The Daughters of George III

Sisters & Princesses

Catherine Curzon

• Publisher: Pen & Sword History
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781473897557
• Topic: Historia
• Subtopic: Biografías históricas

An in-depth look into the lives of the six daughters of King George III of England. In the dying years of the 18th century, the corridors of Windsor echoed to the footsteps of six princesses. They were Charlotte, Augusta, Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia, and Amelia, the daughters of King George III and Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Though more than fifteen years divided the births of the eldest sister from the youngest, these princesses all shared a longing for escape. Faced with their father's illness and their mother's dominance, for all but one a life away from the seclusion of the royal household seemed like an unobtainable dream. The six daughters of George III were raised to be young ladies and each in her time was one of the most eligible women in the world. Tutored in the arts of royal womanhood, they were trained from infancy in the skills vital to a regal wife but as the king's illness ravaged him, husbands and opportunities slipped away. Yet even in isolation, the lives of the princesses were filled with incident. From secret romances to dashing equerries, rumors of pregnancy, clandestine marriage and even a run-in with Napoleon, each princess was the leading lady in her own story, whether tragic or inspirational. In The Daughters of George III, take a wander through the hallways of the royal palaces, where the king's endless ravings echo deep into the night and his daughters strive to be recognized not just as princesses, but as women too. Praise for The Daughters of George III "This fascinating look at the lives and times of the six daughters of George III and Queen Charlotte delivers an engaging read for enthusiasts of the royals and British history." — Library Journal

Endnotes

Introduction

1. Longford, Elizabeth (1989). The Oxford Book of Royal Anecdotes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.327.

A King, A Queen, and a Family of Fifteen

1. London Evening Post (London, England), 8 September 1761 – 10 September 1761; Issue 5283.

2. George became king on 25 October 1760, on the death of King George II.

3. Roelker Curtis, Edith (1946). Lady Sarah Lennox: An Irrepressible Stuart. New York: G P Putnam’s Sons, p.107.

4. Walpole, Horace (1843). Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, to Sir Horace Mann, Vol I. London: Richard Bentley, p.41.

5. Roelker Curtis, Edith (1946). Lady Sarah Lennox: An Irrepressible Stuart. New York: G P Putnam’s Sons, p.93.

6. London Evening Post (London, England), 30 September, 1766 – 2 October 1766; Issue 6073.

7. Coke, Lady Mary (1970). The Letters of Lady Mary Coke: 1756-1767. Bath: Kingsmead, p.54.

8. The marriage between Caroline Matilda and Christian VII was a famous disaster. As the king sank into madness, his queen and his physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee, became lovers and eventually took control of the kingdom. The fallout was brutal, violent and shattering for all involved. Lovers of scandal can discover the full story of what happened when Caroline Matilda went to Denmark in my book, The Scandals of George III’s Court (Pen & Sword, 2018).

9. For royal-watchers with a penchant for lists, the seven holders of the title so far have been Mary (1631-1660), daughter of Charles I, Anne (1709-1759), daughter of George II, our own Charlotte, Victoria (1840-1901), daughter of Victoria, Louise (1867-1931), daughter of Edward VII, Mary (1897-1965), daughter of George V, and the current incumbent, Anne (1950-present), the daughter of Elizabeth II.

10. Public Advertiser (London, England), Tuesday, 30 September 1766; Issue 9958.

11. Charlotte’s father, Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg, had died many years earlier in 1752. Her mother, Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen, passed away in 1761 as Charlotte prepared to travel to England to marry George III.

12. St. James’s Chronicle or the British Evening Post (London, England), 8 November 1768 – 10 November 1768; Issue 1201.

13. Hedley, Olwen (1975). Queen Charlotte. London: John Murray, p.104.

14. Whitehall Evening Post or London Intelligencer (London, England), 26. October 1769 – 28 October 1769; Issue 3677.

15. Westminster Journal and London Political Miscellany (London, England), Saturday, 26 May 1770; Issue 1316.

16. Woolsey, Sarah Chauncey (1910). The Diary and Letters of Frances Burney, Madame D’Arblay, Vol I. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, p.366.

17. Morning Post and Daily Advertiser (London, England), Tuesday, 6 June 1786; Issue 4150.

18. Smith, William James (ed.) (1853). The Greville Papers: Vol III. London: John Murray, p.115.

19. Ibid.

20. Georgian Papers Online (http://gpp.rct.uk, March 2019) GEO/ADD/15/8156 Letter from Queen Charlotte to Lady Charlotte Finch, 17 April 1775.

21. Maria’s parents were Edward “Neddy” Walpole, son of Sir Robert Walpole, and Dorothy Clement, a beautiful but poor young lady who had been employed on a dust cart in London. Though their loving relationship lasted until Dorothy’s early death in 1739 and produced four children, the couple never married.

22. For the full story of sex, murder and scandal, see my own book, The Imprisoned Princess: The Scandalous Life of Sophia Dorothea of Celle (Pen & Sword Books, 2020).

23. Anonymous (1833) (ed.). The London and Paris Observer; or Weekly Chronicle of Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts, Vol. IX. Paris: A and W Galignani, p.234.

24. Sixteen quarterings is, to some, the holy grail of hereditary lineage. It suggests that the preceding four generations of ancestry has been composed exclusively of nobility.

25. Craik, George Lillie & MacFarlane, Charles (1841) (ed.). The Pictorial History of England During the Reign of King George the Third: Vol I. London: Charles Knight and Co, p.126.

26. Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilfo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Meet the Children
• Act One: A King, A Queen, and a Family of Fifteen
• Act Two: Charlotte, Princess Royal (29 September 1766 – 5 October 1828)
• Act Three: Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom (8 November 1768 – 22 September 1840)
• Act Four: Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (22 May 1770 – 10 January 1840)
• Act Five: Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (25 April 1776 – 30 April 1857)
• Act Six: Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom (3 November 1777 – 27 May 1848)
• Act Seven: Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom (7 August 1783 – 2 November 1810)
• Afterword
• Bibliography
• Endnotes
• Plate Section