Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway. Part III.

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Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Dowager Queen of Denmark and Norway, Julianne of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttle, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, Queen of Denmark and Norway, Struensee

On June 17, 1771 the court took summer residence at Hirschholm Palace in present-day Hørsholm municipality. Here, Caroline Matilda lived happily with her son and her lover, and was painted with the Crown Prince in the style of the newly modern country life by Peter Als; this summer is described as an idyll, and has come to be referred to as the “Hirschholm Summer” in Danish historiography. She also planned a new summer villa, Frydenlund in Vedbæk.

One month later, on July 7, the Queen gave birth to a second child, a daughter named Louise Augusta. The event was coldly received at court, although the Dowager Queen Juliana Maria agreed to be the newborn’s godmother if the Queen agreed.

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway

The King recognised the paternity of the child, who officially became a Princess of Denmark and Norway, but the Queen’s behaviour and the girl’s resemblance to Struensee caused the courtiers to begin to think that he was probably the biological father of the princess, and to refer to her as “la petite Struensee”.

However, during the divorce proceeding against Caroline Matilda, her daughter was never mentioned in any document, because Struensee had previously given “satisfactory answers” about the circumstances of her birth.

Shortly after Louise Augusta’s birth, rumours began in the court and population that Caroline Matilda and Struensee wanted to imprison the King and declare the Queen regent; these accusations in fact were absurd in themselves, as Christian VII was more a protection than an obstacle to the lovers.

By the end of 1771 the lovers began to worry, and Caroline Matilda suspected that the Dowager Queen Juliana Maria planned a plot against her and Struensee. In October, Struensee thought it necessary to abolish freedom of the press, which was one of his major reforms.

According to legend, Struensee rushed to the Queen’s feet, begging her to let him leave the country for both their sakes, but Caroline Matilda refused to let him go. At the same time he confessed to one of his friends it was only thanks to the support of the Queen that he retained his post.

On November 30 the court moved to Frederiksberg Palace, where security measures had been increased by orders of Struensee. Then the order to disband the Royal Guard caused a military march to Fredericksberg on Christmas Eve, and the court became clear about the real mood of the people.

Johann Friedrich Struensee

At the same time, there were rumours that the British diplomat Robert Murray Keith proposed to give Struensee a large sum of money if he were to leave the country, but there is no documentary evidence for this.

The court returned to Copenhagen on January 8, 1772. By this time, Struensee and Caroline Matilda were already in serious danger. In early January, a former supporter of Struensee, Count Schack Carl Rantzau, discontented with the fact that Struensee did not accept his political views, decided to overthrow the favourite.

Dowager Queen Juliana Maria had during the summer watched the progress of events from Fredensborg Palace, where she lived in seclusion with her son. Rantzau gave her fake evidence that the lovers were going to overthrow the King, prompting the Dowager Queen to act against them.

Details of the case were specified on January 15, at the Dowager’s residence, and the execution of their conspiracy was scheduled for the night of January 16–17 after the end of a masked ball at the Hofteatret in Christiansborg Palace. Although Rantzau hesitated at the last moment, everything went according to plan: at the agreed time, Struensee, Brandt, and their followers were arrested.

On the same night Caroline Matilda was captured by Rantzau who, with cynical cruelty, hastily escorted her with her daughter to Kronborg Castle, in Helsingør, where they remained imprisoned under close surveillance by guards.

Christian VII, King of Denmark and Norway

She was only accompanied by the maid-of-honour Frederikke Louise Møsting, who was not sympathetic towards her and who had been ordered by Rantzau to accompany her. As the Queen later told the court, on the evening of January 17 she saw from the windows of her chamber the festive illuminations made in honour of her fall in Copenhagen.

Only a few friends were allowed to visit the Queen at Kronborg, where her only consolation was her daughter, because her son the Crown Prince stayed with his father. At Kronborg, she was attended by the maids-of-honour Frederikke Louise Møsting, Sofie Magdalene Sperling, Margrete Vilhelmine Schmettau, her chamberlain count Christian Frederik Holstein and courtier Karl Adolf Råben, “who were all against her”, while her favourite maid-of-honour Charlotte Amalie Trolle had been refused permission to accompany her.

The fall of Caroline Matilda was necessary to overthrow Struensee, although he had not achieved power thanks to the Queen, but because of his dominance over the King; however, the Queen was a powerful ally of his, and for this reason it was necessary to remove them at the same time.

Queen Caroline Matilda of Denmark and Norway part II.

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Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Copenhagen, Dowager Princess of Wales, Johann Friedrich Struensee, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, Louise von Plessen, Queen of Denmark and Norway, Royal physician

Queen Caroline Matilda became close to her Overhofmesterinde, Louise von Plessen, who regarded the King’s friends, such as Conrad Holck and Enevold Brandt, as immoral and acted to isolate Caroline Matilda from her spouse. This was not difficult, as Christian VII did not like her.

The couple were further estranged when Louise von Plessen advised Caroline Matilda to claim to be indisposed when the King expressed a wish for physical intimacy, with the thought that distance would make the King more eager; instead, though, it only made him more unwilling.

At the end, and after being persuaded by his old tutor Reverdil, Christian VII consummated his marriage for the sake of the succession, and after the Queen gave birth to Crown Prince Frederik on January 28, 1768, he turned his interest to the brothels of Copenhagen.

Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Norway.

Though Caroline Matilda was not interested in politics, after the birth of an heir, she came to play a key role at the court. Her dislike of her husband’s favourites increased when, in 1768, Holck managed to exile Louise von Plessen from court, leaving the Queen even more isolated. She refused to accept von Plessen’s successor, Anne Sofie von Berckentin, whom she suspected had taken part in the plot to exile Plessen. Thus, Plessen was not replaced until Margrethe von der Lühe agreed to accept the post in 1768.

In May 1768 Christian VII took a long tour of Europe, including stays in Altona, Paris, and London. During his absence, Caroline Matilda took care of her son and aroused attention when she took walks in Copenhagen; this was considered scandalous, as royal and noble Danish women normally only travelled in town by carriage.

Caroline Matilda spent the summer at Frederiksborg Castle with her son before returning to Copenhagen in the autumn. During the absence of the King, there were rumours about an affair of the Queen with a certain La Tour, a handsome actor and singer from the French-language theater Hofteatret. La Tour was the lover of her lady-in-waiting Elisabet von Eyben, but he was known to receive gifts from “a higher hand” and it was said that his visits to von Eyben’s chamber were in fact visits to the Queen.

The allegation of an affair is not considered to have been true, but La Tour was exiled after the return of King Christian VII, perhaps because the rumour was damaging enough in itself. In addition to von Eyben, Caroline Matilda made friends with Christine Sophie von Gähler, Anna Sofie Bülow, and Amalie Sofie Holstein, who were known for their love affairs. According to the letter writer Luise Gramm, they encouraged her to participate more in social life, dance, and flirt.

Affair and Scandal

Royal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee

The King returned to Copenhagen on January 28, 1769, bringing with him Johann Friedrich Struensee as Royal Physician. He had met Struensee in Altona at the beginning of his travels. During 1769, the King’s mental health deteriorated, but Struensee could apparently handle the King’s instability, to the great relief of the King’s advisers, and Christian VII developed a confidence in him.

During 1769, Struensee encouraged the King in his attraction to Birgitte Sofie Gabel, reportedly because he believed a relationship with an intelligent woman would make the King more mentally stable and his insanity easier to handle, but this project failed, and the attempt to provide the King with a mistress made the Queen hostile toward Struensee.

Struensee then encouraged the King to improve his relationship with Caroline Matilda, and Christian VII showed his attention to her with a three-day birthday celebration on July 22, 1769. The Queen was well aware that Struensee was behind her husband’s improved behavior.

Her gratitude was reflected in her new interest in the charming doctor. In the summer of 1769, Caroline Matilda had an attack of dropsy, and at the insistence of her husband, she turned to Struensee. He advised the Queen that entertainment and exercise were the best medicine; this advice helped Caroline Matilda, and Struensee gained credibility with her.

Her confidence in him was further strengthened when Struensee successfully inoculated the infant Crown Prince Frederick against smallpox. The attraction that had arisen between the Queen and Struensee amused the King.

In January 1770, Struensee was given his own rooms at Christiansborg Palace. In the meantime, the King became more and more passive, isolated and uninvolved in government as his mental health deteriorated. He entrusted more and more of the daily state affairs to Struensee, as he had by then become accustomed to trusting him.

By the spring of 1770, Struensee had become the Queen’s lover. Later, during the divorce proceedings between Caroline Matilda and Christian VII, courtiers who accompanied the Queen during this time reported that they had suspected an affair since at least late 1769.

The rumours forced the Queen to limit her contact with Struensee for a while, but not for long: by the summer of 1770 Caroline Matilda and Struensee were known to be close throughout the capital and the provinces. When the royal couple made a tour through the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein and the German border, accompanied by Struensee, he and the Queen were observed behaving in a suspicious manner towards each other, and rumors started spreading that they were lovers.

With the help of Caroline Matilda, Struensee was able to expel Holck and other political enemies from court, including Margrethe von der Lühe, Holck’s sister and Royal Mistress of the Robes, who, despite her blood relation with Caroline Matilda’s enemy, was close to her.

In the summer of 1770, Caroline Matilda’s mother, the Dowager Princess of Wales, made a visit to the continent, where for various reasons she wanted to communicate with her daughter. The meeting was originally scheduled in Brunswick, but later was moved to Lüneburg, where Caroline Matilda saw her mother not earlier than August 1770.

It was the last meeting between them; reportedly, the Queen received her in breeches, which at that time was regarded as scandalous. During this meeting, Struensee was constantly at the Queen’s side, so the Dowager Princess of Wales had no opportunity to talk freely with her daughter and could only instruct Woodford, the British Minister to Saxe-Lauenburg, to caution Caroline Matilda about her behaviour. In the end, neither Woodford nor the Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (who visited his sister in the same year in Copenhagen) succeeded in this purpose.

In September 1770 came the fall of the Chancellor Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, reportedly thanks to the intrigues of both Struensee and Caroline Matilda; when the Dowager Princess of Wales asked her daughter about these rumours, the Queen responded to her mother’s lamentations with an arrogant phrase: “Pray, madam, allow me to govern my own kingdom as I please!”

On December 18, Struensee became Maître des Requêtes (“Master of Queries”; Privy Counsellor), and in July 1771 when he entered the cabinet it was declared that his orders would have the same effect as if they were signed by the King himself; on July 22, (the day of the Queen’s birthday) the signatures of Struensee and his assistant Count Enevold Brandt were officially announced.

From then, Struensee’s authority became paramount, and he held absolute sway between March 20, 1771 and January 16, 1772: this period is known as the “Time of Struensee”.

July 22, Birth of Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway. Part I.

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Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Dowager Princess of Wales, Elector of Hanover, Frederick-Louis, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, King George II of Great Britain, King George III of Great Britain, Prince of Wales, Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, Princess Louise Anne of Great Britain

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (July 22, 1751 – May 10, 1775) was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1766 to 1772 by marriage to King Christian VII.

Caroline Matilda was born in on July 22, 1751 as the ninth and youngest child of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, daughter of Friedrich II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1676–1732) and Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (1679–1740).

Princess Louise Anne (seated) and Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain

Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover and Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, the daughter of Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach. Her father was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and the ruler of one of the smallest German states. Frederick Louis was the father of King George III.

Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales father died suddenly on March 31, 1751 about three months before Caroline Matilda’ birth; thus she was a posthumous child. She was born at Leicester House, London, a large aristocratic townhouse in Westminster, where her parents had lived, since the King had banished his son from court in 1737.

At birth, she was given the style and title Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline Matilda, as daughter of the Prince of Wales, though by the time of her birth that title had passed to her brother George (who became King George III in 1760).

Caroline Matilda grew up in the large group of siblings, and during the remaining years of the reign of her grandfather, King George II, her mother, Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales, chose to live in seclusion with her children, devoting herself to their care, and bringing them up away from the English court.

Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain

As a consequence, Augusta was to be criticised for her manner of raising her children, as she isolated them from the outside world into a secluded family environment, seldom meeting people outside the family.

Marriage

In 1764, four years into the reign of her brother as King George III of Great Britain and Ireland, Elector of Hanover; a marriage was suggested between the Danish House of Oldenburg and the British House of Hanover, specifically between Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark, and a British princess.

The Danish Crown Prince was the oldest surviving son of King Frederik V and his first wife Princess Louise of Great Britain sister to King George III and in consequence, the Danish Crown Prince and Caroline Matilda were first cousins.

The marriage was considered suitable because the British and Danish royal families were both Protestant and of the same rank, and thus had the same status as well as religion. Additionally, the deceased Queen Louise had been very popular in Denmark.

Princess Louise Anne of Great Britain

Initially, the marriage negotiations were intended for, Princess Louise Anne, eldest unmarried daughter of the former Prince of Wales; but after the Danish representative in London, Count von Bothmer, was informed of her weak constitution, her younger sister Caroline Matilda was chosen for the match instead. The official betrothal was announced on 10 January 1765.

On January 14, 1766, in the middle of preparations for the wedding, King Frederik V died and his 17-year-old son became King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway.

Christian VII, King of Denmark and Norway

On October 1 of that year in the royal chapel of St James’s Palace (or according to other sources, in Carlton House) the marriage was celebrated by proxy, the groom being represented by the bride’s brother Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany.

Two days later, Caroline Matilda departed from Harwich for Rotterdam, and three weeks later she crossed the River Elbe and arrived in Altona, in the then Danish Duchy of Holstein. There she left her British entourage and was welcomed by her appointed Danish courtiers.

Twelve days later, Caroline Matilda arrived in Roskilde, where she met her future husband for the first time. She held her official entry into the Danish capital on November 8 to great cheers from the population.

Already the same day a second wedding ceremony with the groom present took place in the Royal Chapel at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. Marriage celebrations and balls lasted for another month. On May 1, 1767, Christian VII and Caroline Matilda were crowned King and Queen of Denmark and Norway in the chapel of Christiansborg Palace.

The young Queen at the Danish court was described as particularly temperamental, vivid and charming. She was thought too plump to be described as a beauty, but she was considered attractive: it was said of her that “her appearance allowed her to avoid criticism of women, but still captivate the male eye.”

However, her natural and unaffected personality was not popular at the strict Danish court, despite the fact that originally she was warmly received in Copenhagen. The weak-willed, self-centred, and mentally ill Christian VII was cold to his wife and not in a hurry to consummate the marriage.

The reason for this attitude towards his wife could be that the King was actually forced to marry by the court, who believed that marriage would lead to improvement in his mental problems; in addition, part of the court felt that Christian VII preferred the company of men to women.

Despite rumours of homosexuality, the King had a mistress with whom he began a relationship in Holstein in the summer of 1766, and often visited courtesans in Copenhagen, of which the most famous was Anna Katrina Bentgagen, nicknamed Støvlet-Cathrine.

The Life of Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Dowager Princess of Wales. Conclusion

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Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Carlton House, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, King George III of Great Britain, Lord Bute, Louise von Plessen, Princess of Wales

Augusta had an acknowledged political influence upon her son when he first came to the thronein 1760. The King “strove to follow the counsels she gave”, and in which he trusted. Reportedly, she was in turn influenced by Lord Bute, who was appointed prime minister with her support in 1762. His appointment caused a serious crisis and exposed both Augusta and Bute to such public hostility that Bute had to resign from his post the following year.

Thackeray described the public sentiments and the circulating rumours: “Bute was hated with a rage there have been few examples in English history. He was the butt for everybody’s abuse; for Wilkes, for Churchill’s slashing satire, for the hooting of the mob who roasted his booth, his emblem, in a thousand bonfires; that hated him because he was a favourite and a Scotsman, calling him Mortimer, Lothario, and I known not what names, and accusing his royal mistress of all kinds of names – the grave, lean, demure, elderly woman, who, I dare say, was quite as good as her neighbours.

Chatham lent the aide of his great malice to influence the popular sentiment against her. He assailed, in the House of Lords, ‘The secret influence, more mighty than the throne itself, which betrayed and dogged every administration’. The most furious pamphlets echoed the cry ‘Impeach the King’s mother’, was scribbled over every wall at the Court end of the town”.

When the King had a first, temporary, bout of mental illness in 1765, Augusta and Lord Bute kept Queen Charlotte unaware of the situation. The Regency Bill of 1765 stated that if the King should become permanently unable to rule, Charlotte was to become Regent. Augusta was suggested as regent, but there was fierce opposition to her appointment, as there were concerns of the influence of Lord Bute in her potential regency, and fears that should she become regent, Bute would de facto rule as “King”.

Augusta reportedly resented the marriages of her younger sons, which took place without her consent.

In 1769, Christian VII of Denmark, the spouse of her daughter Caroline Matilda, visited Great Britain. During his visit, Augusta, upon the initiative of Caroline Matilda, asked him publicly during a dinner to reinstate Louise von Plessen, a favourite of Caroline Matilda whom Christian had fired, to her position.

King Christian answered that he had made a sacred vow never to do so, but that if Caroline Matilda preferred von Plessen’s company over his, so be it. In the end, Louise von Plessen was not reinstated, and Augusta apparently asked Caroline Matilda not to press the matter and to show more affection to Christian.

In 1770, rumors about Caroline Matilda, the Queen of Denmark, began to circulate. In particular these concerned the mental state of her spouse as well as the fall of prime minister Bernstorff, in which Caroline Matilda was rumoured to have participated.

When Augusta visited her eldest daughter in Brunswick that year, she also took the opportunity to see Caroline Matilda, who received her in breeches, which at that time was regarded as scandalous. Upon Augusta’s lamentations, her daughter answered: “Pray, madam, allow me to govern my own kingdom as I please!”

Augusta died of cancer of the throat at age 52 at Carlton House.