Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen

1792 – 1849 · Generation XXXII · Queen consort

Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (1792–1849). Queen consort. Married William IV in 1818. The eldest child of Duke George I of Saxe-Meiningen, she was chosen for the Duke of Clarence in the rush for heirs that followed Princess Charlotte’s death; they met only a week before their double wedding at Kew in July 1818, and he was twenty-seven years her senior. The marriage proved devoted, but two daughters died in infancy and twin sons were stillborn, leaving no surviving children. Crowned with William at Westminster Abbey in 1831, she was admired for piety and charity and gave much of her income away. Firmly Tory, she was suspected of stiffening him against the Reform Act, though her real influence is unclear. Victoria, her niece and William’s heir, found her consistently kind, even amid the King’s open quarrel with the Duchess of Kent. The South Australian capital was named in her honour in 1836; as queen dowager she paid for St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral in Valletta.

Place in the family

Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen married King William IV, an uncle of Queen Victoria.

Partners

Married King William IV (1765 – 1837) in 1818

Life

1792 — Born
1818 — Married William IV
1849 — Died