Caroline Matilda of Great Britain

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Caroline Matilda of Great Britain bigraphy, stories - Queen consort of Denmark and Norway, 1766–1772

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain : biography

11 July 1751 – 10 May 1775

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain ( 11 July 1751 – 10 May 1775) was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1766 to 1772 as the wife of King Christian VII.

Background and early life

Caroline Matilda was the youngest child of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Her father died suddenly about three months before her birth. She was born at Leicester House in London, and was given the style and title HRH Princess Caroline Matilda,The of her betrothal in The London Gazette refer to her as "Princess Caroline Matilda" as daughter of the Prince of Wales, though, by the time of her birth, the title of Prince of Wales had passed to her brother George. Both of her names were used due to her aunt, Princess Caroline, being alive. The princess was christened ten days later, at the same house, by The Bishop of Norwich, Thomas Hayter. Her godparents were her brother George, her paternal aunt Caroline and her sister Augusta. She was brought up by her strict mother away from the English court and was described as natural and informal; she enjoyed out-doors life and riding. She could speak Italian, French and German, and was described as an accomplished singer with a beautiful voice.

Marriage to Christian

At the age of fifteen, Caroline Matilda left her family behind in Britain in order to travel to Denmark and marry her cousin, Christian VII of Denmark. The wedding took place on 8 November 1766 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. Her eldest brother, by then King George III, was anxious about the marriage, even though he wasn’t fully aware that the bridegroom was mentally ill.

Caroline Matilda had two children, both of whom were officially recognized as the issue of Christian VII:

  • Frederick VI of Denmark (1768–1839)
  • Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark (1771–1843)

Legacy

Her royal monogram

Fiction

  • Robert Neumann – The Favourite of the Queen (Der Favorit der Königin) (1935)
  • Edgar Maass – The Queen’s Physician (1948)
  • GV Blackstone – Caroline Matilda (1955) William Heinemann (London)
  • Norah Lofts – The Lost Queen (1969)
  • Per Olov Enquist – The Visit of the Royal Physician (Livläkarens besök) (1999)
  • Bodil Steensen-Leth Prinsesse af blodet (Princess of the Blood)

Film

  • In The Dictator (1935), Caroline Matilda is played by Madeleine Carroll.
  • In A Royal Affair (2012), Caroline Matilda is played by Swedish actress Alicia Vikander.

Music

  • Peter Maxwell Davies – Caroline Mathilde (ballet; 1991)

Bibliography

  • Amdisen, Asser. Til nytte og fornøjelse Johann Friedrich Struensee (1737–1772). Denmark: Akademisk Forlag, 2002. ISBN 87-500-3730-7.
  • Bregnsbo, Michael. Caroline Mathilde: magt og skæbne : en biografi. Denmark: Aschehoug, 2007. ISBN 978-87-11-11856-6
  • Tilliyard, Stella. A Royal Affair: George III and his Scandalous Siblings. London: Chatto & Windus, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7011-7306-7

Later life in Celle

Caroline Matilda’s brother, George III, sent Sir Robert Murray Keith, a British diplomat, to negotiate for her release from imprisonment.Thomas Campbell, ed. New monthly magazine, vol. 85, p. 433 On 28 May 1772, Caroline Matilda was deported on board a British frigate to Celle, residing at Celle Castle in her brother’s German territory of Hanover. She never saw her children again. In Celle, she was known for her charity toward poor children and orphans. She was also reunited with her former hofmesterinde (Mistress of the Robes) Countess Louise von Plessen.

She did not give up hope of returning to Denmark and seeing her ex-husband deposed, but her indiscreet behaviour dismayed her brother, and he was reluctant to have her back in England, even if she had been willing to return.

In 1774, she became the center of a plot with the intent to make her the regent of Denmark as the guardian of the crown prince, instigated by Ernst Schimmelmann with the Englishman Nathaniel Wraxall as a messenger. Wraxall met her many times and she used him as messenger to her brother, whose support she desired. She herself wrote a letter to her brother George III in 1775, in which she asked for his approval for the plan, which she referred to as “this scheme for my son’s happiness.”

She died suddenly of scarlet fever at Celle on 10 May 1775. She was buried in the Stadtkirche St. Marien in Celle.

Ancestors

Queenship

Nor were Struensee’s relations with the queen less offensive to a nation which had a traditional veneration for the royal House of Oldenburg, while Caroline Matilda’s conduct in public brought the Crown into contempt. Her way of openly demonstrating her new happiness, and riding in public dressed as a man, was seen as shocking. On the birthday of the king in 1771 she founded the order called Mathilde-Ordenen.

On 17 June 1771 the royal court took summer residence at Hirschholm Palace in present-day Hørsholm municipality. Here, she lived happily with her child and her lover and was painted in the style of the newly modern country life; this summer is described as an idyll. On 7 July 1771, Caroline Matilda gave birth to her second child, Princess Louise Auguste, whose father was almost certainly Struensee. This was also considered scandalous; the girl was called “la petite Struensee”, though officially accepted as princess.

The court moved to Frederiksborg Palace on 19 November and then back to Christiansborg Castle on 8 January 1772.

Divorce and exile

Struensee and Caroline Matilda were both arrested in the middle of the night between 16 and 17 January, after a masked ball at the royal theatre at Christiansborg Castle. Caroline Matilda was taken to Kronborg Castle to await her judgment. She was allowed to keep her daughter with her, while 4 year old Crown Prince Frederik stayed with his father. She is believed to have been pressed or manipulated to admit the relationship by the interrogator. She was not given any advisers. She initially denied her relationship to Struensee in the hope of saving him.

The marriage of Caroline Matilda and Christian was dissolved by divorce in April 1772. After the divorce, Johann Friedrich Struensee and his accomplice Count Enevold Brandt were executed on 28 April 1772.