Friederike of Prussia (1767-1820)
Friederike Charlotte Ulrike Katharina von Prussia (* May 7, 1767 in Potsdam ; † August 6, 1820 in Weybridge , County of Surrey , England ) was Princess of Hanover and Duchess of Braunschweig and Lüneburg and, by marriage, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and Duchess of York and Albany.
She was the daughter of the heir to the throne and later King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and his first wife (first cousin on both sides) Elisabeth , née Princess of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , whose marriage was divorced in 1769.
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Life
After her parents divorced and her mother was exiled to Stettin , Friederike von Prussia grew up alternately under the care of her paternal grandmother, Luise Amalie von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, and her stepmother Friederike von Hessen-Darmstadt , her father's second wife.
She married Prince Friedrich August of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827) in Charlottenburg on September 29, 1791, at the age of 24 . A second wedding ceremony was held at Buckingham Palace on November 23, 1791 . Friederike followed her husband to Weybridge, Surrey, where the couple lived in Oatlands House , which burned down in 1794 and was rebuilt in the style of neo-Gothic historicism . Although the Duke, who was appointed Commander of the British-Hanoverian Army in 1793 and Field Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1795, soon separated from his wife in order to turn to his mistress Mary Anne Clarke , she remained there for almost thirty years until her death emerged as a generous benefactress during this time.
Friederike, Duchess of York and Albany, died in Weybridge in 1820 at the age of 53 and was buried there. Her marriage to the Duke of York and Albany had no children.
Two years after her death, a subscription allowed the column known as the York Column to be erected in honor of the benefactress. The memorial stands at the east end of Weybridge High Street in Weybridge.
The Oatlands domain, inhabited by Friederike von Prussia for over thirty years, was sold in 1824, changed hands several times and was finally divided into parcels. The Oatland House was converted into a hotel by the South Western Hotel Company , which opened as the South Western Hotel in 1856 and is now known as the Oatlands Park Hotel .
literature
- Karin Feuerstein-Prasser: The Prussian queens. Piper, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-492-25295-9 , pp. 226-243.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Friederike of Prussia |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Friederike Charlotte Ulrike Katharina of Prussia (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Princess of Hanover and Duchess of Braunschweig and Lüneburg, by marriage Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and Duchess of York and Albany |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 7, 1767 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Potsdam |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 6, 1820 |
| Place of death | Weybridge , Surrey County , England |