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Caroline of Ansbach

Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline; 1 March 1683 – 20 November 1737[a]) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Electress of Hanover from 11 June 1727 until her death in 1737 as the wife of King George II.

Caroline of Ansbach
Portrait by Michael Dahl, c. 1730
Queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland,
Electress consort of Hanover
Tenure11 June 1727 – 20 November 1737
Coronation11 October 1727[a]
Born(1683-03-01)1 March 1683
Ansbach Residence, Principality of Ansbach, Holy Roman Empire
Died20 November 1737(1737-11-20) (aged 54)
St James's Palace, London, Great Britain
Burial17 December 1737
Spouse
(m. 1705)
Issue
Names
Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline
German: Wilhelmine Charlotte Karoline
HouseHohenzollern
FatherJohn Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
MotherPrincess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach
Signature

Caroline's father, Margrave John Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach, belonged to a branch of the House of Hohenzollern and was the ruler of a small German state, the Principality of Ansbach. After Caroline was orphaned at a young age, she moved to the enlightened court of her guardians, King Frederick I and Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia. At the Prussian court, her previously limited education was widened and she adopted the liberal outlook possessed by Sophia Charlotte, who became her good friend and whose views influenced Caroline all her life.

When she was a young woman, Caroline was much sought-after as a bride. After rejecting the suit of Archduke Charles of Austria, a claimant to the Spanish throne, she married George Augustus, who was third in line to the English throne (and subsequently the British throne) and heir apparent to the Electorate of Hanover. They had eight children, seven of whom reached adulthood. Caroline moved to Britain permanently in 1714 when her husband became Prince of Wales. As Princess of Wales she joined George Augustus in rallying political opposition to his father, King George I. In 1717, after a family row, George Augustus was expelled from court. Caroline came to be associated with Robert Walpole, an opposition politician who was a former government minister. Walpole rejoined the government in 1720, and George Augustus reconciled publicly with his father on Walpole's advice. Over the next few years Walpole rose to become the leading minister.

Upon her husband's accession in 1727, Caroline became queen and electress, and her eldest son, Frederick, became Prince of Wales. He was a focus for the opposition, like his father before him, and Caroline's relationship with him was strained. As princess and as queen, Caroline was known for her political influence, which she exercised both through and for Walpole. Her tenure included four regencies, which occurred during George II's stays in Hanover; she is credited with strengthening the House of Hanover's place in Britain during a period of political instability. After her death in 1737, Caroline was widely mourned by her political allies as well as by the King, who refused to remarry.

Early life edit

 
Ansbach in the 17th century

Caroline was born on 1 March 1683 at Ansbach, the daughter of John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach.[1][2] Her father was the ruler of one of the smallest German states; he died of smallpox at the age of 32, when Caroline was three years old. Caroline and her only full sibling, her younger brother Margrave William Frederick, left Ansbach with their mother, who returned to her native Eisenach.[3] In 1692, Caroline's widowed mother was pushed into an unhappy marriage with the Elector of Saxony, and she and her two children moved to the Saxon court at Dresden. Eleonore Erdmuthe was widowed again two years later, after her unfaithful husband contracted smallpox from his mistress.[4] Eleonore remained in Saxony for another two years, until her death in 1696.[2][5] The orphaned Caroline and William Frederick returned to Ansbach to stay with their elder half-brother, Margrave George Frederick II. George Frederick was a youth with little interest in parenting a girl, and so Caroline soon moved to Lützenburg outside Berlin, where she entered into the care of her new guardians, Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, and his wife, Sophia Charlotte, who had been a friend of Eleonore Erdmuthe.[6]

Education edit

Frederick and Sophia Charlotte became king and queen of Prussia in 1701. The Queen was the daughter of Sophia, Dowager Electress of Hanover, and the sister of George, Elector of Hanover. She was renowned for her intelligence and strong character, and her uncensored and liberal court attracted a great many scholars, including philosopher Gottfried Leibniz.[7] Caroline was exposed to a lively intellectual environment quite different from anything she had experienced previously. Before she began her education under Sophia Charlotte's care, Caroline had received little formal education; her handwriting remained poor throughout her life.[2][8] With her lively mind, Caroline developed into a scholar of considerable ability.[7] She and Sophia Charlotte developed a strong relationship in which Caroline was treated as a surrogate daughter;[9] the Queen once declared Berlin was "a desert" without Caroline whenever she left temporarily for Ansbach.[2][8]

Marriage edit

 
Engraving of the royal couple and their seven children who survived infancy

An intelligent and attractive woman, Caroline was much sought-after as a bride. Dowager Electress Sophia called her "the most agreeable Princess in Germany".[10] She was considered for the hand of Archduke Charles of Austria, who was a candidate for the throne of Spain and later became Holy Roman Emperor. Charles made official overtures to her in 1703, and the match was encouraged by King Frederick of Prussia. After some consideration, Caroline refused in 1704, as she would not convert from Lutheranism to Catholicism.[2][11] Early in the following year, Queen Sophia Charlotte died on a visit to her native Hanover.[12] Caroline was devastated, writing to Leibniz, "The calamity has overwhelmed me with grief and sickness, and it is only the hope that I may soon follow her that consoles me."[12]

In June 1705, Sophia Charlotte's nephew Prince George Augustus of Hanover visited the Ansbach court, supposedly incognito, to inspect Caroline, as his father the Elector did not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he himself had.[13] The nephew of three childless uncles, George Augustus was under pressure to marry and father an heir to prevent endangering the Hanoverian succession.[14] He had heard reports of Caroline's "incomparable beauty and mental attributes".[15] He immediately took a liking to her "good character" and the British envoy reported that George Augustus "would not think of anybody else after her".[2][16] For her part, Caroline was not fooled by the prince's disguise, and found her suitor attractive.[17] He was the heir apparent of his father's Electorate of Hanover and third-in-line to the English throne, then held by his distant cousin Queen Anne, after his grandmother Dowager Electress Sophia and his father the Elector.[17]

On 22 August 1705, Caroline arrived in Hanover for her wedding to George Augustus; they were married that evening in the palace chapel at Herrenhausen.[1][2][18] By May of the following year, Caroline was pregnant, and her first child Prince Frederick was born on 20 January 1707.[19] A few months after the birth, in July, Caroline fell seriously ill with smallpox followed by pneumonia. Her baby was kept away from her, but George Augustus remained devotedly at her side, catching the infection himself. They both survived.[20] Over the next seven years, Caroline had three more children, Anne, Amelia, and Caroline, all of whom were born in Hanover.[21]

 
Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk (pictured), was one of Caroline's Women of the Bedchamber in addition to being one of Caroline's husband's mistresses.

George Augustus and Caroline had a successful and loving marriage, though he continued to keep mistresses, as was customary for the time.[22] Caroline was aware of his infidelities; they were well known and he told her about them himself. His two best-known mistresses were Henrietta Howard, later Countess of Suffolk, and, beginning in 1735, Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of Yarmouth. Howard was one of Caroline's Women of the Bedchamber and became Mistress of the Robes when her husband inherited a peerage in 1731; she retired in 1734.[23] In contrast with George Augustus and his mother, Sophia Dorothea, Caroline was known for her marital fidelity; she never made any embarrassing scenes nor did she take lovers.[22] She preferred her husband's mistresses to be her ladies-in-waiting so that she could keep a closer eye on them.[24]

After the union of England and Scotland in 1707, the succession of George Augustus's family to the united British throne was confirmed but insecure, since Queen Anne's half-brother James Stuart contested the Hanoverian claim, and Anne had fallen out with Dowager Electress Sophia. The Queen refused permission for any of the Hanoverians to visit Britain in her lifetime.[25] Caroline wrote to Leibniz, "I accept the comparison which you draw, though all too flattering, between me and Queen Elizabeth as a good omen. Like Elizabeth, the Electress's rights are denied her by a jealous sister [Queen Anne], and she will never be sure of the English crown until her accession to the throne."[26] In June 1714, Sophia died in Caroline's arms at the age of 83, and Caroline's father-in-law became Queen Anne's heir presumptive. Just weeks later, Anne died, and the Elector of Hanover was proclaimed her successor, becoming George I of Great Britain.[27]

Princess of Wales edit

 
The Princess of Wales, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller in 1716

George Augustus sailed to England in September 1714, and Caroline and two of her daughters followed in October.[28] Her journey across the North Sea from The Hague to Margate was the only sea voyage she took in her life.[29] Their young son, Prince Frederick, remained in Hanover for the rest of George I's reign, and was brought up by private tutors.[21]

On the accession of George I in 1714, George Augustus automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay. Shortly afterwards, he was invested as Prince of Wales, whereupon Caroline became Princess of Wales. She was the first woman to receive the title at the same time as her husband received his.[17] She was also the first Princess of Wales in over two hundred years, the previous one being Catherine of Aragon in the 16th century. Since George I had repudiated his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, in 1694 before he became King of Great Britain, there was no queen consort, and Caroline was therefore the highest-ranking woman in the kingdom.[21] George Augustus and Caroline made a concerted effort to "anglicise" by getting to know England's language, people, politics and customs.[30] Two separate and very different courts developed: the old king's court had German courtiers and government ministers, while the Wales's court attracted English nobles who were out of favour with the King, and was considerably more popular with the British people. George Augustus and Caroline gradually became centres of the political opposition to the King.[31]

Two years after their arrival in England, Caroline suffered a stillbirth, which her friend the Countess of Bückeburg blamed on the incompetence of English doctors,[32] but the following year she had another son, Prince George William, in November. At the baptism, George Augustus fell out with his father over the choice of godparents, leading to the couple's placement under house arrest at St James's Palace prior to their banishment from court.[33] Caroline was originally allowed to stay with their children, but refused as she believed her place was with George Augustus.[34] The couple moved into Leicester House, while their children remained in the care of the King.[35] Caroline fell sick with worry, and fainted during a secret visit to her children made without the King's approval.[36] By January, the King had relented and allowed Caroline unrestricted access. In February, Prince George William fell ill, and the King allowed both George Augustus and Caroline to see him at Kensington Palace without any conditions. When the baby died, a post-mortem was conducted to prove that the cause of death was disease (a polyp on the heart) rather than the separation from his mother.[37] Further tragedy occurred in 1718, when she miscarried at Richmond Lodge, her country residence,[38] after being startled by a violent storm.[39] Over the next few years, Caroline had three more children: William, Mary and Louise.[40] In July 1725, her 11th and final pregnancy ended in a second miscarriage.[41]

Leicester House became a frequent meeting place for the ministry's political opponents. Caroline struck up a friendship with politician Sir Robert Walpole, a former minister in the Whig government who led a disgruntled faction of the party. In April 1720, Walpole's wing of the Whig party reconciled with the governing wing, and Walpole and Caroline helped to effect a reconciliation between the King and George Augustus for the sake of public unity.[2][42] Caroline wanted to regain her three eldest daughters, who remained in the care of the King, and thought the reconciliation would lead to their return, but negotiations came to nothing. George Augustus came to believe that Walpole had tricked him into the reconciliation as part of a scheme to gain power. The prince was isolated politically when Walpole's Whigs joined the government,[43] and Leicester House played host to literary figures and wits, such as John Arbuthnot and Jonathan Swift, rather than politicians.[44] Arbuthnot told Swift that Caroline had enjoyed his Gulliver's Travels, particularly the tale of the crown prince who wore one high-heel and one low-heel in a country where the King and his party wore low heels, and the opposition wore high ones: a barely veiled reference to the political leanings of the Prince of Wales.[45]

Caroline's intellect far outstripped her husband's, and she read avidly. She established an extensive library at St James's Palace. As a young woman, she corresponded with Gottfried Leibniz, the intellectual colossus who was courtier and factotum to the House of Hanover. She later facilitated the Leibniz-Clarke correspondence, arguably the most important philosophy of physics discussion of the 18th century. She helped to popularise the practice of variolation (an early type of immunisation), which had been witnessed by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Charles Maitland in Constantinople. At the direction of Caroline, six condemned prisoners from Newgate Prison[46] were offered the chance to undergo variolation instead of execution: they all survived, as did six orphan children given the same treatment as a further test. Convinced of its medical value, Caroline had her children Amelia, Caroline and Frederick inoculated against smallpox in the same manner.[47] In praising her support for smallpox inoculation, Voltaire wrote of her, "I must say that despite all her titles and crowns, this princess was born to encourage the arts and the well-being of mankind; even on the throne she is a benevolent philosopher; and she has never lost an opportunity to learn or to manifest her generosity."[48]

Queen consort and regent edit

 
Official coronation medal of Queen Caroline in 1727 by J. Croker
 
Portrait by Jacopo Amigoni, 1735

On George I's death in 1727, George Augustus ascended as George II and Caroline became queen consort. George II and Caroline's coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on 11 October that year.[49] Though George II denounced Walpole as a "rogue and rascal" over the terms of the reconciliation with his father, Caroline advised her husband to retain Walpole as the leading minister.[2] Walpole commanded a substantial majority in Parliament and George II had little choice but to accept him or risk ministerial instability.[50] Walpole secured a civil list payment of £100,000 a year for Caroline, and she was given both Somerset House and Richmond Lodge.[51] Courtier Lord Hervey called Walpole "the Queen's minister" in recognition of their close relationship.[2] For the next ten years, Caroline had immense influence. She persuaded the King to adopt policies at the behest of Walpole, and persuaded Walpole against taking inflammatory actions. Caroline had absorbed the liberal opinions of her mentor, Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia, and supported clemency for the Jacobites (supporters of the rival Stuart claim to the throne), freedom of the press, and freedom of speech in Parliament.[52]

Over the next few years, the King and Queen fought a constant battle against their eldest son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, who had been left behind in Germany when they came to England. He joined the family in 1728, by which time he was an adult, had mistresses and debts, and was fond of gambling and practical jokes. He opposed his father's political beliefs, and complained of his lack of influence in government.[2][53] The Regency Act 1728 made Caroline rather than Frederick regent when her husband was in Hanover for five months from May 1729. During her regency, a diplomatic incident with Portugal (where a British ship had been seized on the Tagus) was defused, and the negotiation of the Treaty of Seville between Britain and Spain was concluded.[53][54] From May 1732, she was regent for four months while George II was again away in Hanover. An investigation into the penal system uncovered widespread abuses, including cruel treatment and conspiracy in the escape of wealthy convicts. Caroline pressed Walpole for reform, largely unsuccessfully.[55] In March 1733, Walpole introduced an unpopular Excise Bill to parliament, which the Queen supported, but it gathered such strong opposition that it was eventually dropped.[56]

Caroline's entire life in Britain was spent in southeast England in or around London.[57] As queen, she continued to surround herself with artists, writers and intellectuals. She collected jewellery, especially cameos and intaglios, acquired important portraits and miniatures, and enjoyed the visual arts. She commissioned works such as terracotta busts of the kings and queens of England from Michael Rysbrack,[58] and supervised a more naturalistic design of the royal gardens by William Kent and Charles Bridgeman.[59] In 1728, she rediscovered sets of sketches by Leonardo da Vinci and Hans Holbein that had been hidden in a drawer since the reign of William III.[60]

Caroline's eldest daughter, Anne, married William IV of Orange in 1734 and moved with her husband to the Netherlands. Caroline wrote to her daughter of her "indescribable" sadness at the parting.[61] Anne soon felt homesick and travelled back to England when her husband went on campaign. Eventually her husband and father commanded her to return to Holland.[62]

Final years edit

 
Portrait by Joseph Highmore, 1735

In mid-1735, Prince Frederick was further dismayed when Caroline, rather than himself, again acted as regent while the King was absent in Hanover.[63] The King and Queen arranged Frederick's marriage, in 1736, to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Shortly after the wedding, George went to Hanover, and Caroline resumed her role as "Protector of the Realm". As regent, Caroline considered the reprieve of Captain John Porteous, who had been convicted of murder in Edinburgh. Before she could act, a mob stormed the jail where he was held and killed him. Caroline was appalled.[64] George's absences abroad were leading to unpopularity, and in late 1736 he made plans to return, but his ship was caught in poor weather, and it was rumoured that he had been lost at sea. Caroline was devastated, and disgusted by the insensitivity of her son, who hosted a grand dinner while the gale was blowing.[65] During her regency, Frederick attempted to start a number of quarrels with his mother, whom he saw as a useful proxy to irritate the King.[2] George eventually returned in January 1737.[66]

Frederick applied to Parliament unsuccessfully for an increased financial allowance that had hitherto been denied him by the King, and public disagreement over the money drove a further wedge between parents and son. On the advice of Walpole, Frederick's allowance was raised in an attempt to mitigate further conflict, but by less than he had asked.[67] In June 1737, Frederick informed his parents that Augusta was pregnant, and due to give birth in October. In fact, Augusta's due date was earlier and a peculiar episode followed in July in which the prince, on discovering that his wife had gone into labour, sneaked her out of Hampton Court Palace in the middle of the night, to ensure that the King and Queen could not be present at the birth.[68] George and Caroline were horrified. Traditionally, royal births were witnessed by members of the family and senior courtiers to guard against supposititious children, and Augusta had been forced by her husband to ride in a rattling carriage for an hour and a half while heavily pregnant and in pain. With a party including her daughters Amelia and Caroline and Lord Hervey, the Queen raced over to St James's Palace, where Frederick had taken Augusta.[69] Caroline was relieved to discover that Augusta had given birth to a "poor, ugly little she-mouse", also called Augusta, rather than a "large, fat, healthy boy" as the pitiful nature of the baby made a supposititious child unlikely.[70] The circumstances of the birth deepened the estrangement between mother and son.[70] According to Lord Hervey, she once remarked after seeing Frederick, "Look, there he goes—that wretch!—that villain!—I wish the ground would open this moment and sink the monster to the lowest hole in hell!"[2][71]

In the final years of her life, Caroline was troubled by gout in her feet,[72] but more seriously she had suffered an umbilical hernia at the birth of her final child in 1724.[73] On 9 November 1737, she felt an intense pain and, after struggling through a formal reception, took to her bed. Part of her small intestine had poked through the hernia opening.[74] Over the next few days she was bled, purged, and operated on, without anaesthetic, but there was no improvement in her condition.[75] George refused Frederick permission to see his mother,[76] a decision with which she complied; she sent her son a message of forgiveness through Walpole.[77] She asked her husband to remarry after her death, which he rejected saying he would take only mistresses; she replied "Ah, mon Dieu, cela n'empêche pas" ("My God, that doesn't prevent it").[78] On 17 November, her strangulated bowel burst.[79][b] She died on 20 November 1737 at St James's Palace.[1]

Caroline was buried in Westminster Abbey on 17 December.[80] Frederick was not invited to the funeral. George Frideric Handel composed an anthem for the occasion, The Ways of Zion Do Mourn / Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. George arranged for a pair of matching coffins with removable sides, so that when he followed her to the grave (23 years later), they could lie together again.[81]

Legacy edit

 
Memorial to Caroline on the bank of the Serpentine, a picturesque lake in London created at her request

Caroline was widely mourned. The Protestants lauded her moral example, and even the Jacobites acknowledged her compassion, and her intervention on the side of mercy for their compatriots.[82] During her lifetime her refusal to convert when offered the hand of Archduke Charles was used to portray her as a strong adherent to Protestantism.[2] For example, John Gay wrote of Caroline in A Letter to A Lady (1714):

The pomp of titles easy faith might shake,
She scorn'd an empire for religion's sake:
For this, on earth, the British crown is giv'n,
And an immortal crown decreed in heav'n.

Caroline was widely seen by both the public and the court as having great influence over her husband.[83] A satirical verse of the period went:[84]

You may strut, dapper George, but 'twill all be in vain,
We all know 'tis Queen Caroline, not you, that reign –
You govern no more than Don Philip of Spain.
Then if you would have us fall down and adore you,
Lock up your fat spouse, as your dad did before you.

The memoirs of the 18th century, particularly those of John, Lord Hervey, fed perceptions that Caroline and Walpole governed her husband. Peter Quennell wrote that Hervey was the "chronicler of this remarkable coalition" and that she was Hervey's "heroine".[85] Using such sources, biographers of the 19th and 20th centuries credit her with aiding the establishment of the House of Hanover in Britain, in the face of Jacobite opposition. R. L. Arkell wrote "by her acumen and geniality, [Caroline] ensured the dynasty's rooting itself in England", and William Henry Wilkins said her "gracious and dignified personality, her lofty ideals and pure life did much to counteract the unpopularity of her husband and father-in-law, and redeem the early Georgian era from utter grossness."[86] Although modern historians tend to believe that Hervey, Wilkins and Arkell have overestimated her importance, it is nevertheless probable that Caroline of Ansbach was one of the most influential consorts in British history.[2]

Titles, styles, honours and arms edit

Titles and styles edit

  • 1683–1705: Her Serene Highness[87] Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach
  • 1705–1714: Her Serene Highness The Electoral Princess of Hanover[88]
  • 1714–1727: Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales[89]
  • 1727–1737: Her Majesty The Queen[90]

Honours edit

Caroline County in the British Colony of Virginia was named in the Queen's honour when it was formed in 1727.[91]

Arms edit

The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom are impaled with those of Caroline's father. The arms of her father were quarterly of fifteen, 1st, per fess gules and argent, within a bordure counter-changed of the same (for Magdeburg); 2nd, argent, an eagle displayed sable, crowned or; 3rd, or, a griffin segreant gules, crowned; 4th and 5th, argent, a griffin segreant gules; 6th, or, a griffin segreant sable; 7th, argent, an eagle displayed sable (for Crossen); 8th, per pale argent and gules within a bordure counter-changed of the same (for Halberstadt); 9th, argent, an eagle displayed sable; 10th, or, a lion rampant sable, crowned, within a bordure goboné argent and gules (for Nuremberg); 11th, gules, two keys in saltire or (for Minden); 12th, quarterly argent and sable (for Hohenzollern); 13th, the field gules, the figure argent; 14th, per fess gules and argent; 15th, plain field of gules (for right of regalia); overall an inescutcheon, argent, an eagle displayed gules (for Brandenburg).[92]

 
Queen Caroline's coat of arms: the royal arms of the United Kingdom (dexter) impaling her father's arms

Issue edit

Caroline's ten[93] or eleven[41] pregnancies resulted in eight live births, of whom one died in infancy, and seven lived to adulthood.

Name Birth Death Notes
Frederick, Prince of Wales 31 January 1707 31 March 1751 married 1736, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha; had issue, including the future George III
Anne, Princess Royal 2 November 1709 12 January 1759 married 1734, William IV, Prince of Orange; had issue
Princess Amelia 10 June 1711 31 October 1786
Princess Caroline 10 June 1713 28 December 1757
Stillborn son 20 November 1716
Prince George William 13 November 1717 17 February 1718 died in infancy
Miscarriage 1718
Prince William, Duke of Cumberland 26 April 1721 31 October 1765
Princess Mary 5 March 1723 14 January 1772 married 1740, Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel; had issue
Princess Louisa 18 December 1724 19 December 1751 married 1743, Frederick V, King of Denmark and Norway; had issue
Miscarriage July 1725
Dates in this table are New Style

Genealogical table edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Over the course of Caroline's life, two calendars were used: the Old Style Julian calendar and the New Style Gregorian calendar. Hanover switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar on 19 February (Old Style) / 1 March (New Style) 1700. Great Britain switched on 3/14 September 1752, after Caroline's death. Unless otherwise indicated, dates before September 1752 are Old Style. All dates after September 1752 are New Style. All years are assumed to start from 1 January and not 25 March, which was the English New Year.
  2. ^ The circumstances of Caroline's death led Alexander Pope, an opponent of the court and Walpole, to write the epigram: "Here lies, wrapt up in forty thousand towels; the only proof that Caroline had bowels." (Warton, p. 308).

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Weir, pp. 277–278.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Taylor.
  3. ^ Arkell, p. 5.
  4. ^ Arkell, p. 6; Van der Kiste, p. 12.
  5. ^ Arkell, p. 6; Hichens, p. 19.
  6. ^ Arkell, pp. 6–7.
  7. ^ a b Hichens, p. 19.
  8. ^ a b Van der Kiste, p. 13.
  9. ^ Hanham, p. 279.
  10. ^ Arkell, p. 18.
  11. ^ Arkell, pp. 9–13.
  12. ^ a b Van der Kiste, p. 14.
  13. ^ Arkell, p. 18; Fryer et al., p. 33; Hichens, p. 19; Van der Kiste, p. 15.
  14. ^ Hanham, p. 281.
  15. ^ Hanoverian envoy Baron Philipp Adam von Eltz, quoted in Quennell, p. 19.
  16. ^ Arkell, p. 19; Van der Kiste, p. 15.
  17. ^ a b c Fryer et al., p. 33.
  18. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 17.
  19. ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 18–19.
  20. ^ Arkell, pp. 38–39; Van der Kiste, p. 21.
  21. ^ a b c Fryer et al., p. 34.
  22. ^ a b Hichens, p. 21.
  23. ^ Arkell, pp. 70, 149.
  24. ^ Fryer et al., p. 36.
  25. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 30.
  26. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 28.
  27. ^ Arkell, p. 57.
  28. ^ Arkell, pp. 64–66; Van der Kiste, p. 36.
  29. ^ Arkell, p. 67; Hanham, p. 285; Van der Kiste, p. 38.
  30. ^ Hanham, p. 284.
  31. ^ Fryer et al., p. 34; Hanham, pp. 286–287.
  32. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 60.
  33. ^ Arkell, p. 102.
  34. ^ Hanham, p. 289; Hichens, p. 23.
  35. ^ Arkell, pp. 102–105; Van der Kiste, p. 64.
  36. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 66.
  37. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 67.
  38. ^ Arkell, p. 112; Van der Kiste, p. 68.
  39. ^ Dennison, p. 185.
  40. ^ Fryer et al., p. 37.
  41. ^ a b Dennison, p. 211.
  42. ^ Quennell, pp. 79–81; Van der Kiste, pp. 72–73.
  43. ^ Arkell, pp. 125–126.
  44. ^ Arkell, pp. 135–136.
  45. ^ Arkell, p. 136; Van der Kiste, p. 82.
  46. ^ Giblin, James Cross (1995). When plague strikes: the Black Death, smallpox, AIDS (HarperTrophy ed.). New York: HarperCollins. p. 81. ISBN 0064461955.
  47. ^ Arkell, pp. 133–135; Van der Kiste, p. 83.
  48. ^ Voltaire's "Eleventh Letter: On Smallpox Inoculation" in Philosophical Letters, Or Letters Regarding the English Nation (1733/4).
  49. ^ Hanham, p. 292; Weir, pp. 277–278.
  50. ^ Black, pp. 29–31, 53 and 61.
  51. ^ Arkell, p. 147; Van der Kiste, p. 93.
  52. ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 104–105.
  53. ^ a b Van der Kiste, p. 119.
  54. ^ Arkell, pp. 167–169.
  55. ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 126–127.
  56. ^ Arkell, pp. 197–203.
  57. ^ Arkell, p. 67; Van der Kiste, p. 41.
  58. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 124.
  59. ^ Arkell, pp. 247–249; Van der Kiste, pp. 101–102.
  60. ^ Arkell, p. 245; Van der Kiste, p. 123.
  61. ^ Arkell, p. 212; Van der Kiste, p. 134.
  62. ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 135–136.
  63. ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 139–140.
  64. ^ Arkell, pp. 258–259; Van der Kiste, p. 148.
  65. ^ Quennell, pp. 285–288; Van der Kiste, pp. 150–152.
  66. ^ Arkell, p. 264; Quennell, p. 291; Van der Kiste, p. 52.
  67. ^ Arkell, pp. 272–274; Van der Kiste, p. 154.
  68. ^ Arkell, p. 279; Van der Kiste, p. 155.
  69. ^ Arkell, p. 278; Van der Kiste, p. 156.
  70. ^ a b Van der Kiste, p. 157.
  71. ^ Quennell, p. 295.
  72. ^ Arkell, pp. 229–230; Van der Kiste, p. 108.
  73. ^ Arkell, p. 225; Van der Kiste, p. 136.
  74. ^ Lucy Worsley, "The First Georgians The German Kings Who Made Britain", BBC Documentary 2014
  75. ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 161–163.
  76. ^ Arkell, p. 289; Van der Kiste, p. 161.
  77. ^ Arkell, p. 289; Van der Kiste, p. 162.
  78. ^ Arkell, pp. 290–291; Quennell, p. 323; Van der Kiste, p. 162.
  79. ^ Jones, Emrys D. (2011). "Royal ruptures: Caroline of Ansbach and the politics of illness in the 1730s". Medical Humanities. 37 (1): 13–17. doi:10.1136/jmh.2010.005819. PMID 21593245. S2CID 207000346.
  80. ^ "George II and Caroline". Westminster Abbey.
  81. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 164.
  82. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 165.
  83. ^ Arkell, p. 149; Van der Kiste, p. 102.
  84. ^ Arkell, p. 149; Quennell, pp. 165–166.
  85. ^ Quennell, pp. 168–170.
  86. ^ Quoted in Van der Kiste, p. 165.
  87. ^ e.g. Letter to Caroline from a Viennese bishop, quoted in Arkell, p. 8.
  88. ^ e.g. Arkell, pp. 27 ff.
  89. ^ e.g. copies of London Gazette, 1714–1727.
  90. ^ e.g. Letter from Berlin to Prussian envoy Wallenrodt, 7 October 1727, quoted in Arkell, p. 160.
  91. ^ Wingfield, p. 1.
  92. ^ Boutell, pp. 245–246; Willement, p. 104.
  93. ^ Weir, pp. 277–285.
  94. ^ Quennell, p. 2; Van der Kiste, p. 217.

Sources edit

  • Arkell, R. L. (1939). Caroline of Ansbach. London: Oxford University Press.
  • Black, Jeremy (2001). Walpole in Power. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2523-X.
  • Boutell, Charles (2010) [1863]. A Manual of Heraldry, Historical and Popular. London: Windsor and Newton. pp. 245–246. ISBN 978-1-153-77482-6.
  • Dennison, Matthew (2017). The First Iron Lady. London: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-00-812199-0.
  • Fryer, M.; Fryer, Mary Beacock; Bousfield, Arthur; Toffoli, Garry (1983). Lives of the Princesses of Wales. Toronto: Dundern Press Limited. ISBN 978-0-919670-69-3.
  • Hanham, Andrew (2004). "Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach and the 'anglicisation' of the House of Hanover". In Campbell Orr, Clarissa (ed.). Queenship in Europe 1660–1815: The Role of the Consort. Cambridge University Press. pp. 276–299. ISBN 0-521-81422-7.
  • Hichens, Mark (2006). Wives of the Kings of England, From Hanover to Windsor. London: Peter Owen Publishers. ISBN 0-7206-1271-3.
  • Quennell, Peter (1939). Caroline of England. London: Collins.
  • Taylor, Stephen. "Caroline (1683–1737)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4720. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Van der Kiste, John (1997). George II and Queen Caroline. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1321-5.
  • Warton, Joseph, ed. (1797). The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq. Vol. 4. London: B. Law et al.
  • Weir, Alison (2008). Britain's Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5.
  • Willement, Thomas (1821). Regal Heraldry. London: W. Wilson. ASIN B000OKQJTM.
  • Wingfield, Marshall (1924). A History of Caroline County, Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Trewet Christian.

Further reading edit

  • Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Caroline" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Gerrard, Christine (2002). "Queens-in-waiting: Caroline of Anspach and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha as Princesses of Wales". In Campbell Orr, Clarissa (ed.). Queenship in Britain, 1660–1837: Royal Patronage, Court Culture and Dynastic Politics. Manchester University Press. pp. 142–161. ISBN 0-7190-5770-1.
  • Marschner, Joanna (2002). "Queen Caroline of Anspach and the European museum princely tradition". In Campbell Orr, Clarissa (ed.). Queenship in Britain, 1660–1837: Royal Patronage, Court Culture and Dynastic Politics. Manchester University Press. pp. 130–142. ISBN 0-7190-5770-1.
  • Ward, Adolphus William (1887). "Caroline (1683-1737)" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 9. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  • Wilkins, William Henry (1901). Caroline, the illustrious Queen-Consort of George II. and sometime Queen-Regent: a study of her life and time, Volume I. Longmans, Green, and Co.
  • Wilkins, William Henry (1904). Caroline, the illustrious Queen-Consort of George II. and sometime Queen-Regent: a study of her life and time, Volume II. Longmans, Green, and Co.

External links edit

Caroline of Ansbach
Born: 1 March 1683 Died: 20 November 1737
Royal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
George of Denmark
as consort
Queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland
1727–1737
Vacant
Title next held by
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Vacant
Title last held by
Sophia of the Palatinate
Electress consort of Hanover
1727–1737

caroline, ansbach, caroline, brandenburg, ansbach, wilhelmina, charlotte, caroline, march, 1683, november, 1737, queen, great, britain, ireland, electress, hanover, from, june, 1727, until, death, 1737, wife, king, george, portrait, michael, dahl, 1730queen, c. Caroline of Brandenburg Ansbach Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline 1 March 1683 20 November 1737 a was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Electress of Hanover from 11 June 1727 until her death in 1737 as the wife of King George II Caroline of AnsbachPortrait by Michael Dahl c 1730Queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland Electress consort of HanoverTenure11 June 1727 20 November 1737Coronation11 October 1727 a Born 1683 03 01 1 March 1683Ansbach Residence Principality of Ansbach Holy Roman EmpireDied20 November 1737 1737 11 20 aged 54 St James s Palace London Great BritainBurial17 December 1737Westminster Abbey LondonSpouseGeorge II of Great Britain m 1705 wbr IssueFrederick Prince of Wales Anne Princess of Orange Princess Amelia Princess Caroline Prince George William Prince William Duke of Cumberland Mary Landgravine of Hesse Kassel Louisa Queen of Denmark and NorwayNamesWilhelmina Charlotte CarolineGerman Wilhelmine Charlotte KarolineHouseHohenzollernFatherJohn Frederick Margrave of Brandenburg AnsbachMotherPrincess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe EisenachSignature Caroline s father Margrave John Frederick of Brandenburg Ansbach belonged to a branch of the House of Hohenzollern and was the ruler of a small German state the Principality of Ansbach After Caroline was orphaned at a young age she moved to the enlightened court of her guardians King Frederick I and Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia At the Prussian court her previously limited education was widened and she adopted the liberal outlook possessed by Sophia Charlotte who became her good friend and whose views influenced Caroline all her life When she was a young woman Caroline was much sought after as a bride After rejecting the suit of Archduke Charles of Austria a claimant to the Spanish throne she married George Augustus who was third in line to the English throne and subsequently the British throne and heir apparent to the Electorate of Hanover They had eight children seven of whom reached adulthood Caroline moved to Britain permanently in 1714 when her husband became Prince of Wales As Princess of Wales she joined George Augustus in rallying political opposition to his father King George I In 1717 after a family row George Augustus was expelled from court Caroline came to be associated with Robert Walpole an opposition politician who was a former government minister Walpole rejoined the government in 1720 and George Augustus reconciled publicly with his father on Walpole s advice Over the next few years Walpole rose to become the leading minister Upon her husband s accession in 1727 Caroline became queen and electress and her eldest son Frederick became Prince of Wales He was a focus for the opposition like his father before him and Caroline s relationship with him was strained As princess and as queen Caroline was known for her political influence which she exercised both through and for Walpole Her tenure included four regencies which occurred during George II s stays in Hanover she is credited with strengthening the House of Hanover s place in Britain during a period of political instability After her death in 1737 Caroline was widely mourned by her political allies as well as by the King who refused to remarry Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Education 2 Marriage 3 Princess of Wales 4 Queen consort and regent 5 Final years 6 Legacy 7 Titles styles honours and arms 7 1 Titles and styles 7 2 Honours 7 3 Arms 8 Issue 9 Genealogical table 10 Notes 11 References 11 1 Sources 12 Further reading 13 External linksEarly life edit nbsp Ansbach in the 17th century Caroline was born on 1 March 1683 at Ansbach the daughter of John Frederick Margrave of Brandenburg Ansbach and his second wife Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe Eisenach 1 2 Her father was the ruler of one of the smallest German states he died of smallpox at the age of 32 when Caroline was three years old Caroline and her only full sibling her younger brother Margrave William Frederick left Ansbach with their mother who returned to her native Eisenach 3 In 1692 Caroline s widowed mother was pushed into an unhappy marriage with the Elector of Saxony and she and her two children moved to the Saxon court at Dresden Eleonore Erdmuthe was widowed again two years later after her unfaithful husband contracted smallpox from his mistress 4 Eleonore remained in Saxony for another two years until her death in 1696 2 5 The orphaned Caroline and William Frederick returned to Ansbach to stay with their elder half brother Margrave George Frederick II George Frederick was a youth with little interest in parenting a girl and so Caroline soon moved to Lutzenburg outside Berlin where she entered into the care of her new guardians Frederick Elector of Brandenburg and his wife Sophia Charlotte who had been a friend of Eleonore Erdmuthe 6 Education edit Frederick and Sophia Charlotte became king and queen of Prussia in 1701 The Queen was the daughter of Sophia Dowager Electress of Hanover and the sister of George Elector of Hanover She was renowned for her intelligence and strong character and her uncensored and liberal court attracted a great many scholars including philosopher Gottfried Leibniz 7 Caroline was exposed to a lively intellectual environment quite different from anything she had experienced previously Before she began her education under Sophia Charlotte s care Caroline had received little formal education her handwriting remained poor throughout her life 2 8 With her lively mind Caroline developed into a scholar of considerable ability 7 She and Sophia Charlotte developed a strong relationship in which Caroline was treated as a surrogate daughter 9 the Queen once declared Berlin was a desert without Caroline whenever she left temporarily for Ansbach 2 8 Marriage edit nbsp Engraving of the royal couple and their seven children who survived infancy An intelligent and attractive woman Caroline was much sought after as a bride Dowager Electress Sophia called her the most agreeable Princess in Germany 10 She was considered for the hand of Archduke Charles of Austria who was a candidate for the throne of Spain and later became Holy Roman Emperor Charles made official overtures to her in 1703 and the match was encouraged by King Frederick of Prussia After some consideration Caroline refused in 1704 as she would not convert from Lutheranism to Catholicism 2 11 Early in the following year Queen Sophia Charlotte died on a visit to her native Hanover 12 Caroline was devastated writing to Leibniz The calamity has overwhelmed me with grief and sickness and it is only the hope that I may soon follow her that consoles me 12 In June 1705 Sophia Charlotte s nephew Prince George Augustus of Hanover visited the Ansbach court supposedly incognito to inspect Caroline as his father the Elector did not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he himself had 13 The nephew of three childless uncles George Augustus was under pressure to marry and father an heir to prevent endangering the Hanoverian succession 14 He had heard reports of Caroline s incomparable beauty and mental attributes 15 He immediately took a liking to her good character and the British envoy reported that George Augustus would not think of anybody else after her 2 16 For her part Caroline was not fooled by the prince s disguise and found her suitor attractive 17 He was the heir apparent of his father s Electorate of Hanover and third in line to the English throne then held by his distant cousin Queen Anne after his grandmother Dowager Electress Sophia and his father the Elector 17 On 22 August 1705 Caroline arrived in Hanover for her wedding to George Augustus they were married that evening in the palace chapel at Herrenhausen 1 2 18 By May of the following year Caroline was pregnant and her first child Prince Frederick was born on 20 January 1707 19 A few months after the birth in July Caroline fell seriously ill with smallpox followed by pneumonia Her baby was kept away from her but George Augustus remained devotedly at her side catching the infection himself They both survived 20 Over the next seven years Caroline had three more children Anne Amelia and Caroline all of whom were born in Hanover 21 nbsp Henrietta Howard Countess of Suffolk pictured was one of Caroline s Women of the Bedchamber in addition to being one of Caroline s husband s mistresses George Augustus and Caroline had a successful and loving marriage though he continued to keep mistresses as was customary for the time 22 Caroline was aware of his infidelities they were well known and he told her about them himself His two best known mistresses were Henrietta Howard later Countess of Suffolk and beginning in 1735 Amalie von Wallmoden Countess of Yarmouth Howard was one of Caroline s Women of the Bedchamber and became Mistress of the Robes when her husband inherited a peerage in 1731 she retired in 1734 23 In contrast with George Augustus and his mother Sophia Dorothea Caroline was known for her marital fidelity she never made any embarrassing scenes nor did she take lovers 22 She preferred her husband s mistresses to be her ladies in waiting so that she could keep a closer eye on them 24 After the union of England and Scotland in 1707 the succession of George Augustus s family to the united British throne was confirmed but insecure since Queen Anne s half brother James Stuart contested the Hanoverian claim and Anne had fallen out with Dowager Electress Sophia The Queen refused permission for any of the Hanoverians to visit Britain in her lifetime 25 Caroline wrote to Leibniz I accept the comparison which you draw though all too flattering between me and Queen Elizabeth as a good omen Like Elizabeth the Electress s rights are denied her by a jealous sister Queen Anne and she will never be sure of the English crown until her accession to the throne 26 In June 1714 Sophia died in Caroline s arms at the age of 83 and Caroline s father in law became Queen Anne s heir presumptive Just weeks later Anne died and the Elector of Hanover was proclaimed her successor becoming George I of Great Britain 27 Princess of Wales edit nbsp The Princess of Wales painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller in 1716 George Augustus sailed to England in September 1714 and Caroline and two of her daughters followed in October 28 Her journey across the North Sea from The Hague to Margate was the only sea voyage she took in her life 29 Their young son Prince Frederick remained in Hanover for the rest of George I s reign and was brought up by private tutors 21 On the accession of George I in 1714 George Augustus automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay Shortly afterwards he was invested as Prince of Wales whereupon Caroline became Princess of Wales She was the first woman to receive the title at the same time as her husband received his 17 She was also the first Princess of Wales in over two hundred years the previous one being Catherine of Aragon in the 16th century Since George I had repudiated his wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle in 1694 before he became King of Great Britain there was no queen consort and Caroline was therefore the highest ranking woman in the kingdom 21 George Augustus and Caroline made a concerted effort to anglicise by getting to know England s language people politics and customs 30 Two separate and very different courts developed the old king s court had German courtiers and government ministers while the Wales s court attracted English nobles who were out of favour with the King and was considerably more popular with the British people George Augustus and Caroline gradually became centres of the political opposition to the King 31 Two years after their arrival in England Caroline suffered a stillbirth which her friend the Countess of Buckeburg blamed on the incompetence of English doctors 32 but the following year she had another son Prince George William in November At the baptism George Augustus fell out with his father over the choice of godparents leading to the couple s placement under house arrest at St James s Palace prior to their banishment from court 33 Caroline was originally allowed to stay with their children but refused as she believed her place was with George Augustus 34 The couple moved into Leicester House while their children remained in the care of the King 35 Caroline fell sick with worry and fainted during a secret visit to her children made without the King s approval 36 By January the King had relented and allowed Caroline unrestricted access In February Prince George William fell ill and the King allowed both George Augustus and Caroline to see him at Kensington Palace without any conditions When the baby died a post mortem was conducted to prove that the cause of death was disease a polyp on the heart rather than the separation from his mother 37 Further tragedy occurred in 1718 when she miscarried at Richmond Lodge her country residence 38 after being startled by a violent storm 39 Over the next few years Caroline had three more children William Mary and Louise 40 In July 1725 her 11th and final pregnancy ended in a second miscarriage 41 Leicester House became a frequent meeting place for the ministry s political opponents Caroline struck up a friendship with politician Sir Robert Walpole a former minister in the Whig government who led a disgruntled faction of the party In April 1720 Walpole s wing of the Whig party reconciled with the governing wing and Walpole and Caroline helped to effect a reconciliation between the King and George Augustus for the sake of public unity 2 42 Caroline wanted to regain her three eldest daughters who remained in the care of the King and thought the reconciliation would lead to their return but negotiations came to nothing George Augustus came to believe that Walpole had tricked him into the reconciliation as part of a scheme to gain power The prince was isolated politically when Walpole s Whigs joined the government 43 and Leicester House played host to literary figures and wits such as John Arbuthnot and Jonathan Swift rather than politicians 44 Arbuthnot told Swift that Caroline had enjoyed his Gulliver s Travels particularly the tale of the crown prince who wore one high heel and one low heel in a country where the King and his party wore low heels and the opposition wore high ones a barely veiled reference to the political leanings of the Prince of Wales 45 Caroline s intellect far outstripped her husband s and she read avidly She established an extensive library at St James s Palace As a young woman she corresponded with Gottfried Leibniz the intellectual colossus who was courtier and factotum to the House of Hanover She later facilitated the Leibniz Clarke correspondence arguably the most important philosophy of physics discussion of the 18th century She helped to popularise the practice of variolation an early type of immunisation which had been witnessed by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Charles Maitland in Constantinople At the direction of Caroline six condemned prisoners from Newgate Prison 46 were offered the chance to undergo variolation instead of execution they all survived as did six orphan children given the same treatment as a further test Convinced of its medical value Caroline had her children Amelia Caroline and Frederick inoculated against smallpox in the same manner 47 In praising her support for smallpox inoculation Voltaire wrote of her I must say that despite all her titles and crowns this princess was born to encourage the arts and the well being of mankind even on the throne she is a benevolent philosopher and she has never lost an opportunity to learn or to manifest her generosity 48 Queen consort and regent edit nbsp Official coronation medal of Queen Caroline in 1727 by J Croker nbsp Portrait by Jacopo Amigoni 1735 On George I s death in 1727 George Augustus ascended as George II and Caroline became queen consort George II and Caroline s coronation was held at Westminster Abbey on 11 October that year 49 Though George II denounced Walpole as a rogue and rascal over the terms of the reconciliation with his father Caroline advised her husband to retain Walpole as the leading minister 2 Walpole commanded a substantial majority in Parliament and George II had little choice but to accept him or risk ministerial instability 50 Walpole secured a civil list payment of 100 000 a year for Caroline and she was given both Somerset House and Richmond Lodge 51 Courtier Lord Hervey called Walpole the Queen s minister in recognition of their close relationship 2 For the next ten years Caroline had immense influence She persuaded the King to adopt policies at the behest of Walpole and persuaded Walpole against taking inflammatory actions Caroline had absorbed the liberal opinions of her mentor Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia and supported clemency for the Jacobites supporters of the rival Stuart claim to the throne freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Parliament 52 Over the next few years the King and Queen fought a constant battle against their eldest son Frederick Prince of Wales who had been left behind in Germany when they came to England He joined the family in 1728 by which time he was an adult had mistresses and debts and was fond of gambling and practical jokes He opposed his father s political beliefs and complained of his lack of influence in government 2 53 The Regency Act 1728 made Caroline rather than Frederick regent when her husband was in Hanover for five months from May 1729 During her regency a diplomatic incident with Portugal where a British ship had been seized on the Tagus was defused and the negotiation of the Treaty of Seville between Britain and Spain was concluded 53 54 From May 1732 she was regent for four months while George II was again away in Hanover An investigation into the penal system uncovered widespread abuses including cruel treatment and conspiracy in the escape of wealthy convicts Caroline pressed Walpole for reform largely unsuccessfully 55 In March 1733 Walpole introduced an unpopular Excise Bill to parliament which the Queen supported but it gathered such strong opposition that it was eventually dropped 56 Caroline s entire life in Britain was spent in southeast England in or around London 57 As queen she continued to surround herself with artists writers and intellectuals She collected jewellery especially cameos and intaglios acquired important portraits and miniatures and enjoyed the visual arts She commissioned works such as terracotta busts of the kings and queens of England from Michael Rysbrack 58 and supervised a more naturalistic design of the royal gardens by William Kent and Charles Bridgeman 59 In 1728 she rediscovered sets of sketches by Leonardo da Vinci and Hans Holbein that had been hidden in a drawer since the reign of William III 60 Caroline s eldest daughter Anne married William IV of Orange in 1734 and moved with her husband to the Netherlands Caroline wrote to her daughter of her indescribable sadness at the parting 61 Anne soon felt homesick and travelled back to England when her husband went on campaign Eventually her husband and father commanded her to return to Holland 62 Final years edit nbsp Portrait by Joseph Highmore 1735 In mid 1735 Prince Frederick was further dismayed when Caroline rather than himself again acted as regent while the King was absent in Hanover 63 The King and Queen arranged Frederick s marriage in 1736 to Princess Augusta of Saxe Gotha Shortly after the wedding George went to Hanover and Caroline resumed her role as Protector of the Realm As regent Caroline considered the reprieve of Captain John Porteous who had been convicted of murder in Edinburgh Before she could act a mob stormed the jail where he was held and killed him Caroline was appalled 64 George s absences abroad were leading to unpopularity and in late 1736 he made plans to return but his ship was caught in poor weather and it was rumoured that he had been lost at sea Caroline was devastated and disgusted by the insensitivity of her son who hosted a grand dinner while the gale was blowing 65 During her regency Frederick attempted to start a number of quarrels with his mother whom he saw as a useful proxy to irritate the King 2 George eventually returned in January 1737 66 Frederick applied to Parliament unsuccessfully for an increased financial allowance that had hitherto been denied him by the King and public disagreement over the money drove a further wedge between parents and son On the advice of Walpole Frederick s allowance was raised in an attempt to mitigate further conflict but by less than he had asked 67 In June 1737 Frederick informed his parents that Augusta was pregnant and due to give birth in October In fact Augusta s due date was earlier and a peculiar episode followed in July in which the prince on discovering that his wife had gone into labour sneaked her out of Hampton Court Palace in the middle of the night to ensure that the King and Queen could not be present at the birth 68 George and Caroline were horrified Traditionally royal births were witnessed by members of the family and senior courtiers to guard against supposititious children and Augusta had been forced by her husband to ride in a rattling carriage for an hour and a half while heavily pregnant and in pain With a party including her daughters Amelia and Caroline and Lord Hervey the Queen raced over to St James s Palace where Frederick had taken Augusta 69 Caroline was relieved to discover that Augusta had given birth to a poor ugly little she mouse also called Augusta rather than a large fat healthy boy as the pitiful nature of the baby made a supposititious child unlikely 70 The circumstances of the birth deepened the estrangement between mother and son 70 According to Lord Hervey she once remarked after seeing Frederick Look there he goes that wretch that villain I wish the ground would open this moment and sink the monster to the lowest hole in hell 2 71 In the final years of her life Caroline was troubled by gout in her feet 72 but more seriously she had suffered an umbilical hernia at the birth of her final child in 1724 73 On 9 November 1737 she felt an intense pain and after struggling through a formal reception took to her bed Part of her small intestine had poked through the hernia opening 74 Over the next few days she was bled purged and operated on without anaesthetic but there was no improvement in her condition 75 George refused Frederick permission to see his mother 76 a decision with which she complied she sent her son a message of forgiveness through Walpole 77 She asked her husband to remarry after her death which he rejected saying he would take only mistresses she replied Ah mon Dieu cela n empeche pas My God that doesn t prevent it 78 On 17 November her strangulated bowel burst 79 b She died on 20 November 1737 at St James s Palace 1 Caroline was buried in Westminster Abbey on 17 December 80 Frederick was not invited to the funeral George Frideric Handel composed an anthem for the occasion The Ways of Zion Do Mourn Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline George arranged for a pair of matching coffins with removable sides so that when he followed her to the grave 23 years later they could lie together again 81 Legacy edit nbsp Memorial to Caroline on the bank of the Serpentine a picturesque lake in London created at her request Caroline was widely mourned The Protestants lauded her moral example and even the Jacobites acknowledged her compassion and her intervention on the side of mercy for their compatriots 82 During her lifetime her refusal to convert when offered the hand of Archduke Charles was used to portray her as a strong adherent to Protestantism 2 For example John Gay wrote of Caroline in A Letter to A Lady 1714 The pomp of titles easy faith might shake She scorn d an empire for religion s sake For this on earth the British crown is giv n And an immortal crown decreed in heav n Caroline was widely seen by both the public and the court as having great influence over her husband 83 A satirical verse of the period went 84 You may strut dapper George but twill all be in vain We all know tis Queen Caroline not you that reign You govern no more than Don Philip of Spain Then if you would have us fall down and adore you Lock up your fat spouse as your dad did before you The memoirs of the 18th century particularly those of John Lord Hervey fed perceptions that Caroline and Walpole governed her husband Peter Quennell wrote that Hervey was the chronicler of this remarkable coalition and that she was Hervey s heroine 85 Using such sources biographers of the 19th and 20th centuries credit her with aiding the establishment of the House of Hanover in Britain in the face of Jacobite opposition R L Arkell wrote by her acumen and geniality Caroline ensured the dynasty s rooting itself in England and William Henry Wilkins said her gracious and dignified personality her lofty ideals and pure life did much to counteract the unpopularity of her husband and father in law and redeem the early Georgian era from utter grossness 86 Although modern historians tend to believe that Hervey Wilkins and Arkell have overestimated her importance it is nevertheless probable that Caroline of Ansbach was one of the most influential consorts in British history 2 Titles styles honours and arms editTitles and styles edit 1683 1705 Her Serene Highness 87 Princess Caroline of Brandenburg Ansbach 1705 1714 Her Serene Highness The Electoral Princess of Hanover 88 1714 1727 Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales 89 1727 1737 Her Majesty The Queen 90 Honours edit Caroline County in the British Colony of Virginia was named in the Queen s honour when it was formed in 1727 91 Arms edit The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom are impaled with those of Caroline s father The arms of her father were quarterly of fifteen 1st per fess gules and argent within a bordure counter changed of the same for Magdeburg 2nd argent an eagle displayed sable crowned or 3rd or a griffin segreant gules crowned 4th and 5th argent a griffin segreant gules 6th or a griffin segreant sable 7th argent an eagle displayed sable for Crossen 8th per pale argent and gules within a bordure counter changed of the same for Halberstadt 9th argent an eagle displayed sable 10th or a lion rampant sable crowned within a bordure gobone argent and gules for Nuremberg 11th gules two keys in saltire or for Minden 12th quarterly argent and sable for Hohenzollern 13th the field gules the figure argent 14th per fess gules and argent 15th plain field of gules for right of regalia overall an inescutcheon argent an eagle displayed gules for Brandenburg 92 nbsp Queen Caroline s coat of arms the royal arms of the United Kingdom dexter impaling her father s armsIssue editCaroline s ten 93 or eleven 41 pregnancies resulted in eight live births of whom one died in infancy and seven lived to adulthood Name Birth Death Notes Frederick Prince of Wales 31 January 1707 31 March 1751 married 1736 Princess Augusta of Saxe Gotha had issue including the future George III Anne Princess Royal 2 November 1709 12 January 1759 married 1734 William IV Prince of Orange had issue Princess Amelia 10 June 1711 31 October 1786 Princess Caroline 10 June 1713 28 December 1757 Stillborn son 20 November 1716 Prince George William 13 November 1717 17 February 1718 died in infancy Miscarriage 1718 Prince William Duke of Cumberland 26 April 1721 31 October 1765 Princess Mary 5 March 1723 14 January 1772 married 1740 Frederick II Landgrave of Hesse Kassel had issue Princess Louisa 18 December 1724 19 December 1751 married 1743 Frederick V King of Denmark and Norway had issue Miscarriage July 1725 Dates in this table are New StyleGenealogical table editCaroline s relationship with the previous kings and queens of Britain 94 James I of EnglandAnne of Denmark Henrietta Maria of FranceCharles I of EnglandElizabeth of BohemiaFrederick V of the Palatinate Catherine of BraganzaCharles II of EnglandWilliam II of OrangeMary Princess RoyalAnne HydeJames II of EnglandMary of ModenaSophia of HanoverErnest Augustus of Brunswick Luneburg William III of EnglandMary II of EnglandAnne Queen of Great BritainGeorge of DenmarkJames Francis EdwardClementina SobieskaGeorge I of Great BritainSophia Dorothea of Celle Charles Edward StuartLouise of StolbergGeorge II of Great BritainCaroline of AnsbachNotes edit a b Over the course of Caroline s life two calendars were used the Old Style Julian calendar and the New Style Gregorian calendar Hanover switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar on 19 February Old Style 1 March New Style 1700 Great Britain switched on 3 14 September 1752 after Caroline s death Unless otherwise indicated dates before September 1752 are Old Style All dates after September 1752 are New Style All years are assumed to start from 1 January and not 25 March which was the English New Year The circumstances of Caroline s death led Alexander Pope an opponent of the court and Walpole to write the epigram Here lies wrapt up in forty thousand towels the only proof that Caroline had bowels Warton p 308 References edit a b c Weir pp 277 278 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Taylor Arkell p 5 Arkell p 6 Van der Kiste p 12 Arkell p 6 Hichens p 19 Arkell pp 6 7 a b Hichens p 19 a b Van der Kiste p 13 Hanham p 279 Arkell p 18 Arkell pp 9 13 a b Van der Kiste p 14 Arkell p 18 Fryer et al p 33 Hichens p 19 Van der Kiste p 15 Hanham p 281 Hanoverian envoy Baron Philipp Adam von Eltz quoted in Quennell p 19 Arkell p 19 Van der Kiste p 15 a b c Fryer et al p 33 Van der Kiste p 17 Van der Kiste pp 18 19 Arkell pp 38 39 Van der Kiste p 21 a b c Fryer et al p 34 a b Hichens p 21 Arkell pp 70 149 Fryer et al p 36 Van der Kiste p 30 Van der Kiste p 28 Arkell p 57 Arkell pp 64 66 Van der Kiste p 36 Arkell p 67 Hanham p 285 Van der Kiste p 38 Hanham p 284 Fryer et al p 34 Hanham pp 286 287 Van der Kiste p 60 Arkell p 102 Hanham p 289 Hichens p 23 Arkell pp 102 105 Van der Kiste p 64 Van der Kiste p 66 Van der Kiste p 67 Arkell p 112 Van der Kiste p 68 Dennison p 185 Fryer et al p 37 a b Dennison p 211 Quennell pp 79 81 Van der Kiste pp 72 73 Arkell pp 125 126 Arkell pp 135 136 Arkell p 136 Van der Kiste p 82 Giblin James Cross 1995 When plague strikes the Black Death smallpox AIDS HarperTrophy ed New York HarperCollins p 81 ISBN 0064461955 Arkell pp 133 135 Van der Kiste p 83 Voltaire s Eleventh Letter On Smallpox Inoculation in Philosophical Letters Or Letters Regarding the English Nation 1733 4 Hanham p 292 Weir pp 277 278 Black pp 29 31 53 and 61 Arkell p 147 Van der Kiste p 93 Van der Kiste pp 104 105 a b Van der Kiste p 119 Arkell pp 167 169 Van der Kiste pp 126 127 Arkell pp 197 203 Arkell p 67 Van der Kiste p 41 Van der Kiste p 124 Arkell pp 247 249 Van der Kiste pp 101 102 Arkell p 245 Van der Kiste p 123 Arkell p 212 Van der Kiste p 134 Van der Kiste pp 135 136 Van der Kiste pp 139 140 Arkell pp 258 259 Van der Kiste p 148 Quennell pp 285 288 Van der Kiste pp 150 152 Arkell p 264 Quennell p 291 Van der Kiste p 52 Arkell pp 272 274 Van der Kiste p 154 Arkell p 279 Van der Kiste p 155 Arkell p 278 Van der Kiste p 156 a b Van der Kiste p 157 Quennell p 295 Arkell pp 229 230 Van der Kiste p 108 Arkell p 225 Van der Kiste p 136 Lucy Worsley The First Georgians The German Kings Who Made Britain BBC Documentary 2014 Van der Kiste pp 161 163 Arkell p 289 Van der Kiste p 161 Arkell p 289 Van der Kiste p 162 Arkell pp 290 291 Quennell p 323 Van der Kiste p 162 Jones Emrys D 2011 Royal ruptures Caroline of Ansbach and the politics of illness in the 1730s Medical Humanities 37 1 13 17 doi 10 1136 jmh 2010 005819 PMID 21593245 S2CID 207000346 George II and Caroline Westminster Abbey Van der Kiste p 164 Van der Kiste p 165 Arkell p 149 Van der Kiste p 102 Arkell p 149 Quennell pp 165 166 Quennell pp 168 170 Quoted in Van der Kiste p 165 e g Letter to Caroline from a Viennese bishop quoted in Arkell p 8 e g Arkell pp 27 ff e g copies of London Gazette 1714 1727 e g Letter from Berlin to Prussian envoy Wallenrodt 7 October 1727 quoted in Arkell p 160 Wingfield p 1 Boutell pp 245 246 Willement p 104 Weir pp 277 285 Quennell p 2 Van der Kiste p 217 Sources edit Arkell R L 1939 Caroline of Ansbach London Oxford University Press Black Jeremy 2001 Walpole in Power Stroud Gloucestershire Sutton Publishing ISBN 0 7509 2523 X Boutell Charles 2010 1863 A Manual of Heraldry Historical and Popular London Windsor and Newton pp 245 246 ISBN 978 1 153 77482 6 Dennison Matthew 2017 The First Iron Lady London Harper Collins Publishers ISBN 978 0 00 812199 0 Fryer M Fryer Mary Beacock Bousfield Arthur Toffoli Garry 1983 Lives of the Princesses of Wales Toronto Dundern Press Limited ISBN 978 0 919670 69 3 Hanham Andrew 2004 Caroline of Brandenburg Ansbach and the anglicisation of the House of Hanover In Campbell Orr Clarissa ed Queenship in Europe 1660 1815 The Role of the Consort Cambridge University Press pp 276 299 ISBN 0 521 81422 7 Hichens Mark 2006 Wives of the Kings of England From Hanover to Windsor London Peter Owen Publishers ISBN 0 7206 1271 3 Quennell Peter 1939 Caroline of England London Collins Taylor Stephen Caroline 1683 1737 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 4720 Subscription or UK public library membership required Van der Kiste John 1997 George II and Queen Caroline Stroud Gloucestershire Sutton Publishing ISBN 0 7509 1321 5 Warton Joseph ed 1797 The Works of Alexander Pope Esq Vol 4 London B Law et al Weir Alison 2008 Britain s Royal Families The Complete Genealogy London Vintage Books ISBN 978 0 09 953973 5 Willement Thomas 1821 Regal Heraldry London W Wilson ASIN B000OKQJTM Wingfield Marshall 1924 A History of Caroline County Virginia Richmond Virginia Trewet Christian Further reading editChisholm Hugh ed 1911 Caroline Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 5 11th ed Cambridge University Press Gerrard Christine 2002 Queens in waiting Caroline of Anspach and Augusta of Saxe Gotha as Princesses of Wales In Campbell Orr Clarissa ed Queenship in Britain 1660 1837 Royal Patronage Court Culture and Dynastic Politics Manchester University Press pp 142 161 ISBN 0 7190 5770 1 Marschner Joanna 2002 Queen Caroline of Anspach and the European museum princely tradition In Campbell Orr Clarissa ed Queenship in Britain 1660 1837 Royal Patronage Court Culture and Dynastic Politics Manchester University Press pp 130 142 ISBN 0 7190 5770 1 Ward Adolphus William 1887 Caroline 1683 1737 In Stephen Leslie ed Dictionary of National Biography Vol 9 London Smith Elder amp Co Wilkins William Henry 1901 Caroline the illustrious Queen Consort of George II and sometime Queen Regent a study of her life and time Volume I Longmans Green and Co Wilkins William Henry 1904 Caroline the illustrious Queen Consort of George II and sometime Queen Regent a study of her life and time Volume II Longmans Green and Co External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caroline of Brandenburg Ansbach Queen Caroline at the official website of the Royal Collection Trust Portraits of Caroline Wilhelmina of Brandenburg Ansbach at the National Portrait Gallery London nbsp Caroline of AnsbachHouse of HohenzollernBorn 1 March 1683 Died 20 November 1737 Royal titles VacantTitle last held byGeorge of Denmarkas consort Queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland1727 1737 VacantTitle next held byCharlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz VacantTitle last held bySophia of the Palatinate Electress consort of Hanover1727 1737 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Caroline of Ansbach amp oldid 1218223144, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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