Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Duchess Juliana Maria of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (Wolfenbüttel, 4 September 1729 - Fredensborg Palace, 10 October 1796), (always called Juliane Marie), was queen of Denmark between 1752 and 1766, second consort of king Frederick V of Denmark and Norway, mother of the prince-regent Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and herself de facto regent 1772–1784.

Born as daughter of Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, she became the second consort and queen to king Frederick V of Denmark at Frederiksborg Palace on 8 July 1752, one year after the death of his first consort Louise of Great Britain. The marriage was partly arranged as a way of stabilising her vivacious consort. As a girl, she appears to have stuttered.

As a queen, she lived a quiet life, and is not believed to have had much influence. Her goal was to make her own biological son regent. She was given a very stiff upbringing, and it was difficult for her to replace the popular Queen Louise. She did not play any part in the upbringing of her step-children, or much of her own son.

She became more important as a Queen dowager. In 1766, she became a widow. In 1768, she participated in the banishment of Christian's mistress Støvlete-Cathrine‎, who was believed to have influence over him. In 1770, the new king, her stepson king Christian VII of Denmark, had become insane and the power had fallen in the hands of his consort Caroline Matilda of Wales and her lover Johann Friedrich Struensee. They had a liberal politics and issued a row of democratic laws that raised the opposition to the nobility. Juliane Marie then became the centre of the opposition, and she was one of the group that participated in the coup d'état that brought down the government of Struensee by exposing his affair with the queen. She arranged for the king to sign the arrest of Struensee after she had made the arrest, issued in the name of the king. In 1772, Struensee was executed and queen Caroline Mathilda was exiled.

The son of Juliane Marie, Hereditary Prince Frederick, was now made regent. In reality, he was the puppet of his mother, who was the real and undisputed ruler during his regency, aided by Ove Høegh-Guldberg. Her government was one of extreme conservatism. She saved the privileges of the nobility and was regarded as the hero of the aristocracy and the saviour of their privileges. She is remembered for having founded a porcelain factory, which was taken over by the crown in 1779.

She was given the responisbility of the upbrining of the crown prince, who much disliked er, as she attempted to form him to be in favour of her regency and tried to stop him from seeing his sister, who was his closest friend. In 1784, she and her son were deprived of their regency by the crown prince, King Frederick VI of Denmark. She spent the rest of her life very discretely.

• Danske dronninger i tusind år, Steffen Heiberg, 2000
• Gyldendal og Politikens Danmarkshistorie bind 9 (Den lange fred), 1990
• http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/1019/origin/170/

• Royal House of Denmark