germanaustriannoblesandroyals: Women of the House of Hanover (4/?) & Queen Consorts of Engla
germanaustriannoblesandroyals:Women of the House of Hanover (4/?) & Queen Consorts of England (3/?): Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (Adelheid von Sachsen-Meiningen)Adelaide was born as Adelheid Louise Theresa Caroline Ameliaon August 13th, 1792, to Duke George I of Saxe-Meiningen and his wife Princess Louise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. She was the oldest of three siblings.Although Adelaide grew up in the most liberal German state at her time, she later became a conservative Tory. She usually kept her political opinions private. Her marriage to The Duke of Clarence was a marriage of convience and politics. He could not secure another marriage, she was young enough to bare children and to accept his illegimate ones as well. Especially the child baring part was of great importance since Britain and Hanover were running out of heirs in the next generation since Princess Charlotte had died in childbed. Still, by all accounts, Adelaide and William were devoted to each other throughout their marriage. Adelaide improved William’s behaviour; he drank less, swore less and became more tactful.The wedding of Adelaide and William was a double wedding with his brother The Duke of Kent and his bride Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg, Dowager Princess of Leiningen. The latter would become the mother of the future Queen Victoria of whom Adelaide and William were rather fond of, although their relationship with her mother was very strained. For example, The Duchess of Kent refused to acknowledge Adelaide’s precedence, left letters from Adelaide unanswered and commandeered space in the royal stables and apartments for her own use. The King, aggrieved at what he took to be disrespect from the Duchess to his wife, bluntly announced in the presence of Adelaide, the Duchess, Victoria and many guests, that the Duchess was “incompetent to act with propriety”, that he had been “grossly and continually insulted by that person”, and that he hoped to have the satisfaction of living beyond Victoria’s age of majority, so that the Duchess of Kent would never be Regent.Adelaide herself had a rather tragic story in points of children. Her first child, Princess Charlotte of Clarence, only died a couple hours after being baptized. Only six months later, she had a miscarriage at either Calais or Dunkirk while settling over to Britain. A year later, on December 10th, 1820, Princess Elizabeth of Clarence was born but only lived a little less than three months. An inflammation in the Bowels was given as the cause of death. Adelaide was pregnant at least one more time but the twins, both males, were stillborn on April 8th, 1822.She might have found strength in her deeply religious believes. One example of how deeply commited she was to the church, could be observed during her coronation. While her husband acted like a fool throughout the service, she took it very seriously.She was beloved by the British people for her piety, modesty, charity, and her tragic childbirth history. A large portion of her household income was given to charitable causes. But she refused to allow women of questionable reputation to attend her court.Adelaide died during the reign of her niece Queen Victoria on December 2nd, 1849 of natural causes at Bentley Priory in Middlesex and was buried at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. Today many places around the Commonwealth and beyond are named after her. // Harriet Walter as Queen Adelaide in The Young Victoria -- source link
#history#19th century