Anne Princess Royal
1709 – 1759 · Generation XXX · Princess of Orange · House of Hanover
Anne Princess Royal (1709–1759). Princess of Orange. Married William IV of Orange in 1734. Born at Herrenhausen, the eldest daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach was taught music by Handel and backed him all her life. Smallpox in 1720 left her face scarred. A 1725 scheme to marry her to Louis XV foundered on religion, as France required her conversion. In 1727 her father made her Princess Royal, a title not granted since Charles I created it for his daughter in 1642. Her husband’s authority over all seven Dutch provinces, won in 1747, was soon made hereditary. After his death in 1751 she governed for their young son, William V, with a stadtholder’s full prerogatives bar military command. Her imperious ways made her unpopular, yet her firm defence of central authority secured the new hereditary regime; she failed, though, to bring the Republic into the Seven Years’ War as Britain’s ally. She died of dropsy at The Hague in 1759, still regent.
Place in the family
- Anne Princess Royal was a great-great-aunt of Queen Victoria.
- Anne Princess Royal was the second of 8 children of King George II and Caroline of Ansbach recorded in this archive.
One of 35 people of House of Hanover (from 1700) in this archive. Called from Germany by the Act of Settlement; the Georges, then Victoria.
Line of descent: Owen Tudor → Edmund Tudor → King Henry VII → Margaret Tudor → King James V of Scotland → Mary Queen of Scots → King James I → Elizabeth Stuart → Sophia of Hanover → King George I → King George II → Anne Princess Royal.
Parents
- King George II (1683 – 1760)
- Caroline of Ansbach (1683 – 1737)
Siblings
- Frederick Prince of Wales (1707 – 1751)
- Amelia of Great Britain (1711 – 1786)
- Caroline of Great Britain (1713 – 1757)
- George William of Great Britain (1717 – 1718)
- William Augustus Duke of Cumberland (1721 – 1765)
- Mary of Great Britain (1723 – 1772)
- Louise of Great Britain (1724 – 1751)
Partners
- Married William IV of Orange (1711 – 1751) in 1734
Life
- 1709 — Born
- 1734 — Married William IV of Orange
- 1759 — Died