If you have ever had the pleasure of a visit to St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, then you have probably stood in awe over the grave of Henry VIII, or gaped at the memorial display to Prince Albert; but far and away the most evocative sculptural grave marker is that of Princess Charlotte, only daughter of George IV, the Prince Regent. You may be familiar with good old George's preference for his first wife, Maria Fitzherbert, a Catholic widow with whom he actually lived for a time. Unfortunately since his marriage wasn't approved by his father George III it was never technically valid, and Georgie boy was forced to wed his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick. Perhaps it was this unwelcome choice that made him loathe his new legal bride (although he would have many lovers and mistresses in his life), or maybe it was simply an unsuited pairing on both sides. Caroline didn't much like him either, certainly. What George did get out of it was an increased income, badly needed on account of his uncontrolled debts, and an heir.
For duty is duty. Though the royal couple were, by some accounts, outright repulsed by each other and separated a mere few weeks after their wedding in April of 1795, George did admit that they had slept together a whopping three times. 9 months later, on January 7th 1796 Princess Charlotte Augusta was born to the mild disappointment of her father, who had hoped that she would be a boy, and the absolute delight of the British public who adored her from the start.
Charlotte from the first represented a way for George to lash out at his unwanted wife, who was forbidden from seeing their daughter except for once a day in the company of the servants who cared for the girl. Undeterred, Caroline flouted this requirement by going out with the girl in her carriage, and George was frequently none the wiser since he himself had little to do with either of them. Caroline was likewise barred from having any say in the care and upbringing of their daughter, and she responded by moving out of the Prince's household and into one of her own. When invited back to spend one Christmas she flatly refused, fully knowing that a lack of proximity meant that the Prince of Wales was unlikely to have any further legitimate children while she lived. When George tried to divorce her via a very public, scandalous, and frankly hypocritical trial over her supposed liaisons with other men, he was met with disappointment when the jury found in her favor.
Through all of this, Charlotte grew up a healthy and robust child, cheerful despite the fact that she lived entirely on her own in a household away from either of her parents. During the trial of her mother the two were not permitted to see each other at all, and the little princess, who was ten at the time, was much hurt when her mother pretended not to see her while walking in a public park, being under threat from George at the time. As she grew into her teenage years many contemporaries remarked upon her artless and easy manners, some calling them "undignified" while others found her lack of pretense or airs charming. Charlotte herself found that she identified with passionate but confined characters, and no surprise there. Her father's instructions for her behavior as she grew became ever stricter, so much so that they drew the disapproval of much of his sprawling extended family of siblings and his own parents who found ways of giving the princess some of the freedom she craved.
Eventually thoughts turned to Charlotte's own marriage, and one was very nearly arranged with the son of the Prince of Orange. George was very for the match, though not enthralled with the young man. Caroline, true to form, was against it and in this public opinion was with her as they urged the princess not to quit England for a foreign land, or to disappoint her mother. Aw. It may have been this helpful suggestion from the vox populi that gave Charlotte the idea to stage an end to the engagement by requiring her intended husband to allow her mother to live with them. He refused and the betrothal was broken off. Meanwhile Charlotte had set her gaze on a young officer, Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, heir to Belgium. The Prince Regent's response to the breaking of the troth was typical of George, he sent orders that the princess be confined to her house and allowed to see no one except the Queen. The spirited Charlotte learned of these orders and straightaway rushed by cab to her mother's home where she was apprehended by members of the family and convinced to return home.
The event fired not only the public imagination, but the politicians of the time and several of the prince's own brothers. When the Duke of Sussex dared to broach the matter with him the two had a falling out and never spoke to each other after that. Meanwhile Caroline decided to leave for the continent for a while, an absence which her aggrieved daughter resigned herself to not realizing that the two would never see each other again. Though a real future with "Leo," as she referred to him, seemed unlikely given the Prince Regent's obstinate rejection of the match, Charlotte was determined and continued to berate her father with requests, both personal and formal until at last, following the final defeat of Napoleon, he agreed to summon Leopold to Britain. On March 14th, 1816 the engagement announcement was made, and on May 2nd they wed.
The public was overjoyed and when they appeared after the honeymoon they were greeted with wild cheering and applause and singing of "God Save the King" showing what an important PR influence Charlotte had on the monarchy. As to the lady herself, those who had known her remarked that she was calmer now, and more in control of herself. She and her new husband gave each other pet names, but by August she had already suffered one miscarriage. The next pregnancy was not announced until April of the following year when Charlotte was farther along.
Concern for her and for the child were prominent on the minds of low and high-born alike. Betting shops took wagers on every aspect of the birth, and her doctors put Charlotte on a strict diet. Her main physician was one Sir Richard Croft, who was actually an accouchateur (from the French "to deliver" specific to childbirth) rather than a doctor. The decision to use this fashionable assistant rather than a medical professional was seen by some as a fatal mistake. Charlotte went into labor on November 3rd, but by the 5th was still unable to bring forth the baby. At 9pm that night a stillborn boy was finally delivered and Leopold, who had been by her side through it all, finally took to his own bed with the aid of an opiate. Later than evening when they tried to rouse him to see the fast-fading Charlotte he could not be woken and was unconscious when she died in the night. He would later write:-
"Two generations gone. Gone in a moment! I have felt for myself, but I have also felt for the Prince Regent. My Charlotte is gone from the country—it has lost her. She was a good, she was an admirable woman. None could know my Charlotte as I did know her! It was my study, my duty, to know her character, but it was my delight!"
The Prince Regent was devastated to the extent that he could not bear to attend his daughter's funeral. Princess Caroline collapsed at the news. The general public went into deep mourning and the country effectively shut for two weeks. Sir Richard Croft was blamed by many and would end up taking his own life.
Several statues and plaques were erected to her memory, but none so moving as the one at Windsor where Charlotte was laid to rest with her infant son at her feet. Technically, the memorial is in what's called the Urswick Chapel, which is only one small part of the larger church structure, tucked into a back corner. It is impossible to miss though; the shrouded marble figure beneath the sheet giving way to the ascending figure of a young woman rapturously reaching for heaven attended by gentle angels. The memorial was constructed by subscription, meaning members of the public chipped in to contribute to its cost and creation, so beloved was this people's princess. She surely would have made a much-loved queen.
There is an interesting postscript, however, because it was in part due to this tragedy that England did get a much-revered Queen. Charlotte's death left no legitimate heir in the next generation of the royal family, prompting the youngest son of George III, the Prince Regent's brother, the Duke of Kent to propose to the widowed Leopold's sister; Victoria. They, of course, went on to have a single daughter of their own, later known as Britain's long-reigning Queen Victoria.
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