Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick | |||||
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Prince of Wales (more...) | |||||
Born | New Style) Hanover, Holy Roman Empire (Germany) | 31 January 1707 (||||
Died | 31 March 1751 Leicester House, London, England | (aged 44)||||
Burial | 13 April 1751 Westminster Abbey, London | ||||
Spouse | |||||
Issue | |||||
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House | Hanover | ||||
Father | George II of Great Britain | ||||
Mother | Caroline of Ansbach | ||||
Signature |
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Under the
Early life
Prince Frederick Louis was born on 31 January [
In the year of Anne's death and the coronation of George I, Frederick's parents, George, Prince of Wales (later
In 1722, Frederick was inoculated against smallpox by Charles Maitland on the instructions of his mother, Caroline.[3] His grandfather George I created him Duke of Edinburgh, Marquess of the Isle of Ely,[4] Earl of Eltham in the county of Kent, Viscount of Launceston in the county of Cornwall, and Baron of Snaudon in the county of Carnarvon, on 26 July 1726.[5] The latter two titles have been interpreted differently since: the ofs are omitted and Snaudon rendered as Snowdon.
Frederick arrived in Great Britain in 1728, the year after his father had become
Prince of Wales
The motives for the ill-feeling between Frederick and his parents may have included the fact that he had been set up by his grandfather, even as a small child, as the representative of the House of Hanover, and was used to presiding over official occasions in the absence of his parents. He was not permitted to go to Great Britain until after his father took the throne as George II on 11 June 1727. Frederick had continued to be known as Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Hanover (with his British HRH style) even after his father had been created Prince of Wales.
Frederick was created Prince of Wales on 7 January 1729.[9] He served as the tenth chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1728 to 1751, and a portrait of him still enjoys a commanding position in the Hall of Trinity College Dublin.
Once, established in London, Frederick sponsored a court of 'opposition' politicians. They supported the
Hervey and Frederick (using a pseudonym "Captain Bodkin") wrote a theatrical comedy which was staged at the Drury Lane Theatre in October 1731. It was panned by the critics, and even the theatre's manager thought it so bad that it was unlikely to play out even the first night. He had soldiers stationed in the audience to maintain order, and when the play flopped, the audience were given their money back.[14] Hervey and Frederick also shared a mistress, Anne Vane, who had a son called FitzFrederick Vane in June 1732. Either of them or William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, another of her lovers, could have been the father.[15] Jealousy between Frederick and Hervey may have contributed to a breach, and their friendship ended. Hervey later wrote bitterly that Frederick was "false ... never having the least hesitation in telling any lie that served his present purpose."[16]
Patron of the arts
A permanent result of Frederick's patronage of the arts is "
Unlike the king, Frederick was a knowledgeable amateur of painting, patronising immigrant artists such as
None of Frederick's homes are now left standing except for the country residence of Cliveden, which is in a much altered state. His London residences (Norfolk House, Carlton House, Leicester House, and Kew House or the White House) have all been demolished.
Domestic life
Negotiations between George II and his first cousin and brother-in-law
Frederick also almost married Lady Diana Spencer, daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland and Lady Anne Churchill. Lady Diana was the favourite grandchild of the powerful Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. The duchess sought a royal alliance by marrying Lady Diana to the Prince of Wales with a massive dowry of £100,000. The prince, who was in great debt, agreed to the proposal, but the plan was vetoed by Robert Walpole and the king. Lady Diana soon married John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford.
Although in his youth he was a spendthrift and womaniser, Frederick settled down following his marriage to the sixteen-year-old
In May 1736, George II returned to Hanover, which was unpopular in England. A satirical notice was pinned to the gates of St James's Palace decrying his absence: "Lost or strayed out of this house", it read, "a man who has left a wife and six children on the parish."[26] The King made plans to return, in the face of inclement weather; when his ship was caught in a storm, gossip swept London that he had drowned. Eventually, in January 1737, he arrived back in England.[27] Immediately he fell ill, with piles and a fever, and withdrew to his bed. The Prince of Wales put it about that the King was dying, with the result that George insisted on getting up and attending a social event to disprove the gossip-mongers.[28]
Quickly accumulating large debts, Frederick relied for an income on his wealthy friend George Bubb Dodington. The prince's father refused to make him a financial allowance of the size that the prince considered should have been his. Frederick's public opposition to his father's government continued; he opposed the unpopular Gin Act 1736, which tried to control the Gin Craze.[29] Frederick applied to Parliament for an increased financial allowance, and public disagreement over the payment of the money drove a further wedge between parents and son. Frederick's allowance was raised, but by less than he had asked for.[30]
In June 1737, Frederick informed his parents that Augusta was pregnant, and was due to give birth in October. Traditionally, royal births were witnessed by members of the family and senior courtiers to guard against
Frederick was banished from the king's court,[13] and a rival court grew up at Frederick's new residence, Leicester House, where his father and mother had themselves lived after becoming estranged from George I.[34] His mother fell fatally ill at the end of the year, but the king refused Frederick permission to see her.[35] Frederick became a devoted family man, taking his wife and children to live in the countryside at Cliveden, where he fished, shot, and rowed.[36] In 1742, Robert Walpole left office, and the realignment of the government led to a reconciliation between father and son, as Frederick's friends in Parliament gained influence.[37]
After the
Cricket
By the time Frederick arrived in Great Britain, cricket had developed into the country's most popular team sport, and it thrived on gambling. Perhaps because he wished to anglicise and so fit in with society, Frederick developed an academic interest in cricket and soon became a genuine enthusiast. He began to make wagers and then to patronise and play the sport, even forming his own team on several occasions.
The earliest mention of Frederick in cricket annals is in a contemporary report of a match on 28 September 1731 between Surrey and London, played on Kennington Common. No post-match report was found despite advance promotion as "likely to be the best performance of this kind that has been seen for some time". The records show that "for the convenience of the gamesters, the ground is to be staked and roped out" – a new practice in 1731 and possibly done partly for the benefit of a royal visitor. The advertisement refers to "the whole county of Surrey" as London's opponents and states that the Prince of Wales is "expected to attend".[40]
In August 1732, the Whitehall Evening Post reported that Frederick attended "a great cricket match" at Kew on 27 July.[41]
By the 1733 season, Frederick was seriously involved in the game, in effect as a county cricketer for Surrey.[42] He was said to have given a guinea to each player in a Surrey vs. Middlesex game at Moulsey Hurst.[43] Then he awarded a silver cup to a combined Surrey and Middlesex team which had just beaten Kent, arguably the best county team at the time, at Moulsey Hurst on 1 August.[43] This is the first reference in cricket history to any kind of trophy (other than hard cash) being contested. On 31 August, the Prince of Wales XI played Sir William Gage's XI on Moulsey Hurst. The result is unknown but the teams were said to be of county standard, so presumably it was in effect a Surrey vs. Sussex match.[44]
In the years following 1733, there are frequent references to the Prince of Wales as a patron of cricket and as an occasional player.
When he died on 31 March 1751, cricket suffered a double blow as his death closely followed that of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, the game's greatest financial patron at the time. The number of top-class matches declined for several years.
Death
His political ambitions unfulfilled, Frederick died at Leicester House at the age of 44 on 31 March 1751 (20 March
The Prince of Wales's epigram (quoted by William Makepeace Thackeray, "Four Georges"):
"Here lies poor Fred who was alive and is dead,
Had it been his father I had much rather,
Had it been his sister nobody would have missed her,
Had it been his brother, still better than another,
Had it been the whole generation, so much better for the nation,
But since it is Fred who was alive and is dead,
There is no more to be said!"
Titles, honours and arms
British titles
He was given the title Duke of Gloucester on 10 January 1717,[48] but when he was raised to the peerage on 26 July 1726 it was as Duke of Edinburgh.[5][49] He became Duke of Cornwall on 11 June 1727 and Prince of Wales on 7 January 1729.[4]
Honours
- 3 July 1717: Royal Knight of the Garter[50]
Arms
Between his creation as Duke of Edinburgh in 1726 and his creation as Prince of Wales, he bore the arms of the kingdom, differentiated by a label argent of three points, the centre point bearing a cross gules. As Prince of Wales, the difference changed to simply a label argent of three points.[51] Frederick never succeeded his father as Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire and so the red escutcheon in the centre of his Hanover quarter is empty.[52]
Arms of Frederick, Prince of Wales |
Family
Ancestors
Ancestors of Frederick, Prince of Wales Johannetta, Countess of Sayn-Altenkirchen | |||||||||||||
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Issue
Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
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By The Honourable Anne Vane | |||
FitzFrederick Cornwall Vane | 4 June 1732 | 23 February 1736 | Born on St James's Street and baptised on 17 June 1732 with The Honourable Henry Vane (his maternal uncle), Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore and Lady Elizabeth Mansel as his godparents. He died in London of "a fit of convulsions" while in the care of his uncle Henry. |
Amelia Vane | 21 April 1733 | 22 April 1733 | Died the day after her birth. |
By Margaret, Countess of Marsac reputed | |||
Charles | 1736 | 22 December 1820 | Died aged eighty-four. |
By Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha | |||
Princess Augusta | 31 July 1737 | 23 March 1813 | Married, 1764, Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ; had issue.
|
George III | 4 June 1738 | 29 January 1820 | Married, 1761, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; had issue. |
Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany | 25 March 1739 | 17 September 1767 | Died aged twenty-eight, unmarried. |
Princess Elizabeth | 10 January 1741 | 4 September 1759 | Died aged eighteen, unmarried. |
Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh | 25 November 1743 | 25 August 1805 | Married, 1766, Maria Waldegrave, Dowager Countess Waldegrave ; had issue.
|
Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn | 7 November 1745 | 18 September 1790 | Married, 1771, Anne Horton ; no issue.
|
Princess Louisa | 19 March 1749 | 13 May 1768 | Died aged nineteen, unmarried. |
Prince Frederick | 13 May 1750 | 29 December 1765 | Died aged fifteen, unmarried. |
Princess Caroline Matilda | 11 July 1751 | 10 May 1775 | Born after Frederick's death; Married, 1766, Christian VII of Denmark and Norway; had issue. |
References
Notes
- ^ "Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Royal Christenings". Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 20. Van der Kiste observes that "griff" was a Caribbean term for a half-caste, and that it was applied to Frederick because he was "heavy-nosed, thick-lipped and yellow-skinned."
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 83
- ^ a b London Gazette — creation as Prince of Wales
- ^ a b London Gazette — creation as Duke of Edinburgh
- ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 39, 85
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 112
- ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 131.
- ^ Prince of Wales: Previous princes; Prince of Wales – Previous Princes; "No. 6741". The London Gazette. 4 January 1728. p. 2.
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 125
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 111
- ^ The three copies are in the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Royal Collection and Cliveden House, Buckinghamshire.
- ^ a b Van der Kiste, p. 158
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 114
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 115
- ^ Quoted in Van der Kiste, p. 115
- ^ Beard, Geoffrey (August 1970). William Kent and the Royal Barge. The Burlington Magazine , Vol. 112, No. 809, pp 488-493+495. p. 492.
- ^ "9880 – A ROYAL GILTWOOD FRAME OF COLOSSAL SCALE BY PAUL PETIT AT THE COMMAND OF FREDERICK, PRINCE OF WALES | Carlton Hobbs New York". carltonhobbs.com. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ^ "Antoine Pesne (1683–1757): Frederick II, King of Prussia (1712–86) 1747 – 1748". Royal Collection. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 109–110
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 110
- ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 86, 118
- ^ "The Royal Wedding… of 1736". 27 April 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- ^ Walford, Edward (1878). "St James's Palace". Old and New London. Vol. 4. London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin. pp. 100–122. Retrieved 13 July 2020. via "British History Online"
- required.)
- ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 149–150
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 152
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 153
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 148
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 154
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 155
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 156
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 157
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 159
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 161
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 113
- ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 175–176
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 187
- ^ Van der Kiste, p. 188; Hilton, Austin W. B., "King Fred: How the British King Who Never Was Shaped the Modern Monarchy" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3064.
- ^ H. T. Waghorn, The Dawn of Cricket, Electric Press, 1906.
- ^ G. B. Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935.
- ISBN 0718108167
- ^ a b H. T. Waghorn, Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773), Blackwood, 1899.
- ^ Timothy J. McCann, Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century, Sussex Record Society, 2004.
- ^ "No. 9042". The London Gazette. 23 March 1750. p. 1.
- ^ Deborah Fisher, Princes of Wales (University of Wales Press, 2006); Van der Kiste, pp. 190–191
- ISBN 978-0-09-959472-7.
- ISBN 978-0-7126-7448-5
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 128.
- ^ Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 41
- ^ Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family
- ^
ISBN 1-85605-469-1
- ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 55.
Bibliography
- Michael De-la-Noy, The King Who Never Was: The Story of Frederick, Prince of Wales, London; Chester Springs, PA: Peter Owen, 1996.
- ISBN 0-7509-1321-5
- John Walters, The Royal Griffin: Frederick, Prince of Wales, 1707–51, London: Jarrolds, 1972.
External links
Media related to Frederick, Prince of Wales at Wikimedia Commons
- Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales at the official website of the Royal Collection Trust
- Portraits of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales at the National Portrait Gallery, London