Caroline of Ansbach
1683 – 1737 · Generation XXIX · Queen consort
Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737). Queen consort. Married George II in 1705. 8 of their children are recorded in this archive. A formidable political intelligence; Walpole governed through her confidence. Orphaned young, the daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach was raised at the Prussian court of Queen Sophia Charlotte, whose liberal outlook and learned circle — Leibniz among them — shaped her for life. She turned down Archduke Charles of Austria rather than abandon Lutheranism, and in 1705 married George Augustus of Hanover after he came to inspect her, supposedly incognito. As Princess of Wales from 1714 she shared his banishment from court after a quarrel with George I, and championed smallpox inoculation, having her own children treated after trials on Newgate prisoners. Queen from 1727, she acted as regent during George II’s absences in Hanover though her relations with her son Frederick were strained. Dying of a strangulated hernia in 1737, she sent her barred son forgiveness through Walpole; the king had their coffins made with removable sides so that they might one day lie together.
Place in the family
- Caroline of Ansbach was a great-great-grandmother of Queen Victoria.
- The archive records 92 of her descendants, across 11 generations.
Partners
- Married King George II (1683 – 1760) in 1705 — 8 children together
Children
- Frederick Prince of Wales (1707 – 1751)
- Anne Princess Royal (1709 – 1759)
- 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)
Life
- 1683 — Born
- 1705 — Married George II
- 1737 — Died