Charlotte's letters in the Royal Archives now online

The Georgian Papers programme to digitise the material in the Royal Archives is proceeding apace, and the latest postings include the papers of Princess Charlotte. My blog on my experiences of working on her papers is up as well and can be read here. In it, I point out that between the summer of 1814 and the beginning of January 1815, Charlotte was courting two Prussian princes, Prince Frederick (above), the nephew of King Frederick William III, and Prince Augustus, the king's cousin. But when she was disappointed in both of them, she fastened on another German prince, Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, as her husband. He was second (or third!) best, but she fell deeply in love with him, and their short marriage was intensely happy.

The post was taken up in the Times of 26 May and can be read here.  The Tatler then followed this up with its own article - though they published a portrait, not of Charlotte's Prince Frederick of Prussia, but a much later Prussian prince, Crown Prince Frederick, the future Emperor Frederick III and the father of Kaiser William II! 

A brief account of the life of Princess Charlotte

This is a slightly amended version of my post on History Hits. Subsequent posts will fill out the story in more detail.

'An immense girl'

On the morning of Thursday 7 January 1796, the German princess, Caroline of Brunswick, gave birth at Carlton House in London to what the baby’s father, George, Prince of Wales described as “an immense girl”. The baby’s grandfather, King George III, and the country at large, were delighted that after 36 years into the king’s reign, there was at last a legitimate grandchild.

Carlton House, London, the Prince's extravagant mansion
and the birthplace of Princess Charlotte.
Public domain.

The succession now seemed more secure, and although a girl was seen as second-best, it was assumed that little Charlotte would be followed by brothers who would continue the Hanoverian dynasty. 

This was not to happen. The marriage of George and Caroline had broken down irretrievably, and there were to be no more children.
This meant that Charlotte was in a different position from other princesses. With no brothers to displace her in the succession, she was the heiress presumptive to the throne and the country’s future queen: the first female sovereign since the death of Queen Anne in 1714.

A troubled princess

Princess Charlotte was the child of a broken marriage, and from the time she was three, she never lived with either of her parents. Her father gave her erratic and intermittent attention, and she was always closer to her mother, though Caroline’s life became an open scandal that threatened to engulf her daughter.

She was an endearing, though wilful child, and became a difficult teenager, often rebellious and sulky. She was a nightmare to teach. Deprived of consistent parental love, she directed her emotional energies into intense friendships, most notably with the vivacious and talented Scottish heiress, Margaret Mercer Elphinstone.

More dangerously, at the age of fifteen, she became besotted with a dashing army officer, Captain Charles Hesse. She wrote him indiscreet letters and sent him gifts.

At the end of 1813, just before her 18th birthday, she was pressured into becoming engaged to the Hereditary Prince of Orange, the heir to the Dutch throne.

No sooner had she consented than she got cold feet, and began to fret about having to live in Holland when she barely knew her own country. To complicate matters, she had fallen in love with someone else: Prince Frederick of Prussia, who visited Britain along with his uncle, King Frederick William III, in the summer of 1814.

In the summer of 1814 she did what no British princess had done before, and, on her own initiative, broke off her engagement, seriously disrupting Anglo-Dutch relations and ignoring her father, the Prince Regent.

As punishment, the regent told her that he was dismissing her household and sending her to Cranbourne Lodge, a secluded house in Windsor Great Park.

In her despair, Charlotte again did what no other princess had done: she ran out of her house into a busy London street, hired a cab and was driven to her mother’s. She had run away from home. Her flight created a sensation, but it was a game she could not win. The law was on her father’s side and she had to return to him.

She was now a virtual prisoner, kept under constant surveillance. There were to be no more escapes.

Enter Prince Charming

Charlotte now realised that the only way she could free herself from her father’s tyranny was to find a husband, but one she had chosen for herself. Her choice fell on Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, whom she had met in the summer of 1814.

He was young and handsome, a gallant soldier, but also a younger son without land or money. With the support of her uncle, Edward, Duke of Kent, the two began writing to each other and when Leopold proposed in October 1815, she accepted 'with ecstasy'.

The couple married in May 1816 and the country, which had taken Charlotte to its heart, rejoiced for her, knowing that she had at last found the love of her life.

Eighteen months of happiness

Charlotte and Leopold went to live at Claremont House, near Esher in Surrey. They lived quietly and happily, doing good works in the neighbourhood, with occasional theatre visits to London. It was under their patronage that the theatre was founded which was later to be known as the Old Vic.

Early in 1817 Charlotte became pregnant. On 3 November, about two weeks overdue, she went into labour. She was supervised by the obstetrician Sir Richard Croft, whose philosophy was to let nature take its course rather than intervene.

After 50 hours of labour, she gave birth to a stillborn son. However, she seemed well in herself until, a few hours later, she went into convulsions and died at 2am on 6 November.

Modern medical experts have suggested the cause could have been a pulmonary embolism or thrombosis, pre-eclampsia, or post-partum haemorrhage.

Aftermath of her death

The country went into shocked mourning for its 'people’s princess'. The grief was compounded by a succession crisis and Charlotte’s middle-aged uncles entered hasty marriages to ensure the continuance of the dynasty.

The result was the birth of the future Queen Victoria to Edward, Duke of Kent, and Leopold’s sister, Victoire of Saxe-Coburg.

Leopold remained inconsolable for many years, but in 1831 he became the first King of the Belgians, the ancestor of the present Belgian royal family. In 1837, his niece, Victoria, became queen. Neither of these events would have happened without Charlotte’s death.

Charlotte’s story is a sad one – a troubled childhood and adolescence, followed by a blissfully happy marriage cruelly cut short.

It could be argued that her death had more consequences than her life for the history of both Great Britain and Belgium. But she can also be seen as significant for the way she stood firm and married the man she loved. Unlike other princesses, she chose her own destiny – which makes her death at the age of 21 all the sadder.

The Lost Queen: now published

Welcome to my blog about my biography of Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales. The Lost Queen. The Life and Tragedy of the Prince Regent's Daughter was published by Pen & Sword on 3 February 2020.

The book has had some reviews on GoodReads - all of them very positive, I'm pleased to say!

The book copies - ready to be unpacked.