Friedrich Ludwig
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Friedrich Ludwig was the first son of Georg II. August (1683-1760) and Caroline (1683-1737). He did not ascend the British throne because he died before his father. When his grandfather elector Georg I. Ludwig (1660-1727) of Hanover moved to London in 1714 with his royal household, the then seven-year-old Friedrich Ludwig had to remain behind in Hanover, to preserve the royal family's presence at that court. At this time Friedrich was known as the duke of Gloucester (although he was never actually created duke of Gloucester and became only duke of Edinburgh when he was first raised to the peerage in 1736). He was also made a knight of the Garter, having previously been betrothed to Wilhelmina Sophia Dorothea (1709-1758), daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm I. (1688-1740), king of Prussia, and sister of Friedrich II. the Great (1740-1786). Although Friedrich Ludwig very much wanted to marry Wilhelmina, the marriage was made impossible by feelings of mutual dislike between Georg II. August and his son. As a child he was the focus of the Hanoverian court, and he first saw his parents and his brothers and sisters again in 1728.
Soon after Georg II. August became king in 1727, Friedrich took up residence in England and was created prince of Wales in 1729. But the relations between father and son were very unfriendly. In 1735 Friedrich wrote, or inspired the writing of, the Histoire du prince Titi, a book containing offensive caricatures of both the king and queen. In 1736 Friedrich Ludwig married Augusta of Saxe - Gotha - Altenburg (1719-1772), daughter of Friedrich II., duke of Saxe - Gotha. His parents welcomed this union, but it led to further trouble between Friedrich Ludwig and his father. George II. proposed an allowance for the Prince of £50,000 annually, but this was deemed inadequate by Friedrich Ludwig, whose appeal to the parliament was unsuccessful. After the birth of his first child, Augusta, in 1737, Friedrich was ordered out of St. James' Palace by the king, and the foreign ambassadors were requested to refrain from visiting him. In 1745 George II. refused to allow his son to command the British army against the Jacobites. The prince died on 20 March 1751 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. He left behind five sons and two daughters. The sons were Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1738-1820) (later king George III.), Edward Augustus, duke of York and Albany (1739-1767), William Henry, duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1743-1805), Henry Frederick, duke of Cumberland (1745-1790), and Frederick William (1750-1765); the daughters were Augusta (1737-1813), wife of Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand (1735-1806), duke of Brunswick - Wolfenbüttel - Bevern, and Caroline Matilda (1751-1775), wife of Christian VII. (1749-1808), king of Denmark.
--Adapted from the website, Die Welfen
Sources
- The Encyclopedia Britannica, 13th edition. New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1926.
- Heil unserm König. Historische Museum. Hanover, 1995.
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