The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, A royal Duchess (Part five)

Read part four here.

Frederica had wanted to return to Louise sooner, but her visits were postponed time and time again by her sister for various reasons. At the end of June 1810, Frederica finally returned to Louise. Their joyful reunion would last just five days as Louise suddenly fell ill. She developed a cold, which turned into pneumonia and appeared to have a blood clot. Frederica sat by her sister’s bedside day and night. On 19 July 1810, Louise died at the age of 1810. Frederica later wrote, “Nothing more terrible could have happened to me, but since it was God’s definite will, I will still thank him that, on my sad journey through life, I carry with me the comforting certainty of having been of use to her until the angel closed her beautiful eyes forever. I can tell you nothing more about my grief and my pain than that I almost died from it. […] She was the dearest and best thing in the world to me, and nothing can surprise me except that I haven’t truly died.”¹

Frederica blamed Louise’s death on Napoleon, and she wrote, “When she [Louise] went to Tilsit to see Emperor Napoleon, she wrote to me, ‘It is as if I were going to my death.’ He certainly had a part in it.”² Her hatred of Napoleon only intensified. When her eldest son joined the fight against Napoleon in 1813, she wrote to King Frederick William III, “And if I had 12 sons, I would send all 12 of them to serve you.”³ Her husband had resigned from the army in 1809 due to ill health. He soon turned into a bitter man, making his marriage to Frederica miserable. He wasn’t happy living in Neustrelitz. He often spent months away from the family to go hunting and increasingly turned to alcohol. Nevertheless, he managed to father another child with Frederica. Their last child, a son named Carl, was born in February 1812.

Frederica was ready for a divorce in early 1813. By October 1813, an agreement had been settled between her father and the King of Prussia. Frederica was to have custody of the children, and even in the event of her death, he would not become their guardian. He wrote to her, “If I have offended you, forgive me. I did not mean it, on my honour, and did not understand how to make you happy, as I so desired.”⁴ Just a few months later, shortly before the divorce became official, Prince Frederick William had a stroke. He died on 13 April 1814. Frederica later wrote, “He left a life that was as much a burden to him as the whole world was to him.”⁵ By 1814, Prussia and Austria joined together against Napoleon and soon stood outside Paris. Napoleon was exiled to the island of Saint Helena.

Frederica wasn’t destined to remain a widow for the rest of her life. The date of 21 May 1813 was engraved in a ring that she would wear for the rest of her life. It was the day that she saw Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (again). He was immediately in love with her, but it is unclear if Frederica returned those feelings. He was the fifth son of George III of the United Kingdom and Hanover and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and thus a first cousin of Frederica. He proposed to her shortly after the death of her second husband. This happened via a letter as she was taking the waters at Teplitz and wasn’t expected until August. He tried to ease her worries about her children. The eldest two would not be an issue, but the Solms children “couldn’t wait to call the Duke father.”⁶ The Duke’s brother, the Prince Regent (and future King George IV), gave his approval, and Queen Charlotte sent her “warmest and most sincere wishes.”⁷ But parliament also needed to approve, and they kept delaying their decision. Frederica believed it was Queen Charlotte who was behind the delay.

The wedding finally took place on 29 May 1815 in the town church in Neustrelitz. Frederica married Ernest August in a dress of drap d’argent and covered in jewels. As the sun shone directly on the altar as she walked up to it, she took it as a good omen. It was over at 2 in the afternoon, and Frederica wrote, “As an old woman and mother, I had forbidden all the usual ceremonies.”⁸ Nevertheless, the celebrations continued over the next few days. Afterwards, they travelled to Berlin, where the King received them. Ernest August travelled ahead to England in June to prepare for Frederica’s arrival and an Anglican wedding ceremony.

However, when he arrived in Dover, he received a letter from his mother, Queen Charlotte, stating that she could not receive Frederica under any circumstances. This was due to the way she had treated her new husband’s brother, Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, nearly two decades ago. Queen Charlotte was informed of what had happened by her eldest daughter, Charlotte, the Queen of Württemberg. Frederica’s subsequent secret marriage and the birth of an almost illegitimate child, who “disappeared” (died) soon after – it was too much for Charlotte. It wasn’t the first time Queen Charlotte had refused to meet someone who didn’t meet her moral standards. She had also refused to allow the return of her husband’s sister, Caroline Mathilde, after her divorce from the Danish King following an affair with the King’s physician. Caroline Mathilde ended up in Hanover.

Charlotte even managed to influence the decision not to allow the Duke’s allowance to be increased to that of a married man, which led to some embarrassment as the Prussian King had been promised it would happen. The Prussian King continued to pay her allowance, even though she was officially no longer entitled to it. Frederica’s father and brothers had always been close to Charlotte, and letters flew back and forth to try to change her mind. Her brother, Georg, went to England to visit Charlotte, but also failed. He wrote, “Her stubbornness is unparalleled.”⁹

Read part six here.

1. Friederike von Preußen by Carolin Philipps p.221-222
2. Friederike von Preußen by Carolin Philipps p.224
3. Friederike von Preußen by Carolin Philipps p.225
4. Friederike von Preußen by Carolin Philipps p.246
5. Friederike von Preußen by Carolin Philipps p.246
6. Friederike von Preußen by Carolin Philipps p.253
7. Friederike von Preußen by Carolin Philipps p.254
8. Friederike von Preußen by Carolin Philipps p.256
9. Friederike von Preußen by Carolin Philipps p.264