The Death of Caroline of Ansbach

Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (Ansbach, Holy Roman Empire, 1st March 1683 – London, England, 20th November 1737)

Caroline of Ansbach by Jacopo Amigoni, 1735

Just a couple of days ago, we peeked in at the final hours of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and today we once again the share last moments of a queen. Caroline of Ansbach was, of course, the wife of George II, and had enjoyed several successful periods as regent. These periods won her the admiration and respect of the English people and she remained popular throughout her ten years as queen.

Like so many women of her era, Caroline underwent no small measure of trauma during her ten pregnancies and it was to be a trauma to her womb that would eventually kill her. Although she began to suffer a number of ailments as she grew older, the fatal blow came on 9th November 1737 when she attended a reception and was struck down by a terrible pain in her abdomen.

Despite the agony the queen tried to carry out her duties she was forced to retire to her private rooms at St James's Palace where the royal physicians descended, led by Dr John Ranby. The doctors decided that Caroline's womb had ruptured and set about treating her in their tried and tested way. When bleeding produced no solution they attempted surgery and the queen endured these unaesthetised procedures without complaint, growing weaker with every passing day.

Eventually Caroline and George told the doctors that, many years earlier, the queen had suffered from  an umbilical hernia. With this knowledge, Ranby could finally take action and went to work on the hernia, which over the years had caused part of her bowel to decay. In the gruesome operation that followed, the doctors sliced out the decayed flesh, completely opening her bowels and causing catastrophic damage. From that day on her fate was sealed; raw excrement oozed into her abdomen and out through the surgical wounds as Caroline clung weakly to life, suffering untold agony with every moment.

For a week the queen lingered on, well aware that her death was swiftly approaching. She begged her husband to marry again once she was gone but he refused, saying that he may take a mistress, but never another wife. In his eyes, no woman could truly match her and as she faded from life, he maintained a vigil at her side.

At ten o'clock on the evening of 20th November 1737, attended by her husband and daughter, Caroline's unimaginable suffering came to an end. She took George's hand and told him with her final breath, "I am going."

As she had been so many times, the queen was proved right. Plunging the public, court and her own family into mourning, Caroline of Ansbach passed away. She was buried in Westminster Abbey and when her husband joined her in death, their coffins were placed side by side and the sides removed, so that they might rest together for eternity.

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The Unfulfilled Life of Princess Caroline of Great Britain

Princess Caroline of Great Britain (Caroline Elizabeth; Hanover, Germany, 10th June 1713 - London, England, 28th December 1757)

Princess Caroline Elizabeth by Jacopo Amigoni

It is once again time to meet one of the princesses of Great Britain. Today we welcome Princess Caroline, daughter of the man who would become George II and Caroline of Ansbach and a young lady who lived a life that was far from settled, though she was beloved by her family and friends.

Her Serene Highness Princess Caroline of Hanover was born in Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover, just a year before her grandfather became George I. Although her family delayed their travel to England due to her sickly health, they eventually took up residence in St James's Palace and the young princess began a new life in the English court. She was adored by her parents and when Lady Mary Wortley Montagu brought variolation against smallpox to England, Caroline’s mother ensured that her children were treated against the infection.

However, Princess Caroline never found happiness in her personal life. Infatuated with our old friend, Lord Hervey, she was never able to win his affection despite rumours that he was having affairs not only with her own brother, but with a number of ladies within her circle. Though she and Hervey were close friends, her apparent love for him went unreturned. He died when Caroline was just 30 and she was inconsolable, retiring into mournful seclusion at her home.

Although she involved herself in religion and philanthropy, the princess did not emerge from her reclusive lifestyle and never married. Her health was fragile for many years and she died aged just 44, with her remains laid to rest at Westminster Abbey.

Life in the Georgian Court, true tales of 18th century royalty, is available at the links below.

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Frederick Louis, A Cricketing Prince

Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales (Friedrich Ludwig; Hanover, Germany, 1st February 1707 – London, England, 31st March 1751) 

Frederick, Prince of Wales by Jacopo Amigoni, 1735

My grandpa Gilflurt likes a bit of sport and always has the time for cricket. Another man who liked the sound of leather on willow was our own Frederick, Prince of Wales, and in honour of his birthday today,  I thought I would share the tale of his love of the game.

Frederick arrived in England from his home in Hanover at the age of 21 to join his mother and father, George II and Caroline of Ansbach, with whom he had a relationship that can politely be described as fraught and, less politely, downright hostile. A keen sportsman who was looking for some way to fit into his adopted country, Frederick turned his eye to cricket and soon found it very much to his taste.

The young man threw himself into his new interest, learning all he could about the game and happily gambling on matches along with his fellow enthusiasts. He was soon something of an expert on the sport and was often in attendance at matches, making friends among the players and followers of the game.

Eventually Frederick's spectator interest began to develop into a wish to do more than just watch the game and on 28th September 1731 he took up the bat on Kennington Common to take part in a Surrey versus London match. No record exists of the Prince's performance, but his appearance was sufficiently novel to be reported in the advertisements for the match and his appearance at other games was documented by the popular press.

By 1733 Frederick was an avowed cricket fanatic. Often on hand to present prizes to winning teams, he also awarded players from his own pocket now and again and formed his own team, the Prince of Wales' XI, for competitive and recreational matches.  His enthusiasm never dimmed and he captained the team with enthusiasm and passion, watching from the sidelines when not actually playing on the field.

There was to be a dark twist to the Prince's love of the game though and popular gossip claimed that it was cricket that eventually caused Frederick's early death and that a cricket ball had struck him in the chest and caused the abscess that killed him. Whether a cricket ball struck the fatal blow is debatable but one thing is for sure and that is the fact that the Prince of Wales loved cricket to his dying day and on his death the practitioners of the game honoured him in turn, playing games dedicated to the memory of their regal patron.

Life in the Georgian Court, true tales of 18th century royalty, is available at the links below.

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