Princess Amelia
JoyS1001
joy
Candace E. Metz-Longinette-Göring
>
> What did Princess Amelia, daughter of George III, die of?
Poor Amelia, her status as the favourite child of George III
did not bring her much happiness. Born 17 August 1783, she was
the fifteenth child of George III and his consort, Charlotte of
Mecklenberg-Sterlitz.
Amelia was preceeded by:
George (the future George IV)
(12 August 1762 - 28 June 1830)
Frederick, Duke of York
(16 August 1763 - 5 January 1827)
William Henry, Duke of Clarence
(21 August 1765 - 20 June 1837)
Charlotte Augusta Matilda, Princess Royal
(29 September 1766 - 6 October 1828)
Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent
(2 November 1767 - 23 January 1820)
Princess Augusta Sophia
(8 November 1768 - 22 September 1840)
Princess Elizabeth
(22 May 1770 - 10 June 1840)
Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Cumberland, King of Hannover
(5 June 1771 - 18 November 1851)
Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
(27 January 1773 - 21 April 1843)
Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
(1774 - 1850)
Princess Mary
(25 April 1776 - 30 April 1857)
Princess Sophia
(2 November 1777 - 27 May 1848)
Prince Octavius
(23 February 1779 - 3 May 1783)
Prince Alfred
(22 September 1780 - 20 August 1783)
Considered to be the prettiest of George III's daughters, she
was also of very delicate health. It had been a concern from
her childhood onwards.
Amelia had next to nil chances of ascending the Throne. Not that
this allowed her more personal freedom. Kept in seclusion that
resembled a monastic cloister, she and her five sisters that
lived to adulthood were also keep in basic penury: Queen
Charlotte had to provide from them from her personal income,
as the King did not see it necessary.
The only "perks" Amelia seems to have gotten as a Royal Princess
was a small hamlet in Ontario, Canada (Ameliasburgh) named after
her. The ship HMS Princess Amelia, in service before she was
born, was named after her paternal aunt. Other namesakes of
Auntie Amelia were Amelia County, Virginia and Amelia Island,
Fernandina, Florida.
Amelia fell in love with one of her father's equerries, a not
too surprising event, as she saw no other men besides her brothers,
her father and Royal staff (this seclusion would aid the rumour
that one of Amelia's sisters would bear a child by one of her
brothers.) Sadly, Amelia was refused permission to marry him.
When she died, she left him what pathetic little she had - a bit
of property. Her sad will stated, "Nothing but the cruel situation
I am placed in being the daughter of the King and the laws made by
the King respecting the marriages of the Royal Family prevents me
from being married to him, which I consider I am in my heart."
Despite the final sorrow of her prohibited marriage, Amelia was not
all gloom and doom. She wrote: "Unthinking, idle, wild, and young,/
I laugh'd and danc'd and talk'd and sung" which shows the Princess
had some joie de vie.
However, consumption (her constant plague, sometimes beaten back
into periods of remission) finally took its toll, and on 2 November
1810, Amelia finalled subcumbed after being sick most of the Fall.
She had been twenty-seven years old. Her impending death sent
George III, the father who loved her but kept her in a gilded cage,
into a final and prolonged attack of illness which ended in his own
death, over nine years later, on 29 January 1820.
Princess Amelia, like her father, is buried at St. George's Chapel,
Windsor.
--
- CEM-L-G
walk...@ioNET.net
"Who can refute a sneer?"
- William Paley (1743-1805):
Moral Philosophy. Vol. ii. Book v. Chap. 9.
susan roger
family and if I am correct, Princess Charlotte lived to be 74. I am
surprised she had enough strength to live to 50! In the notes section,
there is a part about Charlotte appearing "monkey-faced" in a lot of her
portraits. What in the world? Susie
JoyS1001
I remember years ago when I read about the Russian princesses - I think in a
book about Peter the Great, I thought it was horrid that they could not marry
because everyone was beneath them. It sounds as if the daughters of George III
had it no better. Who knows what they and their offspring might have
contributed had they married.
joy
Candace E. Metz-Longinette-Göring
George III scores points with me because he managed to have those
15 children by his wife, and not scattered through a mistress or two.
Though they had their moments, George loved Charlotte, "monkey-faced"
or not.
I have heard the "monkey-faced" thing before: Charlotte had what
were considered to be rather simian features, especially a long area
under her nose before her upper lip (and she unfortunately had a
thin one.) I have seen portraits, and while I wouldn't say she was
a raving beauty, I don't think she was repulsively ugly, either.
What really drew comment was her upturned nose, which inspired the
people on her arrival in England to call out, "Pug! Pug!" Not
understanding English very well, she turned and asked a lady-in-waiting
for a translation. The flustered lady-in-waiting replies, "it means
God save your Royal Highness."
George III had run through a few proposals before asking Charlotte
of Mecklenberg-Sterlitz. She was surprised and happy at his offer,
and they turned out to be a happy match.