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Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Queen consort of Hanover
Portrait by Johann Tischbein, 1796.
Consort	20 June 1837 – 29 June 1841
Consort to Spouse	Ernest Augustus I of Hanover (m. 1815) Frederick William, Prince of Solms-Braunfels (m. 1798; d. 1814) Prince Louis Charles of Prussia (m. 1793; d. 1796)
(more...) Issue
Prince Frederick of Prussia Princess Frederica of Prussia Prince William of Solms-Braunfels Princess Augusta of Solms-Braunfels Prince Alexander of Solms-Braunfels Prince Charles of Solms-Braunfels George V of Hanover
Full name
Frederica Louise Caroline Sophie Alexandrina German: Friederike Luise Caroline Sophie Alexandrine
Detail Titles and styles
HM Queen Frederica of Hanover, Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale HRH The Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale HH The Princess of Solms-Braunfels HRH Princess Frederick Louis of Prussia HH Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Royal house	House of Hanover House of Nikloting
Father	Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Mother	Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt
Born	3 March 1778 Hanover
Died	29 June 1841 (aged 63) Hanover
Burial	Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover

Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (full name: Frederica Louise Caroline Sophie Charlotte Alexandrine) (b. 3 March 1778 – d. 29 June 1841), Duchess of Cumberland and later Queen of Hanover, was the consort of Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, the fifth son and eighth child of George III and Queen Charlotte.

She was born in the Alten Palais of Hanover as the fifth daughter of Charles II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his first wife, Frederica, daughter of George William, Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. From birth until her first marriage, her title was Her Highness Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Her father assumed the title of Grand Duke of Mecklenburg on 18 June 1815. Duchess Frederica was the niece of her future mother-in-law, Queen Charlotte (formerly Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz).

Early life

Frederica's mother died on 22 May 1782, after giving birth her tenth child. Two years later (28 September 1784), her father remarried with the younger sister of his deceased wife, Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt, but this union ended only one year later, when Charlotte died of complications resulting from childbirth on 12 December 1785. The twice widower Duke Charles think he can't give his daughters a properly care and education; for this, he send Frederica and her older sisters Charlotte, Therese and Louise with their maternal grandmother Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg, Dowager Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt and called Princess George (in allusion to her late husband, the second son of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt). She was a warm and cheerful person, and specially to Louise and Frederica -the younger sister- was the only mother who they really knew.^{citation needed} The Princess George's choice of the swiss teacher Salomé de Gélieu should prove a good one. Some time later, Duke Charles also send his two surviving sons, the Hereditary Prince George and Charles to be raised by her grandmother.

First marriage

In Frankfurt-am-Main on 14 March 1793, the Princesses of Mecklenburg-Strelitz "coincidentally" knew in the Prussian Theatre the King Frederick William II, who was inmediately cautivated by the grace and charm of Frederica and her sister Louise.

Famous Schadow statue of Frederica (right), with her sister, Louise.

Some weeks later, Frederica and Louise's father began the marriage negociations with the King: Louise with the Crown Prince Frederick William and Frederica with his younger brother Frederick Louis Karl (called Prince Louis, b. 5 November 1773).

The double engagement was celebrated in Darmstadt on 24 April. On 24 December Louise and the Crown Prince were married in the Royal Palace of Berlin; two days later, on 26 December Frederica and the Prince Louis were also married in the same place. At difference to her sister, Frederica didn't had a happy union. Her husband preferred the company of his mistresses and neglected her; in response, the humiliated wife apparently began an affair with his husband's uncle Prince Louis Ferdinand, but these cannot be proved.^{citation needed}

In 1795 the King Frederick William II appointed Louis as a Chief of the Dragoons Regiment No 1, who was stationed in Schwedt, but one year, on 23 December 1796, he died of diphteria. Frederica and her three children moved to the Schönhausen Palace near Berlin.

In 1797 she and her cousin Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge -fifth son of King George III of Great Britain by his wife Queen Charlotte (Frederica's paternal aunt)- were unofficially engaged. The Duke of Cambridge asked the consent of his father to the marriage, but the King, under the pressure of his wife, refused.^{citation needed}

Second marriage

In 1798 Frederica became pregnant. The father was Frederick William, Prince of Solms-Braunfels (b. 22 October 1770). The Prince recognized his paternity and asked her hand in marriage, which was quickly granted in order to avoid the inevitable scandal. On 10 December of that year, they were married in Berlin and inmediately they moved to Ansbach. Two months later, in February 1799 Frederica gave birth a daughter who lived eight months. The Prince of Solms-Braunfels, dissapointed and embittered, reasumed his old dissipated life and became an alcoholic.^{citation needed} In 1805 he resigned from his military posts for "health reasons", and with this lost his income. Frederica had to mantain her family with her own resources after the refusal of her brother-in-law King Frederick William III to restored her the annual pension as a Dowager Princess of Prussia. Frederica's older brother-in-law and Head of the family, Prince William Christian Karl of Solms-Braunfels, advised her to divorced, with his full approval. She and her husband refused.^{citation needed}

Third marriage

In May 1813, during a visit to his uncle Duke Charles in Neustrelitz, Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland -the fourth son of King George III of Great Britain- met an fell in love with Frederica.^{citation needed} Duke Charles let his daughter unmistakably know that her separation of the Prince of Solms-Braunfels is absolutely right and that he would see a marriage with the English prince a great opportunity to her. During the next months Frederica think about the intentions of Ernest Augustus and the possible effects on her own situation in peace. When after the victory of the allies in the Battle of Leipzig Ernest Augustus spend some days in Neustrelitz, he was greeted friendly. Some time later Frederica asked to the Prussian King the approval to her divorce of the Prince of Solms-Braunfels. All parties agreed, included the Prince of Solms-Braunfels, whose sudden death on 13 April 1814 was considered by some too convenient, suspecting Frederica of poisoning her husband¹. In August the engagement was officially announced. After the British Parliament had given his consent to the wedding, Frederica and Ernest Augustus were married on 29 May 1815 at the parish church of Neustrelitz.^{citation needed} Some time later, the couple travel to Great Britain and married again on 29 August 1815 at Carlton House, London.

Queen Charlotte bitterly opposed the marriage, even though her future daughter-in-law was also her niece.^{citation needed} She refused to attend the wedding and advised her son to live outside of England with his wife. Frederica never obtain the favor of her aunt/mother-in-law, who died unreconciled to her in 1818. From her marriage to Ernest Augustus, she had a further three children, only one of whom survived — a son, who would become King George V of Hanover.

Queen of Hanover

Queen Frederica of Hanover.

On 20 June 1837 the King William IV of the United Kingdom and Hanover died without surviving issue. His heir was the Princess Victoria, only daughter of Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent; but because Hanover was ruled under Salic Law since the times of the Holy Roman Empire, she could not inherit that throne. The next male descendant of the late King was the Duke of Cumberland, Frederica's husband, who then became King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, with Frederica his Queen consort.

After a short illness, Queen Frederica of Hanover died in 1841 at Hanover. The Court master builder Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves was instructed by the King to build a mausoleum for his wife and himself in the garden of the Chapel at Schloss Herrenhausen. He also gave royal orders for the transformation of a central square near the Leineschloss and renamed in her honor as Friederikenplatz.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 3 March 1778 – 26 December 1793: Her Highness Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• 26 December 1793 – 23 December 1796: Her Royal Highness Princess Frederick Louis of Prussia
• 23 December 1796 – 10 December 1798: Her Highness Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• 10 December 1798 – 29 August 1815: Her Highness The Princess of Solms-Braunfels
• 29 August 1815 – 29 June 1841: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale
• 20 June 1837 – 29 June 1841: Her Majesty Queen Frederica of Hanover, Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale

Issue

References

1. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 114

• This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.

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