Discussions about the Imperial Family and European Royalty > The Danish Royal Family

Queen Carolina Matilda, tragic destiny

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Zanthia:
I don't know if I wanted my parents to be present at the birth of my first child if they treated me like that either! I sure do understand him. But do you know if he had done anything special to made them hate him so? Such a rebellious behaviour is only natural if you don't feel loved by your family, I guess.
I remember when I saw "The mad King George", he and the queen also called their eldest son "monster" (maybe the script writers just had them mixed up with the king's grandparents, but who knows). And then there was queen Victoria's view upon Bertie...brrrr. And Bertie's obvious dissappointment over Eddie, the list just go on. These examples can almost make you believe that it's a tradition in England for the monarch to have a cold and disdainful relationship to their eldest son and heir.


Anyway, no matter how her family background was, Caroline Mathilde is one of the most tragic charaters in the danish royal history. Being banished like that and deserted by her english family, who did'nt want face the shame of having "their fallen daughter" returned, just because she did'nt loved her insane husband.

By the way, have you noticed how Europe was almost flooded with mad monarchs in those years?  ;)

Prince_Lieven:
George III and Queen Charlotte had an up and down relationship with their eldest son, the future George IV. George III was exasperated and disappointed by him (Frederick, Duke of York, was George's favourite son). George IV, though, was Charlotte's favourite son - he was with her when she died.

Yseult:
As I said you before, Zanthia, I have a very brief knowledge about the Hannoverian dinasty, but I spent a few hours searching for info about the background of Carolina Matilda, because I truly believed that a thread on hear might be started with a review of her childhood ;)

By the way, I haven´t post the portrait of her father, Frederick Lewis, price of Wales:



As far as I know, the prince George who later became king George II had a poor relationship with his own father, George of Hannover, later George I of England. When George I was only the Elector of Hannover, he often made Georgie and Caroline felt really annoyed due to the fact he chose his grandson Frederick -Fred- , even as a small child, as his representative in public ceremonies. After Queen Anne´s death, George the Elector fled to England to became George I, with his neglected wife Sophie Dorothea of Celle, his beloved mistress Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, his sons and daughters -including George with wife Caroline of Ansbach- and the children of his heir, but he left behind to act as Hannover´s regent prince Frederick, aged seven.

Frederick never saw his parents from this year 1714 to 1728, because he was not permitted to go to England until his father took the throne. Family relations were forever strained due to this long separation. When Fred, a young man, arrived to England, George and Caroline had several younger children and they were fond of them. In fact, they showed a great love for his second male son, William, duke of Cumberland. Fred was the strange one, his father referring to him as a "wechselbag", this mean, a changeling. George also nicknamed his son "Griff", for the mythical beast known as Griffin.

I suppose Fred was shocked by the way his parents reacted against him. Things get worse when he began to gain popularity. If you think, Zanthia, the first George was extremely unpopular in Britain, and the second George was just a bit more popular than his father ;) Fred seems to have been a charming prince: he was a genuine lover of music and played the cello, he enjoyed all the arts and sciences, specially astronomy, and, the most noteworthy, the developed a genuine interest for the cricket...So, the english people liked him more than his grandfather or his father! George and Caroline hated Fred because they were afraid their firstbon could overshadow all their reign. Caroline said: My God, popularity always makes me sick, but Fretz´s popularity makes me vomit! .

So, Fred became a troublemaker. He always sided the opposite to their parents, in all the things. This worsened day after day the situation, of course, but I really understand "poor Fred".

And, another question...I suppose the english family deserted Carolina because she remembered them so vividly the case of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the consort of George I and, by the way, grand-grand-mother of Carolina Matilda.

And, yes, I have noticed how Europe was flooded with mad monarchs  :D

kmerov:
Caroline Mathilde was not very popular in her times because of the affair with Struensee and the rumors that they were trying to kill the Crown Prince by his harsh upbringing.
The BRF didn't desert her completely. The Danes wanted to have her imprisoned in Denmark but George III refused, and after much harsh diplomacy it was finally decided that she should live in Celle, Hannover, and she was allowed to keep the title of Queen (without the "of Denmark and Norway"). The Danish state paid back her dowery but didn't give her any income, which she was given by England. In Celle she lived a quiet life, but was involved in plans of her returning to Denmark which ended with her early death.

Caroline Mathilde's final resting place in Celle.
http://www.stadtkirche-celle.de/Das_Bauwerk/Furstengruft/st050.jpg

Zanthia:
But they did'nt wanted her back to England either.

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