As the only child of the Prince Regent and Caroline of Brunswick, Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817) was the heiress presumptive to the throne. Her parents’ marriage had already broken up by the time she was born. She had a difficult childhood and a turbulent adolescence, but she was popular with the public, who looked to her to restore the good name of the monarchy. When she broke off her engagement to a Dutch prince, her father put her under virtual imprisonment and she endured a period of profound unhappiness. But she held out for the freedom to choose her husband, and when she married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg she finally achieved contentment. Her happiness was cruelly cut short when she died in childbirth at the age of twenty-one only eighteen months later. A shocked nation went into mourning for its people’s princess’, the queen who never was. AUTHOR: Anne graduated with First Class honours in History from UCL, since then she has mainly taught in adult education. She has been a part-time tutor for Birkbeck, University of London and the Open University. She is now a tutor for the WEA (Workers’ Educational Association). She has written biographies of the Evangelical philanthropist, Hannah More, and William Wilberforce for Oxford University Press. She has had media appearances with Moira Stuart, Melvyn Bragg and Amanda Vickery. She lives in Kent with my husband, and have two grown-up children and three grandchildren.
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