Charlotte, the People’s Princess

/ historicallywoman

A nickname created for Diana, the ‘People’s Princess’ could easily have belonged to another ill-fated royal woman who lived and died over a century beforehand. Beautiful and vivacious, well-loved by the British public, and the breath of fresh air a stagnating monarchy needed, Princess Charlotte Augusta was known in her time as ‘Europe’s Hope and Britain’s Glory’. She was the future George IV’s first child, and George III – who had sired fifteen children and assumed his son would follow suit – was delighted with his first grandchild. 

‘I always wished it should be of that sex,’ he wrote upon receiving news of the birth. Not because he was happy at the prospect of a future queen, but because he thought the baby would encourage reconciliation between Prince George and his wife, Caroline. 

It was not to be. George and Caroline detested each other and they may have only spent two nights together, just enough time to conceive their only child. To his father’s chagrin, George declared the marriage over mere weeks after Charlotte was born and he endeavoured to make sure that the little girl would have nothing to do with her mother. Nor did she have much to do with her father; the errant prince did not let fatherhood stop him from continuing his lavish lifestyle, and by the time Charlotte was three she had been permanently removed to a separate household.

In contrast, George III and Queen Charlotte were very involved in their granddaughter’s upbringing and the young Charlotte formed a close bond with them. She was deeply affected by the worsening of the King’s illness, which began to seriously deteriorate when Charlotte was a teenager.

Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, painted by George Dawe c.1817

As Charlotte grew, she was afforded the education befitting a future queen, which included lessons in history, French and Latin, alongside dancing and riding. She turned out to be a natural horsewoman, though not so natural a student; she often struggled with spelling and handwriting. Still, she was bright and she took great interest in politics and law, subjects essential for an heir to the throne. She developed a hot temper and an informal manner, which occasionally got her into trouble. 

Whatever may have been thought of her inside the royal family, to the general public she was a delight. Their bright, young princess was ‘Albion’s Rose’, a welcome change from the debauchery of her father and the ‘madness’ of her grandfather. Charlotte enjoyed immense popularity and from her teenage years found crowds cheering her wherever she went. Prince George became jealous of just how beloved his daughter was and, upon ascending to Prince Regent in 1811, he used his newfound powers to restrict her lifestyle. She was kept firmly under his thumb and forbidden from spending time with her mother, with whom she had enjoyed regular visits as a child.

Charlotte was romantically linked to several men, one of which was an army officer named Charles Hesse. The relationship was facilitated by Caroline for unknown reasons, though after the collapse of the affair Charlotte theorised that Hesse was only interested in her to get close to her mother. Numerous other members of the royal family were aware of Charlotte and Hesse but, knowing her father’s cruelty towards her, did nothing to intervene. Charlotte only admitted the relationship to George after it ended, when Hesse refused to return potentially ruinous letters she had sent him.

As a princess and future Queen of England, however, Charlotte was required to make a high match. Her father selected William, Hereditary Prince of Orange, and in June 1814, the pair were engaged. 

Charlotte was less than pleased.

She greatly disliked William, and matters were made worse by the fact that she had already met other men who had taken her fancy. Charlotte was also unwilling to leave her country to live abroad, plus she had made it a condition of the marriage that her mother would be welcome at court. These conditions were unacceptable to the prince and he unsurprisingly refused, so Charlotte, now headstrong and very sure of herself, did the unthinkable.

She broke it off.

George was furious and threatened to send her away to live in confinement, so Charlotte once again rebelled and ran away. A local man aided her in finding a cab which then took her to her mother’s house, where she sought advice as to what to do next. Upon this advice, she returned to her father the next day, but her flight had caused a sensation, and sympathy, both public and within the royal circle, was on her side. Though George tried to persist in his demands, he was eventually beaten down after Charlotte insisted: “No arguments, no threats, shall ever bend me to marry this detested Dutchman.”

He still sent her away and isolated her in Windsor, but Charlotte found her time there surprisingly agreeable. It also gave her an opportunity to think on her future; she knew she had to get married but was determined for better than the disaster of her parents’ marriage. She eventually fixed her sights on Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. The two had met during Charlotte’s engagement to William – she had run into him while trying to give William the slip – and they had hit it off instantly.

It turned out to be a match made in heaven. Leopold was poor so George was reluctant to grant permission for the marriage to go ahead, but he found himself greatly impressed by Leopold after having dinner with him and Charlotte, and his daughter’s affection for the prince was undeniable.

I find him charming, and go to bed happier than I have ever done yet in my life … I am certainly a very fortunate creature, & have to bless God. A Princess never, I believe, set out in life (or married) with such prospects of happiness, real domestic ones like other people.

Princess Charlotte, after dinner with Leopold and George, February 1816

The wedding took place on 2nd May 1816. It went smoothly, the only incident being when Charlotte couldn’t contain a giggle after Leopold promised to endow her with all his worldly goods. The couple installed themselves at Claremont in Surrey where they lead a peaceful life away from the drama at court. They were besotted with each other; Charlotte named Leopold ‘the perfection of a lover’ and Leopold said, “Except when I went out to shoot, we were together always, and we could be together, we did not tire.” Leopold was also the only one who could calm Charlotte’s temper; were she to get too over-excited, he would murmur ‘Doucement, chérie’ (Gently, my love).

Charlotte and Leopold, painted by George Dawe

The couple were welcomed by the community around them and, aware of the growing unemployment crisis, they employed local people to work on their land, with the less strenuous jobs going to the older men. They also founded the theatre later known as the Old Vic. ‘We lead a very quiet and retired life here, but a very very happy one,’ Charlotte remarked.

Shortly after the marriage, Charlotte suffered a miscarriage, but she became pregnant again in spring 1817 and this time, Leopold informed George, there was every chance of her carrying the baby to term. And she did; in fact, Charlotte was two weeks overdue by the time she went into labour on 3rd November 1817. This meant the baby was overgrown and it took 50 hours of intense labour before Charlotte finally gave birth to a baby boy. Tragically, he was stillborn.

An exhausted Charlotte took the blow as well as could be expected, though Leopold was devastated, and he took an opiate and collapsed into bed. The princess herself seemed to be doing well in the immediate aftermath of the birth and she was left to rest. Five hours later, just after midnight, she began to complain of abdominal pains and was vomiting violently. Her doctor, Sir Richard Croft, entered the room to find his patient cold to the touch and bleeding heavily; he urged an attendant to bring in Leopold, who had remained faithfully with his wife during the long hours of labour, but they were unable to wake him. 

Attempts to save Charlotte were made, but they were in vain. Princess Charlotte of Wales died in the early hours of 6th November 1817, aged 21.

As it would two hundred years later, the entire country plunged into mourning for their beloved princess. Tributes poured in, including a monument funded by public subscription. Queen Caroline, who had not seen her daughter since her escape from her detested Dutch fiancé, wrote: “England, that great country, has lost everything in losing my ever beloved daughter.”

No one was more affected than Leopold. Though he lived to the age of 74, he never recovered from the tragedy, and he declared that the events of 1817 were ‘the ruin [of his] happy home and the destruction at one blow of every hope and happiness.’

Public grief turned to public anger, and soon people were handing out blame for Charlotte’s death. They were furious at the Prince Regent who they believed had not shown adequate sorrow – in fact, George was so overcome with grief that he was unable to attend Charlotte’s funeral. Blame was also apportioned to Richard Croft, who had refused to allow an obstetrician to see Charlotte and he forbade the use of forceps. These could have saved the lives of both mother and baby, but it is equally true that the use of such instruments was often the cause of patient death. 

The funeral of Princess Charlotte, painted by James Stephanoff, 1818

It is not known what exactly Charlotte died of, so we don’t know if she would have lived had forceps been used. Still, the public harassed Croft to such an extent that, convinced the failure was his, he took his own life three months later.

Charlotte’s death changed the royal family forever. There was suddenly no heir to the throne, resulting in a scramble by George III’s other children to marry and have children. This led to the eventual birth of one Alexandrina Victoria in 1819; she was, of course, the future Queen Victoria, and every British monarch has since been descended from her.

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