Charlotte, Princess Royal
Charlotte Augusta Matilda, Princess Royal (1766–1828), was the eldest daughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte. She became Queen of Württemberg by marriage to King Frederick I.
She was born on September 29, 1766, at Buckingham House in London and was officially named Princess Royal in 1789. She received a serious education and was known for being intelligent, though not as shy as her sister Augusta Sophia.
On May 18, 1797, she married Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Württemberg. He became Duke of Württemberg later that year. They had one child, a stillborn daughter, in 1798. In 1800 Württemberg was occupied by France, and the couple fled to Vienna. Frederick became Elector of Württemberg in 1803 and was later made King of Württemberg by Napoleon in 1805. Charlotte was crowned Queen on January 1, 1806.
Württemberg joined Napoleon’s Confederation of the Rhine, which strained her relationship with her father, George III. In 1813 Frederick switched sides to the Allies. After Napoleon’s defeat, his kingship was confirmed at the Congress of Vienna. Frederick I died in 1816, and Charlotte remained the Dowager Queen at Ludwigsburg Palace, near Stuttgart.
She kept ties with her British family and served as a godmother (by proxy) to her niece Victoria, the future Queen Victoria. In 1827, she returned to Britain for the first time since her wedding, traveling by steamboat due to her weight. She died on October 6, 1828, at Ludwigsburg and was buried there.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 17:27 (CET).