Frederick, Prince of Wales

Frederick, Prince of Wales (1 February 1707 – 31 March 1751) was the son of George II and Queen Caroline of Ansbach and the father of King George III. For most of his life, he and his parents had a bad relationship. He had a rival court to his parents and was a patron of art and music. He also played cricket. He died before his father, so he never became a king.

Frederick Louis was born in 1707 in Hanover^[1] and he was the oldest son of George^[2], who was the heir to the kingdom of Great Britain, because he was the son of George, the Prince-elector of Hanover and heir to Queen Anne of Great Britain because she had no children. His mother was Caroline of Ansbach. When his grandfather George inherited Great Britain, Frederick's parents followed and left him behind in Hanover.^[2] This was in 1714,^[2] when he was seven years old and still a child. In Hanover, he learned English and was sent models (little copies) of British warships.^[3]

In 1728, Frederick finally came to Great Britain when his father became the new king in 1727.^[2] His father made him Prince of Wales in 1729.^[4] Back when he was still a child in 1714, it was arranged that he would marry a daughter of the King of Prussia, Frederick William I, but his bad relationship with his parents stopped it.^[4] A big part of the bad relationship with his parents was that his father the king gave him an allowance (money) that he thought wasn't big enough.^[4]

In 1736, Frederick was married to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Alenburg,^[5] a German princess. She was a daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Frederick II.^[6] They had met just a few days before the wedding, and Augusta met Frederick's father before, in Hanover.^[5] Her parents had told her that there was no need to learn English, as Britain was ruled for 20 years by German princes by that time.^[5] His sisters were upset that he tried to change seating arrangements for meals so that Augusta took precedence over them.^[5]

Frederick was considered to be physically unattractive; he had a small and delicate build,^[3] his hair was "yellowish", his face "not handsome; his eyes grey like a cat and very dull".^[3] But he was charming, having "something so very engaging and easy in his behaviour", being really amusing.^[3] His father thought he was too impatient to be king.

Frederick died in the March of 1751,^[6] when he was 44 years old. His death was blamed on an abscess in his lung that popped.^[6] His wife gave birth to their last child, Caroline Matilda, after he died. Augusta lived until 1772, and five of their children are buried with them in Westminster Abbey.^[6] Their gravestones say:

FREDERICK LEWIS P. OF WALES 1751

AUGUSTA PRINCESS DOWAGER OF WALES 1772^[6]

When the old king George II died, Frederick's oldest son became king George III.^[8]