She obtained a royal pension by convincing the authorities that she was the secret legitimate daughter of King Gustav IV of Sweden and Queen Frederica of Baden.
In 1861, a woman by the name Helga de la Brache petitioned the government of king Charles XV for a pension with the claim of being the secret legitimate daughter of Gustav IV of Sweden, who had been deposed and exiled in the Coup of 1809.
Helga de la Brache claimed that the former king and queen had married again, secretly, "in a convent in Germany", which resulted in her birth in Lausanne in 1820.
Followed by her faithful lady's companion, who was an educated and cultivated woman who supported her story, de la Brache acted with a combination of simplicity and naivete.
One of the reasons why such a story could be believed was that all contact with the deposed former dynasty in exile was forbidden after the Coup of 1809, which made it hard to verify and examine the alleged family relations.
They lived as guests at the home of the upper class woman and professor's wife Lidbeck, who believed the story about the secret royal birth.
[2] While Nils von Koch stated that he, having made inquiries, could not confirm her claim to be true, neither could he prove it to be impossible, and supported her request.
[4] In March 1861, the king allowed her an annual pension from the foreign department of 2,400 Swedish riksdaler a year (the amount originally 1,200, was increased in December 1869).
Her pension was enlarged in 1868 on request by author August Blanche and captain Julius Mankell, and again in 1869, out of consideration for her financial distress.
In 1870, C. Norrby had forwarded sums amounting to 10,000 $ to Helga de la Brache from queen dowager Josephine, and started to have doubts and issue private investigations.
[6] Norrby found and interviewed the sister of Henrika Aspegren, who informed him about the past, and he also made contact with Gustav, Prince of Vasa in Germany, who categorically refuted the claim of Helga de la Brache as his secret half sister as impossible, as his parents had never met after their divorce.
[7] Norrby made copies of church records, informed the government and thereafter had the result of the investigation published in the press on 7 February 1870.
She named her biological parents, both of whom belonged to the upper classes: her father as Count Carl De Geer, and her mother as a "Förnäm fröken" (Unmarried noblewoman).
When the Aspegrens were about to leave for the ball, Magnusson burst into tears and told them that she was homeless and had nowhere to sleep for the night, and she was invited to stay.
[10] When the two women moved to Finland in 1844, Aurora Florentina had the false name de la Brache written on her passport.
[12] "Princess Helga de la Brache" spent her last years in a modest apartment in the Klara norra-area with her companion, seemingly paid for by a supporter.
The two women lived a quiet life, walked in the park and ordered home food and rarely talked to other people.