Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha

Augusta of Saxe- Gotha -Altenburg ( * November 30, 1719 in Gotha, † February 8, 1772 in London) was through her ​​marriage to Friedrich Ludwig of Hanover, Princess of Wales and mother of British King George III. According to her, James Oglethorpe named the town of Augusta in the U.S. state of Georgia.

In the years as a widow, she left the park their home in Kew ( located today in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames ) greatly expand and change, and thus laid the foundation for Kew Gardens.

Life

Augusta was born the 15th child of Duke Frederick II of Saxe -Gotha -Altenburg and his wife Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt- Zerbst. 1735 she stayed with her mother in the Electorate of Brunswick- Lüneburg, the visited at that time, the British King George II. Duchess and King agreed at the wedding of her two children.

16 -year-old Augusta was sent to England in 1736, without even a word of English to be able, where on 27 Apriljul. / 8 Maigreg. the twelve years older than Frederick married in the Chapel Royal of St. James 's Palace. George Frideric Handel composed especially for the occasion, the Wedding Anthem Sing unto God.

Quick had to remember a newlywed, her husband in permanent dispute was with his parents and this led to many inconveniences for them. As Augusta was pregnant for the first time in 1737, they had to move to her husband's Hampton Court Palace in St James 's Palace desire to prevent the prospective grandparents could be present at birth. After Augusta on 31 Julijul. / August 11 1737greg. had brought a daughter into the world on 29 Augustjul. / September 9 Greg. - Again in the absence of the British royal couple - had been baptized by the Archbishop of Canterbury on the name Augusta Friederike Louise, it came to the final break between Frederick and his father. He and his wife were expelled all royal palaces and had to move into a house on St. James's Square. Despite such recurring annoyances to Augusta her life always bent to the will of her valiant husband.

Next to the house at St James's Square and the mansion Cliveden the young family resided in the following years in the White House at Kew, the Kew Gardens Augusta in the years left as a widow expand significantly. So you laid the foundations for one of the world's most famous botanical gardens. Even today there exists a 1761 built by them Chinese pagoda.

With the death of her husband in March 1751 Augusta eldest son, the 12 -year-old George III. , New heir to the throne and thus Prince of Wales. Augusta longer wore the title of Dowager Princess of Wales. Since George III. was still a minor, the British Parliament enacted the Regency Act of 1751, the Augusta certain as regent for her son. For some time acted John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute as a teacher and George stood the family as a consultant. His numerous visits to the White House after the death of Frederick ensured fast for bad talk. Augusta was rumored with him a relationship, but this was never proved.

After the accession of her son in 1760, the king's mother pulled completely back from court life. She died on February 8, 1772 at London's Carlton House of throat cancer and was buried seven days later on February 15 at Westminster Abbey.

Progeny

Augusta and Frederick had nine children together, of which the last only two months, was born after Frederick's death.

• Augusta Friederike Louise (* August 11, 1737, † March 23, 1813 ), ∞ Duke Karl II Wilhelm Ferdinand of Brunswick- Wolfenbüttel
• George III. ( Born June 4, 1738 † January 29, 1820 ), King of Great Britain and Ireland
• Edward August (* March 25, 1739; † September 17, 1767 ), Duke of York and Albany
• Elizabeth Caroline (* January 10, 1741, † September 4, 1759 )
• Wilhelm Heinrich ( * November 25, 1743; † August 25, 1805 ), Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
• Heinrich Friedrich ( * November 7, 1745; † September 18, 1790 ), Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn
• Louisa Anne (* March 19, 1749, † May 13 1768 )
• Friedrich Wilhelm ( * May 24, 1750, † December 29, 1765 )
• Caroline Mathilde ( born July 22, 1751 † May 10, 1775 ), ∞ King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway