Augusta of Saxe-Gotha ^{1 2 3}

   Cause of her death was cancer.

   Another name for Augusta was Auguste Prinzessin von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg.

  General Notes:

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (November 30 1719 - February 8, 1772), Princess of Wales (May 8, 1736 - March 31, 1751). She was one of only three holders of the title who never became queen. Her husband, Frederick, Prince of Wales died before his father; Augusta's son by Frederick became King George III of Great Britain.

Augusta was the daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha, and arrived in Britain, aged only seventeen and speaking virtually no English, for a wedding ceremony which took place almost immediately, on May 8, 1736, at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, London. Despite a twelve-year age difference, the marriage seems to have been a happy one. They had nine children, the last born after Frederick's death. The birth of their first daughter, Augusta, on August 31, 1737, took place at St James's after Augusta was forced by Frederick to travel from Hampton Court Palace while in labour, simply to prevent his hated mother, Caroline of Ansbach, and father, King George II, from being present at the birth.

Throughout their marriage, Augusta went along with her husband's wishes in the feud with his parents. Following his death, her role as mother of the heir to the throne became a more important one, and she was named prospective regent, which caused a political controversy. Shortly afterwards, she began to be influenced by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, her son's tutor, and rumours spread that they were having an affair. Both were pilloried in the press. Even after George III's accession, Augusta suffered widespread hostility from the public. When she died, of cancer, at the age of fifty-two.

  Noted events in her life were:

• She was a Prinzessin von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg.

Augusta married Frederick Louis Hanover, son of George II Augustus Hanover and Wilhelmina-Caroline von Brandenburg, on 8 May 1736 in Chapel Royal, St James Palace, England. (Frederick Louis Hanover was born on 20 Jan 1707 in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany and died on 31 Mar 1751 in Leicester House, St Martin's, London, England.)