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Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (March 1, 1683 – November 20, 1737) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Princess-Electress of Hanover and Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg from June 11,1727 until her death in 1737 as the wife of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland and Prince-Elector of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was born on March 1, 1683 at Ansbach, the daughter of Margave Johann Friedrich Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach, (of the House of Hohenzollern) and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach.

Her father was the ruler of the Principality of Ansbach, one of the smallest German states of the Holy Roman Empire; he died of smallpox at the age of 32, when Princess Caroline was three years old.

Princess Caroline and her only full sibling, her younger brother Margrave Wilhelm Friedrich of Brandenburg-Ansbach, left Ansbach with their mother, who returned to her native Eisenach.

In 1692, Princess Caroline’s widowed mother was pushed into an unhappy marriage with Elector Johann Georg IV of Saxony, and she and her two children moved to the Saxon court at Dresden.

The union proved to be unsuccessful; Prince-Elector Johann Georg IV lived openly with his mistress, Magdalene Sibylle “Billa” of Neidschutz and she became the first ever Official Mistress of a Prince-Elector of Saxony;

After Princess Caroline was orphaned at a young age, she moved to the enlightened court of her guardians, King Friedrich I in Prussia and his wife Princess Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, the only daughter of Prince-Elector Ernest August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his wife Princess Sophia of the Palatinate of the Rhine.

Princess Sophia Charlotte of Hanover was the sister of Prince-Elector Georg Ludwig of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, future King of Great Britain.

At the Prussian court, Princess Caroline’s previously limited education was widened and she adopted the liberal outlook possessed by Princess Sophia Charlotte, who became her good friend and whose views influenced Princess Caroline all her life.

When she was a young woman, Princess Caroline was much sought-after as a bride. After rejecting the suit of Archduke Charles of Austria, a claimant to the Spanish throne and future Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.

Princess Caroline eventually married Prince Georg August of Hanover who was third in line to the English throne (and subsequently the British throne) and heir apparent to the Electorate of Hanover.

Prince Georg August of Hanover was the son of Prince-Elector Georg Ludwig of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and nephew of her friend Princess Sophia Charlotte of Hanover and Queen in Prussia.

They had eight children, seven of whom reached adulthood. Caroline moved to Britain permanently in 1714 when her husband became Prince of Wales. As Princess of Wales she joined Prince George Augustus, Prince of Wales, in rallying political opposition to his father, King George I.

In 1717, after a family row, Prince George Augustus, the Prince of Wales was expelled from court. Caroline came to be associated with Robert Walpole, an opposition politician who was a former government minister. Walpole rejoined the government in 1720, and Prince George Augustus reconciled publicly with his father on Walpole’s advice. Over the next few years Walpole rose to become the leading minister.

Upon her husband’s accession in 1727, as King George II of Great Britain and Ireland, Caroline became Queen and Princess-Electress of Hanover, and her eldest son, Prince Frederick Louis, Duke of Edinburgh, became Prince of Wales.

Prince Frederick Louis, the Prince of Wales, was a focus for the opposition, like his father before him, and Caroline’s relationship with him was strained.

As Princess and as Queen, Caroline was known for her political influence, which she exercised both through and for Walpole. Her tenure included four regencies, which occurred during King George II’s stays in Hanover; she is credited with strengthening the House of Hanover’s place in Britain during a period of political instability. After her death in 1737, Caroline was widely mourned by her political allies as well as by the King, who refused to remarry.