Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales
Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales (
August 31,
1737 -
March 31,
1813), was a member of the
British Royal Family, a granddaughter of
King George II and sister of
King George III. She later married into the Ducal House of
Brunswick, of which she was already a member. Her daughter,
Caroline of Brunswick was the
Queen consort of
King George IV.
Princess Augusta Charlotte was born at
St James's Palace,
London. Her father was
The Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of
King George II and
Caroline of Ansbach. Her mother was
Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
As a grandchild of the British monarch, she was styled
Her Royal Highness Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales from birth. She was second in the
line of succession.
On
January 16,
1764, Augusta married
Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg at the
Chapel Royal of St James's Palace.
In 1806, when Prussia declared war on France the Duke of Brunswick, 71 at the time, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Prussian army. On October 14th of that year at the
Battle of Jena,
Napoleon defeated the Prussian army and on the same day at the battle of Auerstadt, the Duke of Brunswick was seriously wounded and died a few days later. The Duchess of Brunswick, with two of her sons and a widowed daughter-in-law, fled her ruined palace for Altona and then fled to
Augustenborg, a small town east of Jutland. The Duchess of Brunswick remained here residing with her niece
Princess Louise Augusta (daughter of her sister
Queen Caroline Mathilde of Denmark), until her brother, King George III of Great Britain finally relented in September 1807 to allow her to move to London. She moved in to Montague House,
Blackheath, in
Greenwich with her daughter the
Princess of Wales but soon fell out with her daughter and purchased the house next door Brunswick House, as she renamed it. The Duchess of Brunswick lived out her days in Blackheath and died in 1813 aged 75.
Titles
*
1737-1764:
Her Royal Highness Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales
*
1764-1813:
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Brunswick-Luneburg
Together the couple had 7 children:
