The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

By Catherine Curzon

An in-depth look into the lives of the six daughters of King George III of England.

In the dying years of the 18th century, the corridors of Windsor echoed to the footsteps of six princesses. They were Charlotte, Augusta, Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia, and Amelia, the daughters of King George III and Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Though more than fifteen years divided the births of the eldest sister from the youngest, these princesses all shared a longing for escape. Faced with their father’s illness and their mother’s dominance, for all but one a life away from the seclusion of the royal household seemed like an unobtainable dream.

The six daughters of George III were raised to be young ladies and each in her time was one of the most eligible women in the world. Tutored in the arts of royal womanhood, they were trained from infancy in the skills vital to a regal wife but as the king’s illness ravaged him, husbands and opportunities slipped away.

Yet even in isolation, the lives of the princesses were filled with incident. From secret romances to dashing equerries, rumors of pregnancy, clandestine marriage and even a run-in with Napoleon, each princess was the leading lady in her own story, whether tragic or inspirational. In The Daughters of GeorgeIII, take a wander through the hallways of the royal palaces, where the king’s endless ravings echo deep into the night and his daughters strive to be recognized not just as princesses, but as women too.

Praise for The Daughters of George III

“This fascinating look at the lives and times of the six daughters of George III and Queen Charlotte delivers an engaging read for enthusiasts of the royals and British history.” —Library Journal

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781473897540

Catherine Curzon

Catherine Curzon is a royal historian who writes on all matters of 18th century. Her work has been featured on many platforms and Catherine has also spoken at various venues including the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, and Dr Johnson’s House. Catherine holds a Master’s degree in Film and when not dodging the furies of the guillotine, writes fiction set deep in the underbelly of Georgian London. She lives in Yorkshire atop a ludicrously steep hill.

Book preview

Act One

A King, A Queen, and a Family of Fifteen

‘A little after Twelve o’Clock on Tuesday, her Majesty [Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz] came to Rumford, where she […] entered the King’s Coach. The Attendants of her Majesty were in three other Coaches: In the first there were some Ladies from Mecklenburg, and in the last was her Majesty, who sat forward, and the Duchesses of Ancaster and Hamilton backward. Her Majesty was dressed entirely in the English Taste; she wore a Fly-Cap, with rich laced Lappets, a Stomacher ornamented with Diamonds, and a Gold Brocade Suit of Cloaths [sic], with a White Ground. They proceeded [to] the Garden-gate of the Palace; where her Majesty was handed out of her Coach by the Duke of Devonshire, as Lord-Chamberlain, to the Gate, where she was received by his Royal Highness the Duke of York. As her Majesty alighted from her Coach, his Majesty descended the Steps from the Palace into the Garden, and they met each other half-way; and as her Majesty was going to pay her Obediance, the King took hold of her Hand, raised her up, saluted it, and then led her up Stairs.

[…]

All the Royal Family, together with his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, and Princess Amelia, were present at the Nuptials. Their Majesties, after the Ceremony, sat on one side of the Altar, on two State Chairs under a canopy; her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales sat facing them, in a Chair of State, on the other Side; and all the rest of the Royal Family on Stools.

[…]

The Marriage Ceremony began at Nine at Night; at the Conclusion of which, the Guns at the Park and the Tower were fired, and the Cities of London and Westminster, &c, finely illuminated. The Rejoycings were universally expressed by the People, with that Chearfulness which true Loyalty inspires on this happy Occasion.’¹

On 8 September 1761, 17-year-old Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz married King George III of the United Kingdom. She was six years his junior and until that day, the couple had never met. George had been on the throne just short of a year² and he was lacking a bride to get on with the business of creating heirs, which meant that a quick, respectable, Protestant marriage was vital. George was looking for a wife who was devout, free from scandal and with no political ambition. There had been potential candidates in George’s youth, but none were suitable for the role of Queen Consort. Instead Parliament took it upon itself to do a little matchmaking and assembled a list of likely brides for the young sovereign’s attention.

After much discussion, the longlist was whittled down into a manageable shortlist and given to the bachelor monarch. He looked through it and declared that nobody on the list appealed to him. Back to the politicians it went, and they put their heads together again and drew up a second selection for the Sovereign’s consideration. This time George ran his critical eye down the names and added some of his own for good measure. He wrote to the future prime minister and his childhood mentor, Lord Bute, to say that, ‘Our evening has been spent looking in the New Berlin Almanack for Princesses, where three new ones have been found, as yet unthought of.’³ Among those three names was that of Princess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the woman who was to become his bride.

‘She is not tall, nor a beauty; pale, and very thin; but looks sensible, and is genteel. Her hair is darkish and fine; her forehead low, her nose very well, except the nostrils spreading too wide; her mouth has the same fault, but her teeth are good. She talks a good deal and French tolerably.’⁴

Charlotte was the perfect candidate. Her short life had been entirely untouched by scandal or controversy and after some time to consider, George took up his pen and wrote that Charlotte was his choice. ‘I am resolv’d to fix it here,’ he decided, though, ‘’tis not in every particular as I could wish.’⁵ In other words, she’d have to do.

But as innumerable other royals would have been able to tell him, in matters of dynastic eighteenth century marriages, to have ‘every particular’ as one could wish for was rare indeed. As Charlotte and George stood before the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Secker, in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace, little did they know that they were about to embark on one of the most successful royal marriages in the history of the British throne.

Charlotte and George were to eventually become parents to fifteen children. Though not all would reach adulthood, to endure so many births and to encounter no losses in infancy was a feat in itself. The royal children were raised in a home that was loving, regimented, and regal and it’s necessary to see what that upbringing involved if we are to understand the women it created. So, before we follow our princesses into their individual adulthoods, let’s visit their shared nursery.

The First Daughter

‘THIS morning, between eight and nine o’clock, the Queen was happily delivered of a Princess. Her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales, his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, and several Lords of his Majesty’s most honourable Privy Council, and the Ladies of his Majesty’s Bedchamber, were present.

Her Majesty is, God be praised, as well as can be expected; and the young Princess is in perfect health.

This great event was immediately made known by the firing of the Tower guns; and in the evening there were bonfires, illuminations, and other demonstrations of joy, in London and Westminster.’⁶

In the eighteenth century, much as today – though you won’t find anybody admitting it – the heir and the spare was a concept that was very close to royal hearts. The family from Hanover had first settled its rump on the British throne in 1714, when George I left his beloved German electorate and became the very first Georgian king of Great Britain. He was succeeded by his son, George II, and in 1760 it was the turn of George III, the grandson of his predecessor. He was just 22 when he came to the throne and after his grumpy German namesakes, he was determined to be a breath of fresh British air.

George and Charlotte were devoted to one another and they didn’t waste a moment when it came to producing heirs. Just ten months after their marriage Charlotte gave birth to George, the Prince of Wales. He was the heir to the throne who was later to become infamous as Prinny, the decadent Prince Regent. Almost exactly one year later, the spare, Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, came along and two years after that the family welcomed William, who would eventually reign as King William IV.

With three sons safely delivered and as healthy as any parents could wish for, Charlotte and George were ready for a change. To be more precise, they were ready for a little girl. They were about to get their wish.

During her three previous pregnancies Charlotte had been attended by her midwife, Mrs Draper, but for this pregnancy her usual retainer wasn’t present. Although the esteemed royal physician and anatomist, Dr William Hunter, had previously been present when the queen delivered her children, he had never played a hands-on role. This time, however, he was to lead the proceedings. Lady Mary Coke, a noblewoman who provided waspish commentary on all aspects of court life, commented that the absence of Mrs Draper and the promotion of Hunter was ‘kept as great a secret as if the fate of the country depended on this change’⁷. Lady Mary was desperate to know what had happened but Hunter, of course, was telling nobody anything.

On the morning of 29 September 1766, Princess Charlotte Augusta Matilda was born, and each of her names carried the weight one might expect of a royal family. Charlotte, of course, was the name of her mother. Augusta was the name of her paternal grandmother whilst Matilda was a name chosen in honour of the king’s sister, Caroline Matilda. At the time of Charlotte’s birth, that other young princess was packed and ready to leave England for Denmark, where she would begin a scandalous and controversial new life as the queen of King Christian VII, and the lover of his doctor, Johann Friedrich Struensee, but that is a tale for another time.⁸

In addition to her many names, the firstborn princess was also given the title of Princess Royal, which was traditionally awarded to the eldest daughter of the monarch. Charlotte was only the fourth of such princesses and at the time of writing, there have been just seven in total⁹. She knew that she was among a select group and as the years passed, she was determined to do justice to such an exclusive title, becoming known to all and sundry (including us) simply as Royal. After all, ‘there has not been a Princess Royal born, while her Father was King of England, since the Reign of King Charles I, whose eldest Daughter, Princess Mary, was Mother of our glorious Deliverer King William III.’¹⁰

As the infant Royal settled in her cradle, the great and good flocked to Carlton House to pay their respects. They were received there by George’s mother, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, the Dowager Princess of Wales. She was also the baby Princess Royal’s only surviving grandparent. Augusta had been widowed by the death of George’s father, Frederick, Prince of Wales, fifteen years earlier and Charlotte’s parents were also both deceased¹¹, which meant that the Dowager Princess could expect to be very busy with well-wishers for the foreseeable future.

Awash with excitement, the most illustrious names in the land flocked to St James’s Palace where George III received their glad tidings. It wasn’t only the wealthy who wanted to celebrate. In keeping with tradition, a thanksgiving event was held at the palace so that those who wished to pay their respects could visit St James’s and receive a gift of caudle – a sweet, hot drink rather like eggnog - and cake. Unfortunately, the royal household had vastly underestimated the public excitement over the birth of the new princess and by the time the doors were due to be opened at 5.00 pm, there was a crowd of thousands waiting outside.

As word went around that the doors were being opened, the crowd surged forward and those at the front of the queue were crushed. Seeing that lives were at risk, the palace guards allowed a few people who were in danger of physical injury into the palace, but the excitement swelled to such proportions that they had to draw their weapons to hold back the unruly and panicked crowd. To avoid a disaster, the doors were closed and bolted with most well-wishers left outside. They went home disappointed, with their hopes of a celebration soured thanks to the crowd control, or lack of it.

The care of the Princess Royal was entrusted to a nurse named Mrs Chapman, who had also cared for the princess’ brothers. Alongside her was a crack team including the royal governess, Lady Charlotte Finch, and a wet nurse named Frances Muttlebury. This most intimate of roles is one that raises modern eyebrows but in the Georgian era, for the queen not to have employed a wet nurse would have raised plenty of eyebrows too. Mrs Muttlebury was well paid in cash and gifts for her services and when she joined the family at Royal’s christening on 27 October, she was dressed in a white satin and lace gown that the queen had provided. When one’s attending a baptism by the Archbishop of Canterbury, one must keep up appearances.

For the wet nurse, caring for Royal was a time-consuming but richly rewarding role. On the cutting of Royal’s first tooth, her nurse was given her choice of either a silver urn or £200 in cash. She went for the urn.

Smart woman.

Filling the Nursery

‘Tuesday, about Seven o’Clock in the Evening, her Majesty was taken in Labour, of which Notice was immediately sent to her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales, his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, the two Secretaries of State, and Ladies of the Bed-Chamber, &c. who attended; when, at Half an Hour past Eight, her Majesty was safely delivered of a Princess. Her Majesty and the Princess were Yesterday as well as could be expected.’¹²

Royal was still a babe in arms when her first sister was born. As the queen’s latest pregnancy progressed both George and Charlotte longed for a second daughter to be a friend to Royal and perhaps to balance out the male-dominated nursery. Perhaps displaying a hint of the anxiety and the obsessive tendencies that would later plague him, George became distracted by his thoughts of the gender of the new baby. Nothing but a little girl would do.

As Charlotte approached her due date and the king obsessed over the gender of the infant, Dr Hunter suggested that another little boy wouldn’t be the end of the world. After all, he noted, ‘whoever sees those lovely Princes above stairs must be glad to have another.’Yet the single-minded monarch wasn’t about to be placated and shot back that, ‘Whoever sees that lovely child the Princess Royal above stairs must wish to have a fellow to her.’¹³

Happily, for Dr Hunter, the king got his wish on the evening of 8 November 1768 when Princess Augusta Sophia made her first appearance at the Queen’s House. Augusta was named after her paternal grandmother. The new princess was passed into the arms of her nurse, Mrs Dorothy Thursby, and the family gathered to celebrate the happy event. Bells rang and guns fired and across the land, the news was proclaimed.

Thankfully this time, there were no crushes among the well-wishers. Once again, the public gathered at St James’s for their caudle and once again, things got a little out of hand. Two enterprising and greedy young ladies were spotted by guards making off not only with more than their fair share of cake, but even a few of the pricy caudle cups. It was a sorry show that threatened to sour the celebratory atmosphere but once caught, the women were mortified. They threw themselves down on their knees and begged to be pardoned. Luckily for them, the good vibes of Augusta’s birth had clearly infected everyone, and they were allowed to go on their way with a stern reprimand as their only punishment.

Yet all wasn’t wine and roses during the early years of the two princesses and George was plagued by challenges from Parliament and further afield as he battled to keep the ship of monarchy steady. Though not yet afflicted by the mental illness that would later cause him so much pain, he felt every slight challenge deeply and Charlotte, his devoted wife, decided that he needed a distraction. Having been inoculated against the scourge of smallpox the previous winter, Royal was thriving, and Augusta charmed everyone who met her, so Charlotte came up with the idea of holding a drawing room hosted not by her husband, but by her children.

The drawing room that Charlotte envisioned was actually a reception at which members of the court could gather to meet the king. Charlotte, well aware of the political manoeuvrings that her husband was facing, thought that it would be a jape to have the seven-year-old Prince of Wales and the three-year-old Royal take her husband’s place and receive his illustrious guests. Charlotte had an ulterior motive too. She hoped that the king’s opponents would see how devoted he was to his children and that this would cause even his most hard-hearted enemies to thaw. Idealistic, perhaps, but very Charlotte.

On 25 October 1769, the anniversary of George III’s accession, the children were duly installed in pride of place in St James’s Palace. The Whitehall Evening Post painted a vivid picture of the scene.

‘On Wednesday night the Prince of Wales and young Princes, with the Princess Royal, had a Drawing-Room. For the first time, in the Princess Amelia’s late apartments. The Prince was dressed in scarlet and gold, with the ensigns of the order of the Garter; on his right was the Bishop of Osnaburgh in blue and gold; with the ensigns of the order of the Bath; next to him, on a rich sopha [sic], sat the Princess Royal, with the other Princes to her right, elegantly dressed in Roman togas. The sight of so many fine children, all of one family, their great affability, and the recollection of their dignity, gave the most pleasing impressions to everyone present.’¹⁴

The Bishop of Osnaburgh, or Osnabruck, was little Prince Frederick. At just six years old, he was already more highly decorated than some of those fawning courtiers would ever be, and how this must have chafed. No matter what they might have really thought, no one present could risk appearing anything other than utterly enchanted by the sight of the little royals as they presided over all they surveyed. Outside the environs of the palace, however, things weren’t quite so glowing.

The idea of this folly was a gift to the caricaturists and one particularly vicious work mocked the absurdity of the court being received by a nursery’s worth of royal children. In a caricature that was circulated after details of the event were made public, the young Prince of Wales is shown playing with a kite, his ceremonial sword and wig oversized and ridiculous. Prince William ignores the scraping courtiers in favour of his spinning top and the illustrious infant Bishop of Osnabruck is more concerned with his hobby horse than his adoring attendants. The young Princess Royal, meanwhile, was depicted secreted behind a screen, being comforted by her wet nurse.

Despite the barbs that were aimed at her unusual experiment in public relations, Queen Charlotte decided that she would give it another go. The following year the Prince of Wales hosted a juvenile ball. This time, however, Royal wasn’t on co-starring duties.

To the outside world, it must have looked as though the royal children had the most perfect lives, yet for Wales and York in particular, everyday life could be trying. They were subjected to a rigorous educational regime that occupied hours each day and was focussed on forging them into the humble, pious, regal boys that their father believed they should be. There was little room for anything beyond disciplined learning and prayer and the boys loved the moments when they could escape outdoors to tend their plots of earth, where they grew vegetables much to the delight of the king, who was so keen on agriculture that he earned the nickname, Farmer George. Should they step out of line the boys were beaten by their tutors, in the belief that this alone would force them to behave in a suitably princely fashion. In the case of Wales, of course, it did anything but.

‘Tuesday morning between eight and nine o’clock, the Queen was happily delivered of a Princess. Her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales, his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, several Lord of his Majesty’s most Hon. Privy Council, and the Ladies of her Majesty’s Bed-chamber, were present.

Her Majesty is, God be praised, as well as can be expected; and the young Princess is in perfect health.

The event was immediately made known by the firing of the Tower guns.

[…]

We hear her Majesty had a very favourable time, being only a few minutes in labour.

Dr Hunter delivered her Majesty.

Last Tuesday caudle was given at St. James’s, on the happy delivery of her Majesty, and will continue for some days, as usual.’¹⁵

The royal daughters might reasonably be said to have arrived almost in batches of three. The first trio was completed by the safe delivery of Princess Elizabeth, named after her father’s sister, who had died at the age of just 18. Elizabeth was brought into the world by Dr Hunter on 22 May 1770, bringing the tally of royal children to seven.

Charlotte and George weren’t even halfway finished.

The First Trio

‘They are indeed uncommonly handsome, each in their different way – the Princess Royal for figure, the Princess Augusta for countenance, and the Princess Elizabeth for face.’¹⁶

Royal was no longer the only girl in the nursery and Lady Charlotte Finch was in need of another pair of hands to help her marshal her charges. Following the birth of Princess Elizabeth, Mary Dacres, was appointed to join the ever-growing team as dresser to Royal and Augusta. The job of wet nurse went to Mrs Elizabeth Spinloffe. Queen Charlotte’s accounts confirm that, like Mrs Muttlebury and Mrs Thursby before her, Miss Spinloffe was placed on a salary of £200. As the years passed, Lady Elizabeth Waldegrave was added to the household as Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princess Royal, with whom she became close friends. When Lady Elizabeth’s mother, Maria, secretly married George III’s brother, Prince William Henry, she became far more besides.

Although Miss Dacres was soon a firm favourite of her little charges, it’s important to note that these weren’t abandoned royal children who were farmed

Reviews for The Daughters of George III

[barbaras2016 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have read all the other books by Catherine Curzon. I have especially enjoyed the books on the Georgian kings and Georgian Queens. Now I have had the pleasure of reading about King George III's and Queen Charlotte's six daughters. George and Charlotte had fifteen children, nine sons, and six daughters. This is truly remarkable because not only did Charlotte survive fifteen births in an age of high maternal deaths but all fifteen children survived infancy and only two died in childhood. The author starts the books by giving a brief overview of the parents, their early marriage, the early days of the family, and the parenting style of George and Charlotte. The book also explains the spectacular failure of George's sister's marriage in Denmark and the unsuitable marriages of George's brothers. These incidents explains George's extreme reluctance to marry off his daughters. Charlotte wanted to keep her daughters with her as George's mental and physical health declined. After this overview the author gives each daughter her own chapter to tell her own story. Each account is lively, not just dry history. I enjoyed the book. The book is complete with footnotes, a bibliography and photos. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book by a favorite author in exchange for a review.