Princess Caroline Elizabeth of Great Britain (10 June 1713 – 28 December 1757) was the fourth child and third daughter of King

George II of Great Britain , house = Hanover , religion = Protestant , father = George I of Great Britain , mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle , birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683 , birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...

and his wife Caroline of Ansbach.

Early life

Princess Caroline was born at

Herrenhausen Palace Herrenhausen Palace (German: ''Schloss Herrenhausen'') is a former royal summer residence of the House of Hanover in the Herrenhausen district of the German city of Hanover. It is the centerpiece of Herrenhausen Gardens. The original palace ...

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, on 10 June 1713 (

New Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

). Her father was George Augustus, Hereditary Prince of Hanover, the eldest son of George Louis, Elector of Hanover. Her mother was Caroline of Ansbach, daughter of

Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (18 October 1654 – 22 March 1686) succeeded his father Albert II as margrave of Ansbach in 1667. He married his second wife Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach on 4 November 1681. Their da ...

. As a granddaughter of the Elector of Hanover, she was styled Princess Caroline of Hanover at birth. Under the Act of Settlement 1701, she was seventh in the

line of succession to the British throne Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, gender, legitimacy and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 a ...

. She was baptised the day after her birth at Herrenhausen Palace.

Great Britain

In 1714, Queen Anne died, and Caroline's grandfather became George I and her father

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. At the age of one year, Caroline accompanied her mother and elder sisters, the Princesses

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

and Amelia, to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, and the family resided at St James's Palace,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She was then styled as a Princess of Great Britain. A newly attributed list from January–February 1728 documents her personal expenses, including charitable contributions to several Protestant groups in London. In 1722, at the direction of her mother, she was inoculated against

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

variolation Variolation was the method of inoculation first used to immunize individuals against smallpox (''Variola'') with material taken from a patient or a recently variolated individual, in the hope that a mild, but protective, infection would result. Var ...

, an early type of

immunisation Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the immunogen). When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called ''non-se ...

popularised by

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served a ...

and Charles Maitland. Princess Caroline was her mother's favourite, and became known as "the truth-telling Caroline Elizabeth" (or "the truth-loving"). When any disagreement took place among the royal children, her parents would say, "Send for Caroline, and then we shall know the truth!"''The royal princesses of England: from the reign of the George the First'' by Mrs. Matthew Hall, pages 114-125 According to Dr. John Doran, "The truth-loving Caroline Elizabeth was unreservedly beloved by her parents, was worthy of the affection, and repaid it by an ardent attachment. She was fair, good, accomplished, and unhappy."

Later life

According to popular belief, Caroline's unhappiness was due to her love for the married courtier Lord Hervey. Hervey, who was bisexual, may have had an affair with Caroline's elder brother, Prince Frederick, and was romantically linked with several ladies of the court as well. When Hervey died in 1743, Caroline retired to St. James's Palace for many years prior to her own death, accessible to only her family and closest friends.Van der Kiste, p. 197 She gave generously to charity. Princess Caroline died, unmarried and childless, on 28 December 1757, aged 44, at St James's Palace. She was buried at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. Horace Walpole, of the death of Princess Caroline, wrote: "Though her state of health had been so dangerous for years, and her absolute confinement for many of them, her disorder was, in a manner, new and sudden, and her death unexpected by herself, though earnestly her wish. Her goodness was constant and uniform, her generosity immense, her charities most extensive; in short, I, no royalist, could be lavish in her praise."

Arms

On 31 January 1719, as a grandchild of the sovereign, Caroline was granted use of the arms of the realm, differenced by a ''label argent of five points, each bearing three roses gules''. On 30 August 1727, as a child of the sovereign, Caroline's difference changed to a ''label argent of three points, each bearing three roses gules''.Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family
/ref> File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Caroline_Elizabeth_of_Great_Britain.svg, Coat of Arms from 30 August 1727

Ancestors

Notes

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caroline Of Great Britain, Princess 1713 births 1757 deaths 18th-century British people 18th-century British women British princesses Nobility from Hanover House of Hanover Burials at Westminster Abbey German people of Scottish descent Children of George II of Great Britain British people of German descent Daughters of kings