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HANOVER. Charlotte Augusta, Princess of Wales. 1796-1817. Æ Medal (54mm, 74.57 g, 12h). On Her Betrothal to William, Prince of Orange (later William II, King of the Netherlands), 7 January 1814. Obverse by Timothy Webb. Dated 7 January 1814 (in Roman numerals). CAROLETTA AVGVSTA, bust right, wearing stephane, T,, Webb Fecit on truncation of bust / SPES PVBLICA, Spes, holding olive branch and cornucopia, standing left on entablature, leaning on rudder set on ground; IAN · VII · MDCCCXIV · in exergue. BHM 778; Eimer 1041. Warm brown surfaces with purple iridescence, some light marks. VF.
The only legitimate child of George, Prince of Wales (later, George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick, Charlotte Augusta became third in line to the British throne upon her birth on 7 January 1796. From her birth, Charlotte’s relationship with her father was distant, allowing her to become headstrong. To royal courtiers, Charlotte was undignified in her dress. She elicited some pride from her father through her horsemanship. And, when the novel Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen was published in 1811, Charlotte closely identified with the character of Marianne Dashwood, who was about the same age as the princess.
When she came of marriageable age, however, George saw his daughter as useful in forging a marriage alliance. Initially, she was betrothed in 1814 to William, Prince of Orange. While the alliance between Britain and the Netherlands would be beneficial for both countries, there was confusion and delay: Charlotte was reluctant to marry William and leave the country. Neverthess, she signed the marriage contract that June. In the meantime, while infatuated with an otherwise unknown Prussian prince, Charlotte met the impoverished Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (later Leopold I of Belgium). Although he was impressed by Leopold, the Prince of Wales did not consider him suitable, due to poverty. The situation that followed was the stuff of an Austen novel, with threats of live-in mother-in-laws and an exasperated father forced to lock his daughter away, not once, but twice. Eventually, George relented and, following a series of negotiations, the couple married on 2 May 1816.
The marriage was happy, but brief. On 19 November 1817, Charlotte died in delivering a still-born son. Now without an a heir, and the possibility unlikely that George would produce another child, his unmarried brothers rushed to procure wives. Among them, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, married the sister of Leopold, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Princess of Leiningen. Their only child was Alexandrina Victoria, who became Queen in 1837.
Closing Date and Time: 9 March 2022 at 14:01:20 ET.
All winning bids are subject to an 18% buyer’s fee.
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