November 3, 1777: Birth of Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom. Part III.

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Frogmore, George III of the United Kingdom, Kensington Palace, King George IV of the United Kingdom, Princess Charlotte of Wales, Princess Mary of Great Britain, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Sophia Dorothea of Great Britain, Windsor Great Park

Sophia was a favourite of her niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, as the young princess liked her gentle character and had a certain fascination for the gossip surrounding Sophia’s past. Charlotte detested her other aunts, and once wrote, “I can hardly believe [Sophia] belongs to them- so wholly different is she in thoughts, opinions, matters. Her nobleness and rectitude of mind renders her no favourite here. The constant scenes of intrigue, of tracasseries, she can but ill support.”


 The Prince Regent’s efforts to help his sisters led to the marriages of Mary and Elizabeth, and Queen Charlotte’s death in 1818 allowed Augusta and Sophia their domestic freedom, though it was too late for them to marry. From her mother Sophia inherited Lower Lodge at Windsor Great Park, which she in turn gave to the Prince Regent. The death of Princess Augusta in 1840 resulted in Sophia inheriting Clarence House and Frogmore.

After the queen’s death, Sophia lived in Kensington Palace during her final years, next to her niece Princess Victoria of Kent, the future Queen Victoria. As a result, Princess Sophia was one of the few paternal relatives that Victoria saw often. Like her sister-in-law the Duchess of Kent, Sophia fell under the spell of Victoria’s comptroller Sir John Conroy and let him manage her money. The princess became a part of the Duchess of Kent’s social circle and, in return, Sophia spied for Conroy when he was absent from Kensington Palace. 

Sophia also reported to Conroy on what she heard at St. James’s Palace, as she had privileged access to courtiers as well as to her two elder brothers. Gossipmongers speculated that Conroy’s successful ability to deal with the “bullying inopportunities” of Sophia’s illegitimate son endeared her to him, while some historians write that Conroy took advantage of Sophia, who in her last years had become “dizzy, easily muddled… mourning her fading looks” and a “confused, nearly blind aunt.”

 Sophia often dined with the household, but the Duchess of Kent despised her. Princess Victoria was aware her aunt was a spy and the two never became close. Sophia’s wealth allowed Conroy to live a rich lifestyle, acquiring for himself a house in Kensington for £4,000, as well as two other estates for £18,000. Sophia was also responsible for certain members of Victoria’s household gaining higher statuses; Victoria’s governess Louise Lehzen, for instance, was made a Hanoverian baroness on the orders of George IV, and Conroy was named a Knight Commander of the Hanoverian Order.

Death
After having been blind for over ten years, on the morning of 27 May 1848, Princess Sophia became ill at her residence at Vicarage Place, Kensington; she was visited by her sister Mary, sister-in-law Queen Adelaide, and nephew-in-law Prince Albert. Sophia’s death occurred at 6:30 later that day, when Mary, the Duchesses of Kent and Cambridge were present.

The princess was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London, immediately in front of (east of) the central chapel rather than at Windsor Castle, as she wished to be near her brother, Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (who lies on the opposite side of the path). After her death, it was discovered that Conroy had squandered most of her money and that the princess had virtually no estate to bequeath. Charles Greville wrote an entry in his diary on 31 May:

“The Princess Sophia died a few days ago, while the Queen [Victoria] was holding the Drawing-room for her Birthday. She was blind, helpless, and suffered martyrdom; a very clever, well-informed woman, but who never lived in the world.”

June 7, 1660: Birth of George I, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover. Part I.

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Elector of Hanover, Electress Sophia of Hanover, Ernst August of Hanover, George I, George I of Great Britain, Holy Roman Empire, Imperial Elector of Hanover and of Brunswick-Lüneburg., King of Great Britain and Ireland, Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick-Celle, Sophia Dorothea of Great Britain, Sophia of the Palatinate of the Rhine, Sophia of the Rhine (Electress Sophia)

George I (George-Louis; German: Georg-Ludwig; May 28/June7, 1660 – June 11, 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) in the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first British monarch of the House of Hanover. Under the old Julian Calendar (OS for Old Style) George I was born May 28 1660. When the Julian Calendar was replaced by the Gregorian Calendar (NS for New Style) his birthday was recognized as being June 7, 1660.

George I, King of Great Britain and Ireland, Imperial Elector of Hanover and of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

George was born in the city of Hanover in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the eldest son of Ernst-August, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his wife, Sophia of the Palatinate of the Rhine. Sophia was the granddaughter of King James I of England through her mother, Elizabeth Stuart of England. Sophie’s father was Friedrich V.; (1596-1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both roles, and the brevity of his reign in Bohemia earned him the derisive sobriquet “the Winter King.”

Sophia of the Palatinate of the Rhine, Electress of Hanover and Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Mother)

Ernst-August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Father)

For the first year of his life, George was the only heir to the German territories of his father and three childless uncles. George’s brother, Friedrich-August, was born in 1661, and the two boys (known as Görgen and Gustchen by the family) were brought up together. Their mother was absent for almost a year (1664–65) during a long convalescent holiday in Italy, but corresponded regularly with her sons’ governess and took a great interest in their upbringing, even more so upon her return. Sophia bore Ernst-August another four sons and a daughter. In her letters, Sophia describes George as a responsible, conscientious child who set an example to his younger brothers and sisters.

Friedrich V, Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire, King of Bohemia

By 1675 George’s eldest uncle had died without issue, but his remaining two uncles had married, putting George’s inheritance in jeopardy as his uncles’ estates might pass to their own sons, should they have had any, instead of to George.

In 1679 another uncle died unexpectedly without sons, and Ernst-August became reigning Duke of Calenberg-Göttingen, with his capital at Hanover. George’s surviving uncle, Georg-Wilhelm of Celle, had married his mistress in order to legitimise his only daughter, Sophia-Dorothea, but looked unlikely to have any further children. Under Salic law, where inheritance of territory was restricted to the male line, the succession of George and his brothers to the territories of their father and uncle now seemed secure. In 1682, the family agreed to adopt the principle of primogeniture, meaning George would inherit all the territory and not have to share it with his brothers.

Ernest-Augustus, Duke of York (Brother)

The same year, George married his first cousin, Sophia-Dorothea of Brunswick-Celle, thereby securing additional incomes that would have been outside Salic laws. The marriage of state was arranged primarily as it ensured a healthy annual income and assisted the eventual unification of Hanover and Celle. His mother at first opposed the marriage because she looked down on Sophia Dorothea’s mother, Eleonore (who came from lower nobility), and because she was concerned by Sophia-Dorothea’s legitimated status. She was eventually won over by the advantages inherent in the marriage.

Sophia-Dorothea of Brunswick-Celle

In 1683 George and his brother Friedrich-August served in the Great Turkish War at the Battle of Vienna, and Sophia-Dorothea bore George a son, Georg-August. The following year, Friedrich-August was informed of the adoption of primogeniture, meaning he would no longer receive part of his father’s territory as he had expected. This led to a breach between Friedrich-August and his father, and between the brothers, that lasted until his death in battle in 1690.

With the imminent formation of a single Hanoverian state, and the Hanoverians’ continuing contributions to the Empire’s wars, Ernst-August was made an Imperial-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire in 1692. George’s prospects were now better than ever as the sole heir to his father’s electorate and his uncle’s duchy.

George I, King of Great Britain and Ireland, Imperial Elector of Hanover and of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Sophia-Dorothea had a second child, a daughter named after her, in 1687, but there were no other pregnancies. The couple became estranged—George preferred the company of his mistress, Melusine von der Schulenburg.

May 31, 1740: Death of King Friedrich-Wilhelm I in Prussia.

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Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick I of Prussia, Frederick the Great, Frederick William I of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire, King in Hanover, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Sophia Dorothea of Great Britain

Friedrich-Wilhelm I (August 14, 1688 – May 31, 1740), known as the “Soldier King”, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel. He was succeeded by his son, Friedrich II the Great.

Friedrich-Wilhelm I, King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg.

Reign

Friedrich-Wilhelm I was born in Berlin to King Friedrich I in Prussia and Princess Sophia-Charlotte of Hanover, the only daughter of Elector Ernst-August of Hanover and his wife Sophia of the Palatinate of the Rhine. Her eldest brother Elector Georg-Ludwig of Hanover succeeded to the British throne in 1714 as King George I of Great Britain and Ireland.

Friedrich-Wilhelm’s father, Friedrich I, had successfully acquired the title King in Prussia for the Margraves of Brandenburg. On ascending the throne in 1713 (the year before his maternal grandmother’s death and the ascension of his maternal uncle George I of Great Britain to the British throne) the new King sold most of his father’s horses, jewels and furniture; he did not intend to treat the treasury as his personal source of revenue the way Friedrich I and many of the other German Princes had.

Friedrich I, King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg (Father)

Throughout his reign, Friedrich-Wilhelm was characterized by his frugal, austere and militaristic lifestyle, as well as his devout Calvinist faith. He practiced rigid management of the treasury, never started a war, and led a simple and austere lifestyle, in contrast to the lavish court his father had presided over.

Princess Sophia-Charlotte of Hanover (Mother)

Friedrich-Wilhelm I did much to improve Prussia economically and militarily. He replaced mandatory military service among the middle class with an annual tax, and he established schools and hospitals. The king encouraged farming, reclaimed marshes, stored grain in good times and sold it in bad times.

He dictated the manual of Regulations for State Officials, containing 35 chapters and 297 paragraphs in which every public servant in Prussia could find his duties precisely set out: a minister or councillor failing to attend a committee meeting, for example, would lose six months’ pay; if he absented himself a second time, he would be discharged from the royal service. In short, Friedrich-Wilhelm I concerned himself with every aspect of his relatively small country, ruling an absolute monarchy with great energy and skill.

On November 28, 1706, Friedrich-Wilhelm married his first cousin Sophia-Dorothea of Hanover. She was only daughter of Georg-Ludwig of Hanover, later King George I of Great Britain, and his wife, Sophia-Dorothea of Celle. She was detested by her elder brother, King George II of Great Britain.

Sophia-Dorothea of Hanover

Friedrich-Wilhelm was faithful and loving to his wife but they did not have a happy relationship: Sophia-Dorothea feared his unpredictable temper and resented him, both for allowing her no influence at court and for refusing to marry her children to their English cousins. She also abhorred his cruelty towards their son and heir Crown Prince Friedrich (with whom she was close), although rather than trying to mend the relationship between father and son she frequently spurred Friedrich on in his defiance. They had fourteen children.

Although a highly effective ruler, Friedrich-Wilhelm had a perpetually short temper which sometimes drove him to physically attack servants (or even his own children) with a cane at the slightest provocation. His violent, harsh nature was further exacerbated by his inherited porphyritic disease, which gave him gout, obesity and frequent crippling stomach pains. He also had a notable contempt for France, and would sometimes fly into a rage at the mere mention of that country, although this did not stop him from encouraging the immigration of French Huguenot refugees to Prussia.
Burial and reburials

His eldest surviving son was Friedrich II (Fritz), born in 1712. Friedrich-Wilhelm wanted him to become a fine soldier. As a small child, Fritz was awakened each morning by the firing of a cannon. At the age of 6, he was given his own regiment of children to drill as cadets, and a year later, he was given a miniature arsenal.

Portrait of August II of Poland (left) and Friedrich-Wilhelm I of Prussia (right), during Friedrich-Wilhelm’s 1728 visit to Dresden. Painting by Louis de Silvestre, about 1730

The love and affection Friedrich-Wilhelm had for his heir initially was soon destroyed due to their increasingly different personalities. Friedrich-Wilhelm ordered Fritz to undergo a minimal education, live a simple Protestant lifestyle, and focus on the Army and statesmanship as he had.

However, the intellectual Fritz was more interested in music, books and French culture, which were forbidden by his father as decadent and unmanly. As Fritz’s defiance for his father’s rules increased, Friedrich-Wilhelm would frequently beat or humiliate Fritz (he preferred his younger sibling Wilhelm-August). Fritz was beaten for being thrown off a bolting horse and wearing gloves in cold weather. After the prince attempted to flee to England with his tutor, Hans Hermann von Katte, the enraged King had Katte beheaded before the eyes of the prince, who himself was court-martialled.

The court declared itself not competent in this case. Whether it was the king’s intention to have his son executed as well (as Voltaire claims) is not clear. However, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI intervened, claiming that a prince could only be tried by the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire itself.

Crown Prince Friedrich (Friedrich II)

Fritz was imprisoned in the Fortress of Küstrin from September 2, to November 19, 1731 and exiled from court until February 1732, during which time he was rigorously schooled in matters of state. After achieving a measure of reconciliation, Friedrich-Wilhelm had his son married to Princess Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, whom Friedrich despised, but then grudgingly allowed him to indulge in his musical and literary interests again. He also gifted him a stud farm in East Prussia, and Rheinsberg Palace. By the time of Friedrich-Wilhelm’s death in 1740, he and Fritz were on at least reasonable terms with each other.

Although the relationship between Friedrich-Wilhelm and Fritz was clearly hostile, Fritz himself later wrote that his father “penetrated and understood great objectives, and knew the best interests of his country better than any minister or general.”

Friedrich-Wilhelm died in 1740 at age 51 and was interred at the Garrison Church in Potsdam. At his death, Prussia had a sound exchequer and a full treasury, in contrast to the other German states.

During World War II, in order to protect Friedrich-Wilhelm I’s coffin from advancing allied forces, Hitler ordered the king’s coffin, as well as those of Friedrich the Great and Paul von Hindenburg, into hiding, first to Berlin and later to a salt mine outside of Bernterode.

The coffins were later discovered by occupying American Forces, who re-interred the bodies in St. Elisabeth’s Church in Marburg in 1946. In 1953 the coffin was moved to Burg Hohenzollern, where it remained until 1991, when it was finally laid to rest on the steps of the altar in the Kaiser Friedrich Mausoleum in the Church of Peace on the palace grounds of Sanssouci. The original black marble sarcophagus collapsed at Burg Hohenzollern—the current one is a copper copy.

The name Louis and the British Monarchy: III

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Frederick the Great of Prussia, Frederick William I of Prussia, King George I of Great Britain, Kingdom of Prussia, Kings and Queens of Great Britain, Louis, Prince Louis of Cambridge, Sophia Dorothea of Great Britain

As we continue to examine the name Louis and its association with the British monarchy this next entry does stray a bit from a rigid definition of the British Royal Family. For these next examples they were not members of the British Royal Family technically speaking; they were members of the king’s family. This is a distinction that does have a difference. Though these examples were members of the German House of Hanover that ruled over Prussia, they were also the grandchildren of King George I of Great Britain.

Sophia-Dorothea of Great Britain and Hanover

King George I had one daughter, Sophia Dorothea. On November 28, 1706, she married her paternal cousin, Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia, heir apparent to the Prussian throne. The Crown Prince’s mother, was Princess Sophia of Hanover, brother of King George I of Great Britain, and wife of King Frederick I in Prussia. Sophia -Dorothea and Frederick-William had met as children when Frederick-William had spent some time in Hanover under the care of their grandmother. Sophia-Dorothea disliked him, however, Frederick-William had reportedly felt an attraction to her early on.

Sophia-Dorothea was described as tall, with a beautiful slender figure, graceful and dignified with big blue eyes. She was seen as quite attractive at the time of her marriage and was described as charming in her manners, and made a good impression in Berlin.

Sophia-Dorothea and Frederick-William were different from one another and were ill suited for one another and the marriage suffered as a result. Sophia-Dorothea was a cultured princess with a strong interested in art, science, literature and fashion, while Frederick-William was described as an unpolished, uneducated and spartan military man with rough manners. Sophia Dorothea loved entertainment, something he regarded to be frivolous and this was a major source of friction between them.

Frederick-William I, King in Prussia

Though Frederick-William was never unfaithful to her, a rare trait in a Royal prince of those days, he was unable to win her affection. At one point Frederick-William contemplated divorcing her the same year they married and, judging by her letters, accused her of not wanting to be married to him. It seems that was a correct assumption. Despite great animosity between the couple they seemed to be compatible in the bedroom. Between 1707 and 1730 the couple had 14 children, 10 survived to adulthood.

The name Louis was found among three of their sons, and the feminine form Louise was found among the names of two of their daughters. The first child, a son, was born in 1707 and christened Frederick-Louis, and his birth was celebrated greatly in Prussia. Sadly the next year, 1708 Frederick-Louis died. Sophia-Dorothea’s physicians declared was not likely to conceive again.

This declaration of her possible future barrenness prompted her father-in-law, Frederick I, King in Prussia, to marry Sophia-Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, to insure the succession to the Prussian throne. However, Sophia-Louise had no children by him. It is interesting to note that shortly before wedding the king had been informed that his daughter-in-law (Sophia-Dorothea) was pregnant, and answered that had he been aware of this, he would not have married again. Despite the declaration by her physicians Sophia-Dorothea did give birth to several children, as previously mentioned, including Frederick II The Great, King of Prussia (1740-1786).

The next child of Sophia-Dorothea of Great Britain and Hanover and Frederick-William I, King in Prussia which had with the name of Louis among them was HRH Prince Frederick-Henry-Louis of Prussia, January 18, 1726 and died August 3, 1802, was commonly known as Henry. He also served as a general and statesman, leading Prussian armies in the Silesian Wars and the Seven Years’ War, having never lost a battle in the latter. In 1786, he was suggested as a candidate for a monarch for the United States, prior to the decision to become a Republic.


The last child of Sophia-Dorothea of Great Britain and Hanover and Frederick-William I, King in Prussia which had with the name of Louis among them was HRH Prince Louis-Charles-Wilhelm, born in 1717 and died sadly in 1719 at the age of two.

This concludes a look at the grandchildren of King George I of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover and its association with the name Louis.

Part IV coming soon!

Royal Genealogy ~ Queen Victoria & Prince Albert

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Buckingham Palace, Charles II of England and Scotland, Denmark, Duke of York, Ernst August of Hanover, France, Friedrich I of Prussia, Friedrich III, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, German Emperor and King of Prussia, Italy, James VI-I of Scotland and England, Kings and Queens of England, Portugal, Prince Frederick, Princess Victoria, Queen Victoria, Sophia Dorothea of Great Britain, Sophia of the Rhine (Electress Sophia), Spain, The Princess Royal, United Kingdom of Great Britain, Victoria and Albert, Wilhelm II of Germany

When I began my interest in royalty, genealogy was the doorway by which I entered. After sorting out the genealogy of the British Royal Family the era that piqued my interest the most was the Victorian Era. To be more accurate I also am equally interested in the Edwardian Age and the time until the end of the First World War. One of the things I have read frequently is the statement that the descendants of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert married into all the great Royal Houses of Europe. While this is true, in some ways I find it misleading because royals marrying royals is a practice that had been going on for centuries. Today all the reigning royal families are related and this is nothing new.

Let us take the marriage of Victoria and Albert’s eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal, and her marriage to the future Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia as an example. The two royals were already related. Both were descendants of Sophia of the Rhine (Electress Sophia) and Elector Ernst August of Hanover, the line from which the royal family earned its claim to the throne. Electress Sophia’s daughter, also named Sophia, married King Friedrich I of Prussia and their son, King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia married his first cousin, Princess Sophia Dorothea of Great Britain. The next time the Prussians and the British royal family mingled was when Friedrich III’s great aunt, Princess Frederica, married Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal’s great uncle, Prince Frederick, Duke of York. Their mutual descent from the Electress Sophia made Fritz and Vicky 5th cousins.

Even if you go further back into the British Royal Family’s genealogy, their members frequently married into or chose members from the reigning houses that ruled France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Italy and many others. Charles II of England and Scotland was the first cousin of King Louis XIV of France. The marriage of Charles’ grandfather, James VI-I of Scotland and England married, Anne, the daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark and from this union also descends many of the great royal houses of Europe.

As I discuss this topic on Monday we will come to see all the myriad ways in which the various royal families are related.