Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia

Born in Charlottenburg on 7 May 1767, Frederica Charlotte was the eldest child of the future Frederick William II of Prussia, and the only child of his first wife and cousin, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg. At the time of her birth, Frederica's childless granduncle Frederick the Great was on the throne of Prussia. Her father was the King's nephew and heir presumptive, while her mother was also the King's niece. Their union was extremely unhappy due to their mutual infidelities. After several affairs with musicians and officers, Frederica's mother became pregnant in 1769. She then plotted to escape from Prussia with her lover, but she was betrayed and captured, causing a public scandal. A divorce was quickly granted, and Elisabeth Christine was placed under house arrest in the castle of Stettin, where she remained for the next seventy-one years, until she died aged 93 in 1840, twenty years after the death of her only child, Frederica Charlotte. Frederica Charlotte was two years old at the time of her mother's disgrace, and never saw her mother again. Frederick the Great reportedly felt compassion for her mother, and entrusted Frederica Charlotte to the care of his own wife, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, with the words: "There is only this poor child remaining to her, and she can find no asylum save with you; let the little one have the apartments lately occupied by my niece of Holland." Frederica Charlotte reportedly had a happy childhood with Queen Elisabeth Christine, who had no children of her own. The Queen doted upon her grandniece and foster daughter, who kept in correspondence with her foster mother her entire life. ==Marriage==

On 29 September 1791 at Charlottenburg Palace, she married Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of the British King George III and Queen Charlotte. There was a second marriage ceremony at Buckingham House on 23 November. The new Duchess of York received an enthusiastic welcome in London. The marriage between Frederica Charlotte and the Duke of York was arranged in order to provide the British throne with heirs, as the Prince of Wales was childless. Reportedly, the Prince of Wales, who was at the time, albeit not legally, married to Maria Fitzherbert, regarded it unnecessary for him to enter a dynastic marriage, because the eldest of his brothers had married a princess and could provide an heir to the throne in his stead. Frederica Charlotte had been chosen upon the wish of Frederick the Great, who allowed George III to read a letter from Frederica Charlotte displaying her gentle and affectionate nature, successfully anticipating that this would touch George III and make him inquire for her to marry his son. In 1827 (after her death), she was called: "a harmless but an eccentric little woman, with an extraordinary fondness for cats and dogs, some indications of the German severity of family etiquette, which gave her household the air of Potsdam, and but a slight share of those attractions which might retain the regards of a husband—young, a soldier, and a prince." High-stakes gambling is reported to have taken place at Oatlands. Frederica kept many dogs and was apparently very devoted to monkeys Her father-in-law once remarked : "Affection must rest on something, and where there are no children, animals are the object." At her death, her spouse is described as sincerely grieved and very anxious that the wishes expressed in her will should be carried out. ==Death==

Princess Frederica Charlotte died on 6 August 1820 in Oatlands Park in Weybridge, England, and is buried at the churchyard of St James' Church. She is commemorated by the York Column erected by the people of Weybridge on Monument Green. ==Ancestry==