Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (3 March 1778-29 June 1841), Duchess of Cumberland and later Queen of Hanover, was the consort of Prince Ernest Augustus, 1st Duke of Cumberland (later King Ernst August I of Hanover), the fifth son and eighth child of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte.

Early life

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Her Highness Duchess Frederica Louisa Carolina Sophia Alexandra was born at Hanover, the fifth daughter of Duke Karl II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1741-1816) and his first wife, Frederica (1752-1782), the daughter of Georg Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. Her father assumed the title of Grand Duke of Mecklenburg on 18 June 1815. Duchess Frederica was the niece of her future mother-in-law, Queen Charlotte (formerly Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz).

First marriage

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Duchess Frederica married firstly His Royal Highness Prince (Friedrich) Ludwig of Prussia (5 November 1773-23 December 1796), the younger son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, on 26 December 1793 at the Royal Palace, Berlin.

Second marriage

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This marriage was dissolved in 1796. She then married His Serene Highness Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels (22 October 1770-13 April 1814) on 10 December 1798 at Berlin.

Third marriage

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Fourteen months after her second husband's death, she was married for a third time on 29 May 1815 at the parish church of Neustrelitz, Germany, and again on 29 August 1815 at Carlton House, London to His Royal Highness Field Marshal Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland.

Queen of Hanover

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The Duchess of Cumberland became Queen of Hanover upon the ascension of her third husband to the Hanoverian throne on 20 June 1837. Queen Frederica of Hanover died in 1841 at Hanover and was buried in the Chapel at Schloss Herrenhausen.

Titles, Style, Honours & Arms

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Titles

• 1778-1793: Her Highness Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• 1793-1796?8?: Her Royal Highness Princess Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia
• 1798-1815: Her Highness Princess Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels
• 1815-1837: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale
• 1837-1841: Her Majesty Queen Frederica of Hanover, Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale

Issue

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Name	Birth	Death	Notes
By HRH Prince Ludwig of Prussia (married December 29 1793; dissolved 1796)
Prince Friedrich of Prussia	1794	1863	married Princess Louise of Anhalt-Bernburg
Prince Karl of Prussia	1795	1798
Princess Frederike of Prussia	1796	1850	married Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau (1794-1871)
By HSH Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels (married December 10 1798; he died April 13 1814)
Princess Sophia of Solms-Braunfels	1799	1799
Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels	1800	1800
Prince Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels	1801	1868	married Maria, Countess Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau
Princess Augusta of Solms-Braunfels	1804	1865	married Albert, Prince of Schhartzburg-Roudolstadt
Prince Alexander of Solms-Braunfels	1807	1867	married Louise, Princess of Landsberg-Velen
Prince Karl of Solms-Braunfels	1812	1875	married Sophie, Princess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
By HRH Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (later HM King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover) (married May 29 1815)
Princess Frederica of Cumberland	27 January 1817	-	stillborn
Unnamed stillborn daughter	April 1818
George V of Hanover	27 May 1819	12 June 1878	married 1843, HH Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg; had issue

British royalty | 1778 births | 1841 deaths | Hanoverians | German queen consorts | English & British princesses | House of Hanover