Princess Charlotte of Wales (daughter of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick, not Prince William and Kate Middleton) married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, future King of the Belgians and uncle to Queen Victoria, in London on 2 May 1816. As the heiress presumptive to the throne and the woman who should have been Queen, if not for her untimely death the following year, her wedding was the social event of the decade and she needed a dress fit for a Princess in order to match the occasion. She had one.
In this royal fashion history documentary from History Calling we look at one of the earliest surviving royal wedding dresses in British history which was recently on display in the Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace. Despite the increasing popularity of white wedding dresses at the time of her nuptials, Charlotte wore silver silk and satin overlaid with lace and embellished with shell motifs. We’ll trace her dress’s journey from its creation by the Princess’s dressmaker, Mrs Triud of Bolton Street, to the day Charlotte wore it, to what happened to it after her death and how it came to be in its present home. By comparing photographs of the dress as seen today to historical descriptions and a picture of it from 1816, we’ll see how well the current gown matches early 19th century fashions, examine how much of the original garment is left and ask whether this unique piece of dress history can really be called the wedding dress of Princess Charlotte.
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Do you know anything about anna feodorovna? There's even less info about her than her sister in law Elizabeth. But she seems to be an interesting woman.
Hi! Helen Rappaport is currently at work on a biography of Anna Feodorovna. She seems to be a controversial historian around the Romanov “fandom,” but I am personally very excited to read the new book—as you said, there isn’t much information available about Anna Feodorovna. In the meantime, I will give you what I can: Anna was born Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, so she was sister to King Leopold I of the Belgians and aunt to both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who even had a portrait of her at (I think)Kensington Palace. Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was small, and by royal standards, poor, but when Catherine the Great’s adjutant went on the hunt for a bride for Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, he fell ill there and was tended to by Coburg court doctor Baron Stockmar; Stockmar pointed the Russian general in the direction of the Coburg princesses, whose parents were very enthusiastic about the possibility of such an advantageous match. So, Juliane traveled to St. Petersburg with her mother and sisters, and Konstantin ultimately (albeit unwillingly—he did not want to get married in the first place) chose her as his bride. He referred to her as “the little monkey” and remarked that “it dances prettily.” The marriage took place, although the new Grand Duchess Anna was only 14, but it was a VERY unhappy union. Konstantin was jealous of his wife’s popularity, and he was was physically and emotionally abusive. He even forbade her to leave her room! Anna was close to her sister-in-law, Elizaveta Alexeievna, and the two girls supported each other through their difficult marriages. After her father-in-law became emperor, Anna pleaded illness and returned to Coburg for treatment, but she had no intention of returning to Russia… and she did not. She wanted a divorce, but the Russian court refused, and she began having romantic not-so-secret affairs; she was still legally married, but she wanted to be a mother, and she had two illegitimate children. During the Napoleonic wars, Alexander I tried to bring about a reconciliation between Konstantin and Anna, but the grand duchess adamantly refused to go back to the man who had made her life so miserable, and the marriage was finally annulled after almost 20 years of separation. Konstantin remarried, morganatically, to a Polish countess, but Anna never married again. She lived the rest of her life in Germany, where she was devoted to charity work and musical societies. That’s about all the info I have, but I think it’s safe to say that she was a strong, brave woman who was far ahead of her time.
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when: royally fun facts
They may not be fun, but some of them are made-up. Made up facts are in italics.
Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia
(Karolina Augusta's great-great-grandmother)
Is the granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia
Is the mother of Alexandrine, Queen Consort of Denmark
Is the mother of Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Is the mother of Cecilie, Crown Princess of Germany
Following the death of her husband, had a illegitimate son with her personal secretary
Three of her brothers were murdered by the Bolsheviks during the Russian revolution
Princess Karola of Urach
(Karolina Augusta's great-grandmother)
Karola’s father, Wilhelm Karl, 2nd Duke of Urach, was briefly elected as the King of Lithuania in 1918.
Princess Karola of Urach was the first queen consort of Mecklenburg, and also the last Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Karola was the grand-niece of Empress Elisabeth ‘Sisi’ of Austria.
Karola was the half-niece of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians.
Karola half-first cousins include Leopold III of Belgium, and Marie José, the last Queen Consort of Italy.
Karola and Mary of Teck, Queen of the United Kingdom, both descend from morganatic branches of the House of Württemberg. Karola and Mary were third cousins as great-great-granddaughters of Friedrich II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg.
Karola was a Roman Catholic and retained her faith following her marriage to Heinrich Ludwig, though their children were brought up in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg.
Duchess Thyra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
(Karolina Augusta's grandmother)
Thyra’s father, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was overthrown by her father-in-law, King Heinrich Ludwig of Mecklenburg
Thyra was the first Crown Princess of Mecklenburg (1939 - 1954)
Thyra was the second Queen of Mecklenburg (1954 - 1980)
Thyra was the niece of Alexandrine, Queen of Denmark (1912 - 1947)
Thyra was the first cousin of Frederik IX of Denmark (1947 - 1972)
Thyra was the niece of Cecilie, Crown Princess of Germany (1905 - 1951)
Thyra was the first cousin of Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (1951 - 1994)
Thyra was the niece of Marie Louise, Margravine of Baden (1928 - 1929)
Thyra was the first cousin of Berthold, Margrave of Baden (1929 - 1963), who married Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark (the older sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh)
Thyra was the niece of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick (1913 - 1918) and head of the House of Hannover (1923 - 1953)
Thyra was the first cousin of Ernst August, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, Prince of Hanover (1953 - 1987)
Thyra was the first cousin of Frederica, Queen of Greece (1947 - 1964)
Princess Eleonora of Leiningen
(Karolina Augusta's mother)
Descends from all three children of Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld: Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen; Princess Feodora of Leiningen; and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
Queen Karolina Augusta I of Mecklenburg
Is the first female ruler in Mecklenburg’s 900 year history.
Will be the final ruler from the House of Mecklenburg which will eventually bring an end to the House’s status as the longest still reigning house in European history.
Is descended from both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and of King Christian IX of Denmark.
Has been the youngest monarch in the world since 1992.
Has 15 godparents:
HRH Princess Cecilie Auguste, Duchess of Ludwigslust (paternal aunt)
HRH Princess Marie Anastasia, Duchess of Grevesmühlen (paternal aunt)
HRH Princess Benedikte of Denmark (paternal second cousin once removed)
HRH Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Princess of Leiningen (maternal aunt-by-marriage)
HSH Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Oehringen, Princess of Leiningen (maternal aunt-by-marriage)
HM Silvia, Queen of Sweden (family friend)
HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (paternal and maternal second cousin twice removed)
HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este (paternal third cousin once removed)
HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (paternal third cousin once removed and family friend)
HRH Prince Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark (paternal third cousin)
HH Prince Harald of Denmark (paternal first cousin once removed)
HSH Prince Hermann Friedrich of Leiningen (maternal first cousin once removed)
HRH Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias (paternal third cousin)
HH Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (distant cousin and family friend)
HSH Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein (distant cousin and family friend)
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