Princess Elizabeth
Portrait by Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1754
Born(1741-01-10)10 January 1741
Norfolk House, Westminster
Died4 September 1759(1759-09-04) (aged 18)
Kew Palace, Surrey
Burial14 September 1759
Westminster Abbey, Westminster
Names
Elizabeth Caroline
HouseHanover
FatherFrederick, Prince of Wales
MotherPrincess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha

Princess Elizabeth Caroline of Great Britain (10 January 1741 – 4 September 1759) was one of the children of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. She was a granddaughter of King George II and sister of King George III.

Life

Elizabeth (left) with her younger sister Louisa (right) and brother Frederick (below), from a family portrait of 1751.

Princess Elizabeth was born at Norfolk House, St James's Square, Westminster. Her father was The Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King George II and Caroline of Ansbach. Her mother was The Princess of Wales (née Augusta of Saxe-Gotha). She was christened twenty-five days later at Norfolk House, by The Bishop of Oxford, Thomas Secker[1] — her godparents were The Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (her first cousin once-removed by marriage; for whom The Lord Baltimore (Gentleman of the Bedchamber to her father) stood proxy), The Queen of Denmark (for whom Anne, Viscountess Irwin stood proxy) and the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha (her maternal aunt by marriage, for whom Lady Jane Hamilton stood proxy).

Little is known of her short life[2] other than a fragment preserved in the Letters of Walpole.

We have lost another Princess, Lady Elizabeth. She died of an inflammation in her bowels in two days. Her figure was so very unfortunate, that it would have been difficult for her to be happy, but her parts and application were extraordinary. I saw her act in "Cato" at eight years old, (when she could not stand alone, but was forced to lean against the side-scene,) better than any of her brothers and sisters. She had been so unhealthy, that at that age she had not been taught to read, but had learned the part of Lucia by hearing the others study their parts. She went to her father and mother, and begged she might act. They put her off as gently as they could—she desired leave to repeat her part, and when she did, it was with so much sense, that there was no denying her.

— Horace Walpole, letter to Horatio Mann, 13 September 1759[3]

She died on 4 September 1759 at Kew Palace, London and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Ancestors

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Third Register Book of the Parish of St James in the Liberty of Westminster For Births & Baptisms. 1723-1741. 24 January 1740.
  2. ↑ Wilkins, William Henry (1904). A Queen of Tears: Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Norway and Princess of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Longmans, Green and Co. pp. 32–33.
  3. ↑ Walpole, Horace; Charles Duke Yonge (1890). Letters of Horace Walpole. London: T. Fisher Unwin. pp. 173–177.
  4. ↑ 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. 4.
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