The Hanovers 1714-1901

[Curryong]

King George IV had a propensity to plumpness when he was Prince Regent as well as Prince of Wales before that. When he and Caroline met just before their wedding neither was pleased with the other. Caroline looked inelegant and unrefined, George however was overweight, and both commented on the subject to nearby friends.

George was plump in his later reunion years with Mrs Fitzherbert just as he was as King with his last mistress Lady Oxford, so it had nothing to do with how he got on with females in relationships. It was a high-drinking and gluttonous Age, thinness was as criticised as being fat (Pitt the younger, the PM for a time, was noticeably skinny and was satirically known as ?The Bottomless Pit(t)? due to having a concave rear end. That was just as bad as the Prince Regent being referred to as ?A Fat Adonis of Forty?, though the satirist who called him that in print went to jail for lese-majeste.

Willowy women in the 18th and early 19th centuries were not as admired as statuesque, large breasted females. It was just the fashion of the time. And although George?s weight certainly exacerbated his health problems his rank and position in Society meant he could get any lady he fancied anyway. The Hanoverians were a family prone to packing on the pounds, and that continued through the 19th century. Look at the elderly Victoria and her son Bertie!

[TLLK]

Yes Victoria and Bertie definitely inherited that tendency to gain weight. It wasn't until the very figure concious Alexandra and Mary, then later Phillip married into the family that there was a change in physique among the descendants.

Prinny was truly one of the more extravagant and excessive monarchs in British History.

[Amabel2]

Yes Victoria and Bertie definitely inherited that tendency to gain weight. It wasn't until the very figure concious Alexandra and Mary, then later Phillip married into the family that there was a change in physique among the descendants.

Prinny was truly one of the more extravagant and excessive monarchs in British History.

AFAICR, Edward VIII was concerned about the family tendency to get fatter, and used to worry about his weight but the present RF are rather slimmer in shape than the Hanoverians, certainly.  Except for Andrew

[LouisFerdinand]

Since Charlotte was the one who broke off the engagement with Willem, Hereditary Prince of Orange, it was reasonable to say that she was the one who should tell her father. Charlotte thought it was cowardly. When she wrote to her father herself that day, she made out that it was the Prince who had broken off the engagement.   

:hemademe: :hemademe: :hemademe: :hemademe: :hemademe: :hemademe: :hemademe: :hemademe: :hemademe: :hemademe:

[LouisFerdinand]

In 1689 King William III made Britain a part of the Grand Alliance. The Grand Alliance was a coalition of European powers forced to oppose France. As a result the first eight years of William's reign were taken up with fighting, first in Ireland and then on the Continent.

[LouisFerdinand]

The future King George I had become a patron of the composer Handell before acceding to the English throne. He appointed Handell as Kapellmeister to the Hanover court in 1710. As King of England, George appointed Handell music teacher to his granddaughters.

[LouisFerdinand]

George II was born in Hanover. He was the last English king to be born abroad. 
When George was on trips to Hanover, he refused to let his eldest son Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales to have a hand inn government when he was gone.

[LouisFerdinand]

Accompanied by his Whig Party ministers, King William IV went to the House of Commons to dissolve Parliament in 1831.

[LouisFerdinand]

Why did King George III appoint Lady De Clifford as Princess Charlotte of Wales' governess? Why was this not done by her father Prince George?

[LouisFerdinand]

The Private Lives of George III     
Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales purchased snuffboxes and a harpsichord.     
The First Georgians A King's Ransom - YouTube

[Curryong]

   
Prince Albert Edward had been Prince of Wales for almost 60 years before he became King Edward VII.

King William IV was also in his sixties when he succeeded his brother George IV. Elderly monarchs coming to the Throne in their 60s+ are however often the result of a very young monarch (usually female) bearing/siring a healthy heir in her/his very early twenties. This heir and those following him/her are therefore almost inevitably quite mature when they ascend the Throne. There?s usually a bottleneck as well, with middle aged heirs to the heirs having growing families.

Contemporaries in Sweden, the Swedish Kings, resembledthe modern-day Windsors and lived into their 80s and 90s, like King Carl Gustav?s grandfather, great-grandfather etc, though his father died in middle age in an air crash.

[LouisFerdinand]

King George I with George Handel, traveling by barge on the Thames River   
George Handel and King George I Stock Photo - Alamy

[LouisFerdinand]

Prince George (King George II) received news from Sir Horace Walpole, British Prime Minister, of his father's demise in June 1727.     
Prince George (King George II) receives news from from Sir Horace Walpole, British Prime Minister, of his father's death in June 1727 during one

[LouisFerdinand]

Was Caroline of Ansbach, Queen Consort of King George II, the unlikeliest Queen ever?   
Hanoverian Caroline of Ansbach: Unlikeliest Queen Ever! - YouTube

[LouisFerdinand]

An 1837 book about King William IV of England   
William Fourth King of England Life and Reign 1837 fine old leather book 16 plates by Wright - YouTube

[LouisFerdinand]

Sophia Dorothea married Frederick William on November 28, 1706. She had only arrived in Berlin the day before.

[LouisFerdinand]

Miniature of Princess Charlotte of Wales   
Explore the Royal Collection Online

[LouisFerdinand]

House of Commons in session during the reign of King George II     
House of Commons in session during the reign of King George II. Hand-colored woodcut Stock Photo - Alamy

[LouisFerdinand]

King George IV's visit to Scotland was orchestrated by the novelist and playwright Sir Walter Scott. The visit lasted for three weeks. It was a public relations success.

[LouisFerdinand]

It would be interesting to see the names Princess Charlotte of Wales and her husband Prince Leopold would have given to a daughter.

[Curryong]

It would be interesting to see the names Princess Charlotte of Wales and her husband Prince Leopold would have given to a daughter.

I could definitely see Charlotte honouring her father (even though she didn?t like him very much) with a Georgiana, if her older brother hadn?t been named George. However I think that possibility was almost inevitable so perhaps something like Leopoldine or Augusta or Mary after relatives. I don?t think the name Caroline would have been considered with her father still on the throne. The Saxe Coburg Gothas too were an enormous family with many female aunts and cousins as consorts on thrones so I don?t think they would have been stuck for names for daughters, who were considered less important than sons.

Leopold ended up fathering three legitimate and two illegitimate sons (as well as a legitimate daughter) later in life so he may well have been one of those men who mostly sire males. However, I just can?t see Charlotte having a very large family of boys or girls, unlike her niece Victoria. She had already had one miscarriage before she fell into the hands of an admittedly hopeless obstetrician and died, and if she had survived and further births had followed I could see more miscarriages and stillbirths.

[LouisFerdinand]

@Curryong, I like the suggestion of Leopoldine. Leopoldine or Leopoldina has been used for daughters in other countries. Do you think there might have been a possibility of Eleanor being used?

[Curryong]

@Curryong, I like the suggestion of Leopoldine. Leopoldine or Leopoldina has been used for daughters in other countries. Do you think there might have been a possibility of Eleanor being used?

It depends on how many daughters were born, I suppose. As I wrote in my post I can?t imagine Charlotte having a large family. She worshipped Leopold and so I do think that Leopoldine would have been suggested by her. The earlier part of the 19th century had a vogue for medievalism and so I suppose Eleanor may have been a possibility. However, there were so many female relatives on both the Hanover and Saxe Coburg sides that I think, following the custom of the day, those names would have been chosen first.

[LouisFerdinand]

The House of Commons in session during the reign of King George II     
House of Commons in session during the reign of King George II. Hand-colored woodcut Stock Photo - Alamy

[Amabel2]

 :eyes:

It depends on how many daughters were born, I suppose. As I wrote in my post I can?t imagine Charlotte having a large family. She worshipped Leopold and so I do think that Leopoldine would have been suggested by her. The earlier part of the 19th century had a vogue for medievalism and so I suppose Eleanor may have been a possibility. However, there were so many female relatives on both the Hanover and Saxe Coburg sides that I think, following the custom of the day, those names would have been chosen first.

I'd say if Charlotte had a daughter Elizabeth would be a first choice for a name.