Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
1719 – 1772 · Generation XXX · Princess of Wales
Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719–1772). Princess of Wales. Married Frederick Prince of Wales in 1736. 9 of their children are recorded in this archive. Born in Gotha to Frederick II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, she was chosen after George II looked her over on a visit from Hanover, and arrived in England at sixteen with almost no English, marrying within days at the Chapel Royal. Her husband, feuding with his parents, used her to snub them — notably by hurrying her from Hampton Court in labour in 1737 so the king and queen could not witness the birth. Widowed in 1751 while expecting their ninth child, she was named prospective regent for her son and raised her children in seclusion. As George III’s mother she held real sway over him, and her backing of the Earl of Bute, prime minister from 1762, made the pair objects of public hatred; he resigned within a year. She enlarged Kew Gardens, where William Chambers built her Great Pagoda, and died of throat cancer at Carlton House in 1772.
Place in the family
- Augusta of Saxe-Gotha was a great-grandmother of Queen Victoria.
- The archive records 84 of her descendants, across 10 generations.
Partners
- Married Frederick Prince of Wales (1707 – 1751) in 1736 — 9 children together
Children
- Augusta of Great Britain (1737 – 1813)
- King George III (1738 – 1820)
- Edward Duke of York (1739 – 1767)
- Elizabeth of Great Britain (1741 – 1759)
- William Henry Duke of Gloucester (1743 – 1805)
- Henry Duke of Cumberland (1745 – 1790)
- Louisa of Great Britain (1749 – 1768)
- Frederick of Great Britain (1750 – 1765)
- Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751 – 1775)
Life
- 1719 — Born
- 1736 — Married Frederick Prince of Wales
- 1772 — Died