Source:
Letters, in the original, with translations, and messages, that passed between the King, Queen, Prince and Princess of Wales; on occasion of the birth of the young Princess, 1737
Above: Caroline of Ansbach, queen of Great Britain, painted in the manner of Michael Dahl.
Above: Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Princess of Wales, painted by Charles Philips.
Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline; born March 1, 1683, died November 20, 1737) was queen consort of Great Britain as the wife of King George II.
Her father, Margrave Johann Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach, belonged to a branch of the House of Hohenzollern and was the ruler of a small German state, the Principality of Ansbach. Caroline was orphaned at a young age and moved to the enlightened court of her guardians, King Frederick I and Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia. At the Prussian court, her previously limited education was widened, and she adopted the liberal outlook possessed by Sophia Charlotte, who became her good friend and whose views influenced Caroline all her life.
As a young woman, Caroline was much sought-after as a bride. After rejecting a suit from the nominal King of Spain, Archduke Charles of Austria, she married George Augustus, the third-in-line to the British throne and heir apparent to the Electorate of Hanover. They had eight children, seven of whom survived to adulthood.
Caroline moved permanently to Britain in 1714 when her husband became Prince of Wales. As Princess of Wales, she joined him in rallying political opposition to his father, King George I. In 1717, her husband was expelled from court after a family quarrel. Caroline came to be associated with Robert Walpole, an opposition politician who was a former government minister. He rejoined the government in 1720, and Caroline's husband publicly reconciled with his father, on Walpole's advice. Over the next few years, Walpole rose to become the leading minister.
Caroline became queen and electress consort upon her husband's ascension in 1727. Her eldest son, Frederick, became Prince of Wales. He was a focus for the opposition, like his father before him, and Caroline's relationship with him was strained. As princess and as queen, Caroline was known for her political influence, which she exercised through and for Walpole. Her tenure included four regencies during her husband's stays in Hanover, and she is credited with strengthening the House of Hanover's place in Britain during a period of political instability. Caroline was widely mourned by her political allies following her death in 1737, as well as by the King, who refused to remarry.
The letter:
Je suis ravie, ma chere Princesse, de vous sçavoir parfaitement remise aprés vos Couches. Vous pouvez être assurée, comme vous n'avais jamais offensée ny le Roy ny moy, Je ne manqueray jamais de vous donner des Marques de mon Egard et de mon Affection. Je crois qu'il nous seroit mal-seant à toutes les deux, que j'entrasse en discussion avec vous sur les malheureux Differends entre le Roy et mon Fils. Quand vous serez informée au juste, des diffèrentes Declarations qui ont êtés faites au sujet de vos Voyages de Hampton-Court, et par qui, et à qui, vous serez convaincue que la Conduite de votre Mary n'a été nullement mise dans un faux jour. J'espere que le tems et une meure Consideration porteront mon Fils à des justes Sentiments de son devoir envers son Pere. C'est la le seul moyen de procurer cet heureux changement, lequel vous ne sçauriez souhaiter plus sincerement que je le fais.
CAROLINE.
English translation:
I am very glad, my Dear Princess, to hear you are perfectly recovered of your Lying-in; you may assure your self, as you have never offended either the King or me, I shall never fail to give you every Mark of my Regard and Affection. I think it would be unbecoming either of us to enter into a Discussion of the unhappy Division between the King and my Son; and when you are truly informed of the several Declarations that have been made relating to your Journeys from Hampton-Court, by whom, and to whom, they were maid, you will be convinced, that the Conduct of your Husband has no way been misrepresented.
I hope Time and due Consideration will bring my Son to a just Sense of his Duty to his Father; which will be the only Means of procuring that happy Change, which you cannot more sincerely wish than I do.
CAROLINE.
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