Frederick, Prince of Wales (Frederick Louis, German: Friedrich Ludwig; 31 January 1707 – 31 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the father of King George III.
Under the Act of Settlement passed by the English Parliament in 1701, Frederick was fourth in the line of succession to the British throne at birth, after his great-grandmother Electress Sophia of Hanover; his grandfather George, Prince-Elector of Hanover; and his father, George. The Elector ascended the British throne in 1714. After his paternal grandfather died and his father became king in 1727, Frederick moved to Great Britain and was created Prince of Wales in 1729. He predeceased his father and upon the latter's death in 1760, the throne passed to Frederick's eldest son, George III. He is the most recent Prince of Wales to not accede to the throne.
Early life
Frederick was born on in Hanover, Holy Roman Empire (Germany), as Duke Friedrich Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg, to Caroline of Ansbach and Prince George, son of George, Elector of Hanover (who was also one of Frederick's two godfathers). The Elector was the son of Sophia of Hanover, who was heir presumptive to Queen Anne of Great Britain. However, in June 1714, Sophia died at the age of 83 before Anne, which elevated the Elector to heir presumptive. Queen Anne died on 1 August the same year, so the Elector became King George I. This made Frederick's father first-in-line to the British throne and Frederick himself second-in-line. Frederick's other godfather was his granduncle Frederick I, King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia. Within the family, Frederick was nicknamed "Griff".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."
In the year of Anne's death and the coronation of George I, Frederick's parents, George, Prince of Wales (later George II), and Caroline of Ansbach, were called upon to leave Hanover for Great Britain when Frederick was only 7 years old. He was left in the care of his granduncle Ernest Augustus, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück, and did not see his parents again for 14 years.
In 1722, Frederick was inoculated against smallpox by Charles Maitland on the instructions of his mother, Caroline.Van der Kiste, p. 83 His grandfather George I created him Duke of Edinburgh, Marquess of the Isle of Ely,London Gazette — creation as Prince of Wales 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.London Gazette — creation as Duke of Edinburgh 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 King George II. By then, George and Caroline had several younger children, and Frederick was a high-spirited young man fond of drinking, gambling and women.Van der Kiste, pp. 39, 85 The long separation had damaged the relationship with his parents, and they would never be close to him.Van der Kiste, p. 112 That year also saw the foundation of Fredericksburg, Virginia, which was named after him.
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.Prince of Wales: Previous princes; Prince of Wales – Previous Princes; 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 Opera of the Nobility in Lincoln's Inn Fields as a rival to George Frideric Handel's royally sponsored opera at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket.Van der Kiste, p. 125 His circle also backed opposition journalism and historiography: under the patronage of Chesterfield and George Bubb Dodington, the Country-Whig paper Old England; or, the Constitutional Journal was paired with two large histories—William Guthrie’s A General History of England (to 1688) and James Ralph’s The History of England, During the Reigns of King William, Queen Anne, and King George I (1744–46). Frederick was a lover of music who played the viola and cello;Van der Kiste, p. 111 he is depicted playing a cello in three portraits by Philippe Mercier of Frederick and his sisters.The three copies are in the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Royal Collection and Cliveden House, Buckinghamshire. He enjoyed the natural sciences and the arts, and became a thorn in the side of his parents, making a point of opposing them in everything, according to the court gossip Lord Hervey. At court, the favourite of George II and Queen Caroline was Frederick's younger brother, Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, to the extent that the king looked into ways of splitting his domains so that Frederick would succeed only in Britain, while Hanover would go to William.Van der Kiste, p. 158
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.Van der Kiste, p. 114 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.Van der Kiste, p. 115 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."Quoted in Van der Kiste, p. 115
Patron of the arts A permanent result of Frederick's patronage of the arts is "Rule, Britannia!", one of the best-known British patriotic songs. It was composed by the English composer Thomas Arne with words written by the Scottish poet and playwright James Thomson as part of the masque Alfred, which was first performed on 1 August 1740 at Cliveden. Thomas Arne was also one of Frederick's favourite artists. A masque linking the prince with both the Saxon hero-king Alfred the Great's victories over the Vikings and with the contemporary issue of building up British sea power accorded well with Frederick's political plans and aspirations. Later, the song gained a life of its own outside of the masque. Thomson, who supported the Prince of Wales politically, also dedicated an earlier work dedicated to him: Liberty (1734).
Unlike the king, Frederick was a knowledgeable amateur of painting, patronising immigrant artists such as Jacopo Amigoni and Jean-Baptiste van Loo, who painted the portraits of the prince and his consort for Frederick's champion William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath. The list of other artists whom he employed—Philippe Mercier, John Wootton, George Knapton, and the engraver Joseph Goupy—includes some of the principal painters of the English Rococo. The prince was also crucially important in furthering the popularity of the Rococo style in the decorative arts, with a clear predilection for French Huguenot craftsmen. He patronised silversmiths such as Nicolas Sprimont (1713–1771), "toyshop" owners such as Paul Bertrand, and also carvers and gilders. The most notable of the latter was Paul Petit (1729–c. 1756) who first worked for the prince on William Kent's neo-Palladian state barge of 1732, which is still preserved in the National Maritime Museum. Petit worked on a handful of magnificent trophy frames in the Rococo style for Frederick, which are among the most significant remaining testaments to the prince's patronage of the decorative arts. One frame, made in 1748 for his namesake cousin Frederick the Great of Prussia, was especially lavish and represented the esteem in which the prince held his cousin. This suggests the prince identified with Frederick the Great's style of enlightened rule, more than that of his own father George II. Petit's frame contained a portrait of Frederick the Great painted by Antoine Pesne, and remains today in the British Royal Collection.
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 William I of Prussia on a proposed marriage between the Prince of Wales and Frederick William's daughter Wilhelmine were welcomed by Frederick even though the couple had never met.Van der Kiste, pp. 109–110 George II was not keen on the proposal but continued talks for diplomatic reasons. Frustrated by the delay, Frederick sent an envoy of his own to the Prussian court. When George II discovered the plan, he immediately arranged for Frederick to leave Hanover for England.Van der Kiste, p. 110 The marriage negotiations floundered when Frederick William demanded that Frederick be made Regent in Hanover.Van der Kiste, pp. 86, 118
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 Augusta of Saxe-Gotha on 27 April 1736. The wedding was held at the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace in London, via "British History Online" presided over by Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London and Dean of the Chapel Royal. Handel provided the new anthem 'Sing unto God' for the service, and the wedding was also marked in London by two rival operas, Handel's Atalanta and Porpora's La festa d'Imeneo.
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."Van der Kiste, pp. 149–150 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.Van der Kiste, p. 152 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.Van der Kiste, p. 153