Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was the only child of George, Prince of Wales and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick. If she had outlived both her grandfather King George III and her father, she would have become Queen of the United Kingdom; but she died at the age of 21.
About Princess Charlotte of Wales in brief
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was the only child of George, Prince of Wales and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick. If she had outlived both her grandfather King George III and her father, she would have become Queen of the United Kingdom; but she died at the age of 21. Charlotte’s parents disliked each other from before their arranged marriage and soon separated. As Charlotte grew to adulthood, her father pressured her to marry William, Hereditary Prince of Orange. After initially accepting him, Charlotte soon broke off the intended match and married Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After a year and a half of happy marriage, Charlotte died after delivering a stillborn son. Her death set off tremendous mourning among the British, who had seen her as a sign of hope and a contrast both to her unpopular father and to her grandfather, whom they deemed mad. Her godparents were the King, the Queen and Augusta. Despite Caroline’s demands for better treatment, George restricted her contact with the child, forbidding her to see their daughter except in the presence of a nurse and governess. In August 1797 Caroline left her daughter behind, establishing herself in a rented home near Blackheath, England. However, at the time, the Prince considered the father’s rights to his minor children paramount, and took no action to restrict Caroline’s access to her daughter. In December 1798 Caroline visited her daughter at Carlton House, but was never allowed to stay to visit her mother.
It was the last serious effort at reconciliation, and its failure meant there was little likelihood that George would have a legitimate son who would come between Charlotte and the British throne. The King’s unmarried sons thus looked for wives and his fourth son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, fathered the eventual queen, Victoria. George later stated that the couple had sexual relations only three times; they separated within weeks, though they remained under the same roof. George made a will directing that his wife have no role in the upbringing of their child, and bequeathed all his worldly goods to his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert, while Caroline was left one shilling. Caroline was even bold enough to ride through the streets of London in a carriage with her daughter, to the applause of the crowds. George was unaware of this, having little contact with Charlotte himself, George was aware of the Prince himself, and had no contact with his daughter himself. Charlotte was a healthy child and according to her biographer, Thea Holme, “The impression one gets from all the early recorded stories of Charlotte is of a happy recklessness, and a warm heart.” She was christened Charlotte Augusta, after her grandmothers, Queen Charlotte and Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg, in the Great Drawing Room at CarltonHouse, by John Moore, Archbishop of Canterbury. On 11 February 1796, she was christening Charlotte Augusta.
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This page is based on the article Princess Charlotte of Wales published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
