg

Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Princess Louise Dorothea Pauline Charlotte Fredericka Auguste of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg) (21 December 1800 – 30 August 1831) was the wife of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the mother of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

[edit] Family

Princess Louise was the only daughter of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and his first wife Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1756–1808) (her namesake).

[edit] Marriage

Louise married her kinsman Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, on 31 July 1817 in Gotha. They had two children: Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

The marriage was unhappy because of Ernst's infidelities and the couple separated in 1824. St. Wendel, in the Principality of Lichtenberg, was assigned as her new residence and Louise was forced to leave her two sons behind.

[edit] After divorce

On 31 March 1826 their marriage was officially dissolved. Seven months later, on 18 October 1826, Louise secretly married in St. Wendel her former lover, the Baron Alexander von Hanstein (later created Count of Pölzig and Beiersdrof). With Louis, she took great interest in the social life of the principality and was revered as a regional mother. Nevertheless, this happy life ended on February 1831, when this secret marriage was discovered and she lost her children permanently.

Louise died of cancer when she was only 30 years old.