from complications that arose while giving birth in secret to an illegitimate child. The younger daughter, Caroline of Brunswick, was married in 1795 to her first cousin, the future George IV of the United Kingdom, and bore him a daughter, the ill-fated Princess Charlotte of Wales. On two occasions (1806 and 1818–19), her husband made serious efforts to divorce her on grounds of adultery, forming commissions of inquiry to indict her, and after he became king, he in fact caused the House of Lords to pass a bill of divorce citing adultery with an Italian commoner. However, the bill was never introduced in the House of Commons and the divorce was never finalized. Caroline died three weeks after she was physically prevented from entering Westminster Abbey to participate in her husband's coronation. The future Queen of Sweden, Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, described the ducal family thus: The Duchess is the sister to the King of England and a typical Englishwoman. She looked very simple, like a vicar's wife, has I am sure many admirable qualities, and is very respectable, but completely lacks manners. She makes the strangest questions without considering how difficult and unpleasant they can be. ... The sons of the Ducal couple are somewhat peculiar. The (eldest) prince, chubby and fat, almost blind, strange and odd - if not to say an imbecile - attempts to imitate his father but only makes himself artificial and unpleasant. He talks continually, does not know what he says, and is in all aspects unbearable. He is accommodating but a poor thing, loves his consort to the point of worship, and is completely governed by her. The (second) son, Prince Georg, is the most ridiculous person imaginable, and so silly that he can never be left alone but is always accompanied by a courtier. The third son is also described as an original. I never saw him, as he served with his regiment. The fourth is the only normal one, but also torments his parents by his immoral behaviour. The duke also fathered at least one illegitimate child, a son named Forstenburg, who began a promising military career but was killed in action in 1793. Issue Ancestry External links Text of the Proclamation of the Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, 1792 References Notes Citations Bibliography Arthur Chuquet, Les Guerres de la Révolution: La Première Invasion prussienne (Paris) 1735 births 1806 deaths Charles William