Caroline of Brunswick

Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ^* (17 May 1768 – 7 August 1821) as Queen Caroline was the Queen Consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 to her death.

Early life

Caroline was born on 17 May 1768 at Brunswick (German:Braunschweig) in Germany, daughter of Karl William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales, eldest sister of King George III.

Marriage

She married the British king's eldest son, her first cousin, on 8 April 1795 at St. James's Palace in London. Her new husband, the future George IV then Prince of Wales, regarded Caroline as unattractive and unhygienic; he also suspected that she was not a virgin when they married.

For her part, she found him equally unattractive, and the prince's correspondence reveals that the couple only had sexual intercourse three times during their marriage. Princess Charlotte Augusta, George's only legitimate child, was born from one of these unions on 7 January 1796. The Prince and Princess of Wales never lived together afterwards, and appeared separately in public, both becoming involved in affairs with other lovers.

It was alleged that her marriage was made uncomfortable by George IV's affair with royal courtesan Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey. However, it is more likely that Caroline had little interest in her husband, and thus little interest in who he might be involved with romantically.

Queen Consort

Caroline was prevented from seeing her daughter on a day-to-day basis, and was eventually banished in 1799 to a private residence ('The Pagoda') in Blackheath, where she allegedly had affairs with the politician George Canning and the admiral Sir Sidney Smith.

Following an investigation into her personal affairs by her husband, she left the country and went to live abroad, running up large debts throughout Europe and taking other lovers. During this period, the couple's daughter, who had married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, died after giving birth to her only child, a stillborn son.

Her estranged husband's accession to the Throne in 1820 brought Caroline back to Britain in 1820 for appearances only, whereupon he began divorce proceedings against her. The Pains and Penalties Bill 1820 was introduced in Parliament in order to strip Caroline of the title of Queen and dissolve her marriage to the King. The bill was defeated, but Caroline was still in exile, and she was turned away from the coronation at the doors of Westminster Abbey. Despite the King's best attempts, Caroline retained a very strong popularity amongst the masses, and therefore wielded considerable power in spite of his disliking her.

On the night of the coronation, Caroline fell ill, vomiting, with an erratic pulse. She died three weeks later. The exact cause of her death has never been ascertained, not least because Caroline herself, knowing she would die, had said that no autopsy was to be carried out.

Rumours of affair

Even up till her last moments, she was being reported on by a man named Stephen Lushington, who conveyed his insights to the King’s loyal supporter, the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool. Exactly why this deathbed surveillance was carried out remains unclear, and the surviving documentation is patchy in the extreme. Her death at age 53 took place on 7 August 1821. She legally remained Queen of the United Kingdom, but she was buried in her native Brunswick.

Trivia

She was the last Queen Consort not to survive her royal husband.

Remembered in a children's rhyme beginning:

Queen, Queen Caroline / washed her face in turpentine

Titles, Styles, Honours & Arms

Titles

1768-1795: Her Serene Highness Duchess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
1795-1820: Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales
1820-1821: Her Majesty Queen Caroline of the United Kingdom

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
HRH Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales	7 January 1796	6 November 1817	married 1816, Prince Leopold George Frederick of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield; no surviving issue

Caroline von Braunschweig | Carolina de Brünswick-Wolfenbüttel | Caroline de Brunswick | Caroline van Brunswijk | Кароліна Брунсвік

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