![]() Born in 1840, “Vicky” was bestowed the title Princess Royal at two months old. Perhaps, one of the greatest what-ifs in British history is the case of Princess Victoria, the first child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. After her husband died in 1816, she presided as a benevolent grande dame, her frame carried everywhere in a chair, a much better ruler than her beloved wastrel brother King George IV could ever be. Respected as a charitable ruler, she lovingly raised her three stepchildren, enduring estrangement from her English family during the Napoleonic Wars. ![]() “She is born to preside…with equal softness and dignity…,” the novelist Fanny Burney wrote. In 1797, at the age of 30, she finally found a way out of her prison, when she married Hereditary Prince Frederick William of Württemberg, an older widower with a scandalous marital history.Īnd as Fraser notes, Charlotte flourished as Queen Consort of Württemberg, despite rumors of her husband’s violent temper. ![]() Supported by her brothers, the stifled Royal began to rebel, separating herself from her parents and appearing less at public events. Indeed, palace life, Charlotte noted, according to The Princess Royal, was like living “in a cloister not a kingdom.” Her innate strength was noted during her father’s bouts with mental illness, which took an enormous toll on her family. To her brothers and sisters near her own age she was always Princess Royal, though the younger children called her ‘Royal.’”Īccording to Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III by Flora Fraser, her notorious brothers were allowed to run amok, while she and her five sisters were kept in spinsterhood by her overbearing parents, with Charlotte working as her mother’s secretary. “Her own mother spoke of her and addressed her as Princess Royal, never Charlotte. “At the core of her shyness was her rank, the strange special distinction of being Princess Royal, setting her apart,” Cathcart writes. As a child, she was apparently jealous of her older brother Frederick, heir to the throne, claiming, “I would gladly die tomorrow if I could be queen today.” Clever and headstrong, Anne was gifted musically and close to her music teacher, the legendary George Handel. Born in 1709, Princess Anne was the second child of the future King George II and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach. The next Princess Royal would find herself living a life that almost mirrored her predecessor. In 1689, her son was crowned King William III of England. Constantly in a power struggle with her mother-in-law during their coregency of her minor son William, Mary would live to see her beloved brother Charles II win back the English throne in 1660, only to die of smallpox while visiting England that same year. Whatever the truth, the title would bring the proud, beautiful Mary little happiness.Īfter her father, Charles I, was executed in 1649, and her husband died the next year, Mary worked tirelessly to support her exiled family, her court becoming a “nest of vipers” conspiring against Cromwell’s England. Along with Anne, the seven Princesses Royal have been Princess Mary, Princess of Orange (1631–1660) Anne, Princess of Orange (1709–1759) Charlotte, Queen Consort of Württemberg (1766–1828) Victoria, Empress of Germany and Queen Consort of Prussia (1840–1901) Louise, Duchess of Fife (1867–1931) and Mary, Countess of Harewood (1897–1965). Her mother, Kate Middleton, has said that Charlotte is “the one in charge.”Ī purely honorific title, “Princess Royal” is bestowed at the discretion of reigning monarchs to their eldest daughter at any time during her life. Even today, eight-year-old Princess Charlotte, who may one day be given the Princess Royal title, has become beloved for her bold, outgoing attitude and leadership (particularly noticeable with her brothers). This has been a sentiment shared about the clutch Princesses Royal in British history. “Anne, the Princess Royal,” Autumn Brewington wrote in The Washington Post, “is the best king Britain will never have.” It has also caused some to wistfully wonder what might have been. Appreciation for the dutiful 73-year-old princess and her no-nonsense, drama-free style has gained her increasing respect in a family rife with turmoil and squabbles. At the end of 2023, it was no surprise when Anne, Princess Royal, was yet again crowned the hardest-working royal, reported to participate in an astonishing 457 engagements in a single year.
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