Gustaf III's sons?

So, everyone from the Swedish politicians of the day, to some today, assert that Gustaf III's elder son, Gustaf IV, was actually the son of Adolf Fredrik, Count Munck af Fulkila. The politicians even went so far as to assure the Queen at the time, Hedwig of HolsteinGottorp (aka Duchess Lotta), that they would revive those rumors if Gustaf IV's deposition was challenged.

There has often been rumors whispered that a king is actually a bastard - Edward IV, James III, Edward of Lancaster, Prince of Wales, and Lovisa Augusta of Denmark & Norway (Sophie Magdalene's niece) - but was there any truth in these claims?

And if so, was Munck also the father of Gustaf IV's uterine brother, Carl, the Duke of Småland (1782-1783).

What would the results be of a surviving younger duke? Would the rumors die down or at least be regarded as nothing more than malicious gossip?
 

yourworstnightmare

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It's more or less a rumor that has survived a loong time. There was no DNA these days, so it wasn't like fatherhood could really be proved. Of course Gustav III's questionable sexuality has always fueled the debate (even today there are debates whether he was homosexual, bisexual, asexual or if it's all exaggerated). Not that the debate is completely pointless. At the time there were also rumors that Munck was actually his lover, and not the queen's (or that he was the lover of both the king and the queen!).
 
One have to remember that Gustav III was subject to extreme slander by the aristocracy since he did everything to lessen their power
 
I think Louisa Augusta of Denmark is seen to have been almost certainly Struensee's biological daughter. The other case I'm aware of that seems fairly well-substantiated is that Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia and her brother Prince Alexander of Hesse were the children not of Grand Duke Ludwig II, but of their mother's chamberlain August von Senarclens de Grancey.

I've never seen any of the other cases being all that strong. The famous one you've not mentioned is Paul of Russia, whom Catherine the Great herself claimed was Saltykov's son rather than Peter III's. She had every reason to denigrate her son's paternity, though, and I've always thought Paul's erratic mental state suggests very strongly a biological son of Peter III.
 
I think Louisa Augusta of Denmark is seen to have been almost certainly Struensee's biological daughter. The other case I'm aware of that seems fairly well-substantiated is that Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia and her brother Prince Alexander of Hesse were the children not of Grand Duke Ludwig II, but of their mother's chamberlain August von Senarclens de Grancey.

I've never seen any of the other cases being all that strong. The famous one you've not mentioned is Paul of Russia, whom Catherine the Great herself claimed was Saltykov's son rather than Peter III's. She had every reason to denigrate her son's paternity, though, and I've always thought Paul's erratic mental state suggests very strongly a biological son of Peter III.

I didn't include Paul in the list for that very reason. He showed a great resemblance to Pyotr III no matter what Ekaterina said. And also because of his mental instability.

But would the duke of Smaland then succeed if Gustaf IV were deposed? Or would he be sent into exile part and parcel of the deposed Vasas? Perhaps they would have the same reason to fear him becoming king as his nephew?
 
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