by Alison Weir
He was born on 9 November, 1716, at St James’s Palace, London.
6 George William
He was born on 2/3 November, 1717, at St James’s Palace, London. He is sometimes referred to as the Duke of Gloucester, but there is no evidence that he was ever so styled, designated or formally created. He died on 6 February, 1718, at Kensington Palace, London, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
7 Miscarriage
This occurred in 1718.
8 William Augustus
He was born on 15 April, 1721, either at Leicester House, St Martin’s-in-the-Fields, London, or – less probably – at St James’s Palace, London. He was made a Knight of the Bath on 27 May, 1725, and was created Duke of Cumberland, Marquess of Berkhamstead, Earl of Kennington, Viscount Trematon, and Baron of Alderney on 27 July, 1726. He was made a Knight of the Garter on 18 May, 1730. He died unmarried on 31 October, 1765, at his house in Upper Grosvenor Street, London, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
William is said, without reliable evidence, to have had three illegitimate children by the daughter of a Scottish soldier.
9 Mary
She was born on 22 February (O.S.) or 5 March (N.S.), 1723, at Leicester House, St Martins-in-the-Fields, London. She married Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel (1720–1785), by proxy on 8 (O.S.) or 19 (N.S.) May, 1740, at St James’s Palace, London, and in person on 28 June, 1740, at Cassel, Germany, and had issue:
1 William (1741–1742).
2 William IX, Landgrave and Elector of Hesse-Cassel (1743–1821); he married Wilhelmina Caroline (1747–1820), daughter of Frederick V, King of Denmark by Louisa, daughter of George II ( see here), and had issue.
3 Charles, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel (1744–1836); he married Louisa (1750–1831), daughter of Frederick V, King of Denmark, by Louisa, daughter of George II ( below), and had issue.
4 Frederick III, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel (1747–1837); he married Caroline Polyxena (1762–1823), daughter of Charles William, Prince of Nassau-Usingen, and had issue, including Augusta, wife of Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, son of George III.
Mary died on 14 or 16 January, 1772, at Hanau, Germany.
10 Louisa
She was born on 7 December, 1724, at Leicester House, St Martin’s-in-the-Fields, London. She married Frederick V, King of Denmark and Norway (1723–1766), by proxy on 27 or 30 October, 1743, at Hanover, Germany, and in person on 11 December, 1743, at Altona, near Hamburg, Germany and had issue:
1 Christian (1745–1747).
2 Sophia Magdalena (1746–1813); she married Gustavus III, King of Sweden (1746–1792), and had issue.
3 Wilhelmina Caroline (1747–1820); she married William I, Elector of Hesse-Cassel (son of Mary, daughter of George II – above) (1747–1821), and had issue.
4 Christian VII, King of Denmark (1749–1808); he married Caroline Matilda of Wales, granddaughter of George II ( see here).
5 Louisa (1750–1831); she married Charles, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel (1744–1836) (son of Mary, daughter of George II – above), and had issue.
Louisa died on 8 or 19 December, 1751, at Christianborg Castle, Copenhagen, Denmark.
George II may have had the following illegitimate issue, although the King never acknowledged him as such:
By Amalia Sophia Marianne, Countess von Walmoden and Countess of Yarmouth (1704–1765):
1 John Louis, Count von Walmoden-Gimborn (1736–1811).
GEORGE II
He died on 25 October, 1760 at Kensington Palace, London, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
He was succeeded by his grandson George.
George III
* * *
FATHER: Frederick, Prince of Wales ( see here, under George II).
MOTHER: Augusta of Saxe-Gotha ( see here, under George II).
SIBLINGS: ( see here, under George II).
GEORGE III
Baptised George William Frederick, he was born on 24 May (O.S.) or 4 June (N.S.), 1738, at Norfolk House, St James’s Square, London. He was made a Knight of the Garter on 22 June, 1749. He succeeded his father as Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, Duke of Edinburgh, Marquess of the Isle of Ely, Earl of Eltham, Viscount of Launceston and Baron of Snowdon on 20 March, 1751. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 20 April, 1751. He succeeded his grandfather George II as King of Great Britain on 25 October, 1760, and was crowned on 21/22 September, 1761, at Westminster Abbey. On 1 January, 1801, he relinquished for ever the title ‘King of France’, held by English Kings since Edward III laid claim to the French crown in 1340.
George III is alleged to have married secretly, on 17 April, 1759, a Quakeress called Hannah Lightfoot, daugher of a Wapping shoemaker, who is said to have borne him three children. Documents relating to the alleged marriage, bearing the Prince’s signature, were impounded and examined in 1866 by the Attorney General. Learned opinion at that time leaned to the view that these documents were genuine. They were then placed in the Royal Archives at Windsor; in 1910, permission was refused a would-be author who asked to see them. If George III did make such a marriage when he was Prince of Wales, before the passing of the Royal Marriages Act in 1772, then his subsequent marriage to Queen Charlotte was bigamous, and every monarch of Britain since has been a usurper, the rightful heirs of George III being his children by Hannah Lightfoot, if they ever existed.
George III married, bigamously or not, on 8 September, 1761, at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, London:
(Sophia) Charlotte
Known as Charlotte, she was the daughter of Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, by Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen, and she was born on 19 May, 1744, at Mirow, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany. On 7 March, 1760, she was invested as a Protestant canoness of Herford (or Hervorden) in Westphalia, Germany. She was crowned Queen Consort on 21/22 September, 1761. She died on 17 November, 1818, at Kew Palace, Surrey, and was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Issue of marriage:
1 George lV ( see here).
2 Frederick Augustus
He was born on 16 August, 1763, at St James’s Palace, London (or, less probably, at Buckingham Palace). He was elected Prince Bishop of Osnabrück on 27 February, 1764, and was made a Knight of the Garter on 19 June, 1771. He was created Duke of York and Albany and Earl of Ulster on 29 November, 1784. He died on 5 January, 1827, at Rutland House, Arlington Street, London, and was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Frederick had the following illegitimate issue (?):
1 Charles, Captain Hesse. There is no certain proof that Frederick actually was his father, although he was generally reputed to be. Charles was killed in a duel with Count Léon, bastard son of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French.
Frederick married, on 28 September, 1791, at Charlottenburg, Berlin, Prussia, and again on 23 November, 1791, at Buckingham Palace:
Frederica Charlotte Ulrica Katherine
She was the daughter of Frederick William II, King of Prussia, by Elizabeth Christine Ulrica, daughter of Charles, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and she was born on 7 May, 1767, either at Charlottenburg or at Potsdam, Prussia. She died on 6 August, 1820, at Oatlands Park, Weybridge, Surrey, and was buried in Weybridge Churchyard, Surrey. There was no issue of the marriage.
3 Miscarriage
This occurred in the summer of 1764 at Richmond Lodge, Surrey.
4 William IV ( see here).
5 Charlotte Augusta Matilda
She was born on 29 September, 1766, at Buckingham Palace, and was styled Princess Royal from October, 1766; she was officially designated Princess Royal on 22 June, 1789. She married Frederick William Charles, Duke of Württemburg, afterwards Frederick I, King of Württemburg (1754–1816), on 18 May, 1797, at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, London, and had issue:
1 Stillborn daughter; she was born on 27 April, 1798.
Charlotte became Queen Consort when her husband acceded to the throne of Württemburg on 1 January, 1806, and was crowned as such on the same da
y at Stuttgart, Germany. She died on 6 October, 1828, at Ludwigsburg Palace, Stuttgart, Germany, and was buried there in the Ludwigsburg family vault.
6 Edward Augustus
He was born on 2 November, 1767, at Buckingham Palace. He was made a Knight of the Garter on 2 June, 1786, and was created Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Earl of Dublin on 23 or 24 April, 1799. He died on 23 January, 1820, at Woodbrook Cottage, Sidmouth, Devon, and was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. His remains were later removed to the Kent Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor.
Edward had the following illegitimate issue:
By Adelaide Dubus:
1 Adelaide Victoria Augusta (1789–1790).
By Julie de St Laurent (?):
2 A son or sons, said to have been adopted at birth in Canada (?).
Edward married, on 29 May, 1818, at Schloss Ehrenburg, Coburg, Germany, and again on 13 July, 1818, at Kew Palace, Surrey:
(Mary Louisa) Victoria
Known as Victoria, she was the daughter of Francis I (Frederick Anthony), Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield, by Augusta Caroline Sophia, daughter of Henry XXIV, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf, and she was born on 17 August, 1786, at Coburg, Germany. She married firstly Emich Charles, 2nd Prince of Leiningen (1763–1814), on 21 December, 1803, and had issue:
1 Charles Frederick William Ernest, 3rd Prince of Leiningen (1804–1856); he married Mary, Countess of Kleklesburg (1806–1880), daughter of Maximilian, Count of Kleklesburg, and had issue, although they were afterwards divorced.
2 Anne Feodora Augusta Charlotte Wilhelmina (1807–1872); she married Ernest, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1794–1860), and had issue.
Victoria died on 16 March, 1861, at Frogmore House, Windsor, and was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. Her remains were later removed to the Kent Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor.
Issue of marriage:
(i) Queen Victoria ( see here).
7 Augusta Sophia
She was born on 8 November, 1768, at Buckingham Palace. She perhaps married Major General Sir Brent Spencer (d.1828) in c.1811, but there is no substantiating evidence for this. She died on 22 September, 1840, at Clarence House, London, and was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
8 Elizabeth
She was born on 22 May, 1770, at Buckingham Palace. Some documentary evidence exists to suggest that she either married or was the mistress of a page called George Ramus in c.1785, and that they had a daughter Eliza, born in c.1786/7, who married a man called James Money. Although such a marriage would have been illegal under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, other evidence would seem to indicate that it did not take place at all, and that there was no connection whatsoever between Elizabeth and ‘George Ramus’: among 6 or 7 pages surnamed Ramus, not one was called George. Furthermore, the known details of the Princess’s illness in 1786/7 are not identifiable with the symptoms of pregnancy. Elizabeth did marry Frederick (Joseph) VI, Landgrave and Prince of Hesse-Homburg (1769–1829) on 7 April, 1818, at the Private Chapel, Buckingham Palace. She died on 10 January, 1840, at Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, and was buried in the Mausoleum of the Landgraves at Homburg, Germany.
9 Ernest Augustus
He was born on 5 June, 1771, at Buckingham Palace. He was made a Knight of the Garter on 2 June, 1786, and was created Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale and Earl of Armagh on 24 April, 1799. He succeeded his brother William IV as King of Hanover on 20 June, 1837, adopting the style Ernest I; the Salic Law governed the Hanoverian succession, thus preventing the accession of Queen Victoria. Ernest died on 18 November, 1851, at Schloss Herrenhausen, Hanover, and was buried there in the Chapel vaults.
Ernest had the following illegitimate issue:
1 George FitzErnest (d.1828).
Ernest married, on 29 May, 1815, at the parish church of Neu Strelitz, Germany, and again on 29 August, 1815, at Carlton House, London:
Frederica Louisa Caroline Sophia Alexandrina
She was the daughter of Charles Louis Frederick V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, by Frederica Caroline Louise, daughter of George William, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, and she was born on 2 March, 1778, at Hanover, Germany. She married firstly Prince Frederick Louis Charles of Prussia (1773–1796) on 26 December, 1793, at the Royal Palace, Berlin, Prussia, and had issue:
1 Frederick William Louis (1794–1863); he married Louise (1799–1882), daughter of Alexis, Duke of Anhalt-Bernbourg, and had issue.
2 Charles George (1795–1798).
3 Frederica Wilhelmina Louise (1796–1850); she married Leopold Frederick, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau (1794–1871).
Frederica was divorced from her first husband in 1796. She married secondly Frederick William, Prince of Solms-Braunfels (1770–1814) on 7 or 10 January, 1798/9, or 10 December, 1798, at Berlin, Prussia, and had issue:
4 Frederick William Henry Casimir George Charles Maximilian (1801– 1868); he married Mary Anne (1809–1892), daughter of Francis, Count of Kinsky, and had issue.
5 Son (name not known); (b.1801; d. young).
6 Augusta Louisa Theresa Matilda (1804–1865); she married Albert, Prince of Schwarzbourg-Roudolstadt (1798–1869).
7 Alexander Frederick Louis (1807–1867); he married Louise (b.1835), daughter of Engelbert, Baron Landsberg-Steinfürt, and had issue.
8 Frederick William Louis George Alfred Alexander (1812–1875); he married Marie Josephine Sophie, daughter of Prince Constantine of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort, and had issue. Frederica became Queen of Hanover upon the accession of her third husband, Prince Ernest, to the throne of Hanover, on 20 June, 1837. She died on 29 June, 1841, at Hanover, and was buried in the Chapel at Schloss Herrenhausen, Hanover. Issue of marriage:
(i) Frederica
She was stillborn on 27 January, 1817, at St James’s Palace, London. She was buried in Westminster Abbey, but was later removed to St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
(ii) Stillborn Daughter
She was born in April, 1818. There is no record of her burial.
(iii) George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus
He was born on 27 May, 1819, in a house on the Unter-den-Linden Strasse, Berlin, Prussia. He was made a Knight of the Garter on 15 August, 1835. He succeeded his father as King of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, and Earl of Armagh on 18 November, 1851; he was styled George V of Hanover. He was deposed on 20 September, 1866, by the Prussians, and formally abdicated on the same day. He died on 12 June, 1878, at 7, Rue Presbourg, Paris, and was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
(Note: King George went blind following an accident in 1834).
George married, on 18 February, 1843, at Hanover, Germany:
(Alexandrina) Mary Wilhelmina Katherine Charlotte Theresa Henrietta Louisa Pauline Elizabeth Frederica Georgina
Known as Mary, she was the daughter of Joseph George Frederick Ernest Charles, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, by Amelia Theresa Louise Wilhelmina Philippina, daughter of Louis Alexander, Duke of Württemburg, and she was born on 14 April, 1818, at Hildburghausen, Germany. She died on 9 January, 1907, at Gmunden, Austria, where she was buried.
Issue of marriage:
(a) Ernest Augustus William Adolphus George Frederick
He was born on 21 September, 1845, at Hanover, and was Crown Prince of Hanover until his father’s abdication on 20 September, 1866. He succeeded his father as Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale and Earl of Armagh on 12 June, 1878, and was made a Knight of the Garter on 23 June, 1878. He was created Duke of Brunswick-Lüneberg on 18 October, 1884. He died on 14 November, 1923, at Gmunden, Austria.
Ernest married, on 21 December, 1878, at Copenhagen, Denmark:
Thyra Amelia Caroline Charlotte Anne
She was the daughter of Christian IX, King of Denmark, by Louise Wilhelmina Frederica Caroline Augusta Julie, daughter of William X, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, and she was also sister to Alexandra, Queen of Edward VII. She was born on 29 September, 1853, at Copenhagen, Denmark. She died on 26 February, 1933, at Gmunden, Austria, where she was
buried.
Issue of marriage:
(i) Marie Louise Victoria Caroline Amelia Alexandra Augusta Frederica
She was born on 11 October, 1879, at Gmunden, Austria. She married Maximilian, Prince and Margrave of Baden (1867–1929), on 10 July, 1900, at Gmunden, Austria, and had issue:
1 Marie Alexandra Thyra Victoria Louisa Carola Hilda (1902–1944); she married Wolfgang Moritz, Prince of Hesse (b.1896).
2 Berthold Friedrich William Carl, Margrave of Baden (1906–1963); he married Theodora (b.1906), daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and had issue.
Marie died on 31 January, 1948, at Salem Castle, Germany.
(ii) George William Christian Albert Edward Alexander Frederick Waldemar Ernest Adolphus
He was born on 28 October, 1880, at Gmunden, Austria, and was styled Duke of Armagh. He was killed on 20 May, 1912, in a motor accident at Nackel, Brandenburg, Germany.
(iii) Alexandra Louise Marie Olga Elizabeth Theresa Vera
She was born on 29 September, 1882, at Gmunden, Austria. She married Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1882–1945) on 7 June, 1904, at Gmunden, Austria, and had issue: