Princess of Great Britain; Queen consort of Denmark and Norway
1751 CE
to 1775 CE
Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (Danish: Caroline Mathilde; July 22, 1751 – May 10,1775) is by birth a Princess of Great Britain and member of the House of Hanover and by marriage Queen consort of Denmark and Norway between 1766–1772.
The youngest and posthumous daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales, by Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Caroline Matilda is raised in a secluded family atmosphere away from the royal court.
At the age of fifteen, she is married to her first cousin, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, who suffers from a mental illness and is cold to his wife throughout the marriage.
She has two children: the future Frederick VI and Louise Augusta, whose biological father may have been the physician Johann Friedrich Struensee.
In 1769, Struensee enters the service of the Danish king; initially Caroline Matilda treats him coldly, but he quickly wins the Queen's heart and they begin a love affair.
Struensee gains more and more power and institutes a series of reforms that Caroline Matilda supports.
Struensee's reforms and his relationship with the Queen generate powerful enemies, who include Christian VII's stepmother Queen Dowager Juliana Maria and her son Prince Frederick.
Juliana Maria directs a plot to overthrow the lovers, which ends with the execution of Struensee and Caroline Matilda's divorce and banishment.
She dies in Celle, Hanover, at the age of twenty-three from scarlet fever.
