The Tragic Masquerade: Royal Domain of Drottningholm: UNESCO Culture Sector

This is the Queen’s bedroom which she had renovated. The room was lavishly gilded to demonstrate the power of the monarch. A childhood portrait of Gustav III hung in her dressing room. Gustav, when he was crowned at the age of 25, staged a coup against the aristocrats with his troops and regained power.

This is his wife, Sofia. They finally had a much-awaited son after 10 years of marriage. But his mother Lovisa-Ulrika, claimed that the baby was the offspring of his wife and a guard. Gustav placed his mother in a remote residence. He provoked a war with Russia to strengthen Sweden’s power. The Swedish navy produced a decisive victory over Russia and he was honoured as a great king. He put civilians and farmers ahead of aristocrats to gain their support. That incurred some hatred among the aristocrats and they started to plot his assassination. He was killed at the age of 46.

The incident was a source of inspiration for Giuseppe Verdi in his opera "Un ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball)"."