Early life during her childhood. Duchess Charlotte Frederica was born on 4 December 1784 in
Ludwigslust in
Mecklenburg as the seventh and penultimate surviving child of the later
Grand Duke Frederick Francis I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and
Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Duchess Charlotte Frederikke grew up with her siblings at her parents' court in Mecklenburg. She was a lively child, who was never bothered by strict educators, did what suited her regardless of formalities, found friends among the servants, and dressed in variegated clothing, contrary to the customs of the times.
Marriage During a long voyage to Germany in 1804, her cousin, the Danish Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark (later
King Christian VIII), stayed for a longer time at his uncle's court in
Schwerin, where he fell in love with his cousin, Duchess Charlotte Frederica, who was two years older than him. They married two years later, on 21 June 1806 in
Ludwigslust in
Mecklenburg. , 1806. The young couple initially settled at
Plön Castle in the
Duchy of Holstein. It was here, that Charlotte Frederica gave birth to their first-born son, Prince
Christian Frederick, who was born and died on 8 April 1807. From 1808 the couple lived in Copenhagen, where they took residence at
Levetzau's Palace, an 18th-century
town house which forms part of the
Amalienborg Palace complex in the district
Frederiksstaden in central
Copenhagen. ==Ancestry==