The Hanoverian Consorts: Enlightenment and Empire

Abstract

Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737), Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744–1818), Caroline of Brunswick (1768–1821), Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (1792–1849), and Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861)—the consorts of five successive Hanoverian monarchs, George II, George III, George IV, William IV, and Victoria—shared key attributes and circumstances that shaped the development of the United Kingdom’s constitutional monarchy and the public image of the royal family. In contrast to the Stuart period, where four successive royal consorts were (almost certainly) Catholic, the Hanoverian consorts were all Protestant and their religion was important to their public image, especially during the reigns of George II and George III. The evolution of the British constitutional monarchy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the development of party politics, shaped the role of the royal consort. For the Hanoverian consorts, political and personal conflicts were interconnected.KeywordsEnlightenmentEmpireHanoverBritainMonarchyGeorgianVictorianRoyalConsort