There’s a lot we’ve come to know about the present-dayPrincess Charlotte of Wales.
Butwhom she was named afterremains shrouded in mystery.
But there’s yet another namesake.
Sadly, however, it was not to be.
On November 6, 1817, the first Princess Charlotte of Wales died unexpectedly at age 21.
But trust us, it’s a doozy.
But as the king approached 60, only one of his 13 surviving children had produced a living heir.
Charlotte’s birth was arguably the only evidence that the perennially miserable marriage had ever been consummated.
George limited Caroline’s access to their daughter, eventually pressuring her to shun her mother in public.
In 1814, Caroline accepted a stipend to live as an exile on the European continent.
George and Caroline lived apart until her death in 1821, just weeks after George’s coronation as king.
Nonetheless, George didn’t devote much in the way of time to parenting his new baby.
He was busy with his own interests, including carrying on with a succession of lovers.
By the time Charlotte turned 3, her mother was basically absent but the pair visited occasionally.
Charlotte wasn’t living with her father either.
So much so that rumors began to swirl that William was actually Caroline’s biological child.
Some say Caroline started these rumors, herself.
Others attribute them to a disgruntled neighbor of Caroline’s.
During the Delicate Investigation, Princess Charlotte was not allowed to see Caroline, nor correspond with her.
Sadly, however, King George III was not well and had not been for a very long time.
Starting in 1765, he began experiencing an unusual collection of worrisome symptoms, both physical and mental.
In the beginning, those symptoms were relatively mild.
King George III went on to recover, only to relapse in 1801 and again in 1804.
Starting in 1810, the king became fully incapacitated and never recovered leaving 14-year-old Princess Charlotte deeply affected.
Was her mother her romantic rival?
The biggest issue was where they would reside.
Charlotte had no interest in living outside of England.
Moreover, William confessed he would never allow Charlotte’s mother, Caroline of Brunswick, to visit.
In his eyes, she was simply too scandalous.
As the wedding day grew closer, the bride’s feet grew colder.
In June 1814, Charlotte fired off a polite but firm letter to William ending the engagement.
It was a tough pill for the Prince Regent to swallow.
Ultimately, Prince Frederick’s interest in the princess proved fleeting.
By late 1815, a clear favorite had emerged among the two suitors.
But he was handsome, not to mention, in the right place at the right time.
His response was to promise to do so.
He did, and their correspondence unfolded from there.
Soon after their joyous wedding, Charlotte and Leopold set about trying to start a family.
Sadly, one miscarriage was quickly followed by a second.
To their excitement and that of the British people, a third pregnancy progressed to term.
Unfortunately, however, a late-term baby is often oversized (viaMayo Clinic).
After two days of labor, Charlotte delivered a nine-pound stillborn baby boy.
Five hours later, she died of a hemorrhage as Prince Leopold slept beside her.
The Prince Regent, for his part, was too grief-stricken to attend the funeral.
And Charlotte’s mother, Caroline of Brunswick, is said to have collapsed upon hearing the news.
But suddenly, she was gone, along with her heir.
This shook the monarchy to its core.
Against all odds, that is what happened.
