Princess Frederica of Hanover

Infobox Hanoverian Royalty|highness
name =Princess Frederica of Hanover
title =Baroness von Pawel-Rammingen
full name =Frederica Sophie Marie Henrietta Amelia Theresa
" _de. Friederike Sophie Marie Henriette Amelie Therese"


spouse =Baron Alfons von Pawel-Rammingen
issue =Victoria Georgina Beatrice Maud Anne
titles ="HRH" Princess Frederica of Hanover, Baroness von Pawel-Rammingen
"HRH" Princess Frederica of Hanover
royal house =House of Hanover
father =George V of Hanover
mother =Marie of Saxe-Altenburg
date of birth =9 January 1848
place of birth =flagicon|Hanover Hanover
date of death =Death date and age|1926|10|16|1848|1|9|df=yes
place of death =flagicon|France Biarritz, France|

Princess Frederica of Hanover, (9 January 1848 – 16 October 1926) was a member of the House of Hanover. After her marriage she lived mostly in England where she was a prominent member of society.

Early life

Frederica was born 9 January 1848 in Hanover, the elder daughter of the Hereditary Prince of Hanover (later King George V of Hanover) and of his wife, Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg. She held the title of Princess with the style "Her Royal Highness" in Hanover. In the United Kingdom, she held the title of Princess with the style "Her Highness" as a male line great-granddaughter of King George III.

In January 1866 the Prime Minister of Prussia Otto von Bismarck began negotiations with Hanover, represented by Count Platen-Hallermund, regarding the possible marriage of Frederica to Prince Albrecht of Prussia. [Otto von Bismarck, "Bismarck, the Man and the Statesman" (New York: Harper, 1898), II, 26.] These plans came to nothing as tensions grew between Hanover and Prussia final resulting in the Austro-Prussian War.

In 1866 Frederica's father was deposed as King of Hanover. Eventually the family settled at Gmunden in Austria where they owned Schloss Cumberland (named for the British Ducal title held by Frederica's father). Frederica visited England with her family in May 1876, ["Court Circular", "The Times" (May 22, 1876): 11.] and again, after her father's death, in June 1878. ["Court Circular", "The Times" (June 24, 1878): 9.]

Marriage

Frederica was courted by her second cousin, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (with whom she later became lifelong friends and confidantes),Fact|date=May 2007 and by Alexander, Prince of Orange. Frederica, however, was in love with Baron Alfons von Pawel-Rammingen (1843-1932), the son of a government official of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Alfons had served as an equerry to Frederica's father. [Sarah Tytler, "Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen" (Toronto: G. Virtue, 1885), II, 224.] Alfons was naturalised as a British subject on 19 March 1880 and on 24 April 1880 he and Frederica were married. [Melville Ruvigny, "The Nobilities of Europe" (London: Melville, 1909), 229.] The wedding took place in Windsor Castle presided by the Bishop of Oxford. ["The Royal Marriage", "The Times" (April 24, 1880): 11.] Alfons' sister Anna was married to Baron Oswald von Coburg, the son of an illegitimate son of Prince Ludwig Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (third son of Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld).

Alfred Tennyson wrote a quatrain in honour of Frederica's marriage: [Included in Alfred Tennyson, "Ballads and Other Poems" (London: C.K. Paul, 1880), 182.]

:O you that were eyes and light to the King till he past away:From the darkness of life —:He saw not his daughter — he blest her: the blind King sees you to-day,:He blesses the wife.

After their marriage Frederica and Alfons lived in an apartment at Hampton Court Palace. [Ernest Law, "The History of Hampton Court Palace" (London: G. Bell, 1903), III, 382-384 and 445-446.] The apartment was in the south-west wing of the west front of the palace in the suite formerly called the "Lady Housekeeper's Lodgings". Frederica and Alfons had one daughter who was born and died at Hampton Court Palace:
* Victoria Georgina Beatrice Maud Anne (7 March 1881 – 27 March 1881) ["News in Brief", "The Times" (March 29, 1881): 10.] . She was buried in the Albert Memorial Chapel in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. ["Court Circular", "The Times" (April 1, 1881): 10.] ["Royal Funeral at Windsor", "The Times" (April 1, 1881): 10.]

Frederica and Alfons were frequent guests at Windsor Castle and at Osborne House.

Charitable works

Frederica was involved with numerous charitable activities. In August 1881 she established the "Convalescent Home", an institution for poor women who have given birth but have been discharged from maternity hospitals. ["Hampton Court Palace", "The Times" (August 8, 1881): 8.] [Law, III, 383-384.] Because her father had been blind, she was a benefactress of the "Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind" at Upper Norwood. ["Royal Normal College for the Blind", "The Times" (December 20, 1881): 11.] She was also patron of the "Training College for Teachers of the Deaf" at Ealing, ["The Times" (June 2, 1884): 12.] of the "Strolling Players' Amateur Orchestral Society", ["The Times" (October 15, 1887): 1.] of the Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta [G. Dear "One Hundred Years of Skiff Racing" British Rowing Almanac 2001] of the "Home for Foreign Governesses", ["The Times" (January 31, 1888): 14.] of the "Mission to the French in London", ["The Times" (February 11, 1891): 9.] and of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. ["The Times" (June 24, 1895): 8.]

Later life and death

Frederica and Alfons gave up their apartment at Hampton Court Palace in 1898. ["Royal Palaces of England", edited by R.S. Rait (London: Constable, 1911), 203.] While they continued to live part of the year in England, they subsequently spent more time in Biarritz in France where they had previously vacationed. They owned Villa Mouriscot there. ["Baron Rammingen", "The Times" (November 22, 1932): 14.]

Frederica died in 1926 at Biarritz. She was buried in the royal vault in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. ["Court Circular", "The Times" (November 19, 1926): 17.] In 1927 a window in her memory was unveiled in the English Church in Biarritz. ["Court News", "The Times" (July 28, 1927): 15.]

Titles and styles

*9 January 1848 – 24 April 1880: "Her Royal Highness" Princess Frederica of Hanover and Cumberland, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland
*24 April 1880 – 16 October 1926: "Her Royal Highness" Princess Frederica of Hanover, Baroness von Pawel-Rammingen

Ancestry

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1=1. Princess Frederica of Hanover
2=2. George V of Hanover
3=3. Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg
4=4. Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
5=5. Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
6=6. Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
7=7. Amelia of Württemberg
8=8. George III of the United Kingdom
9=9. Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
10=10. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
11=11. Princess Friederike Caroline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt
12=12. Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
13=13. Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
14=14. Duke Louis of Württemberg
15=15. Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg
16=16. Frederick, Prince of Wales
17=17. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
18=18. Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Mirow
19=19. Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen
20=20. Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Mirow (= 18)
21=21. Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen (= 19)
22=22. Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt
23=23. Countess Maria Luise Albertine of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg
24=24. Ernest Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
25=25. Princess Ernestine of Saxe-Weimar
26=26. Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Mirow (= 18)
27=27. Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen (= 19)
28=28. Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg
29=29. Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt
30=30. Charles Christian, Duke of Nassau-Weilburg
31=31. Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau

References