Princess Mary of Great Britain

Mary of Great Britain
Portrait by George Desmarées
Landgravine consort of Hesse-Kassel
Tenure	1 February 1760[1] – 14 January 1772
Spouse	Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Issue	William I, Elector of Hesse Prince Charles Prince Frederick
House	House of Hanover
Father	George II of Great Britain
Mother	Caroline of Ansbach
Born	(1723-03-05)5 March 1723 (New Style) Leicester House, Westminster, London, England, Kingdom of Great Britain
Died	14 January 1772(1772-01-14) (aged 48) Hanau, Germany
Burial	1 February 1772 Hanau, Germany
Religion	Anglicanism

Princess Mary of Great Britain (5 March 1723 – 14 January 1772) was the second-youngest daughter of King George II and Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel as the wife of Landgrave Frederick II.

Early life

Princess Mary

Princess Mary was born at Leicester House, Westminster, London.^[2] Her father was the Prince of Wales, later King George II. Her mother was Caroline of Ansbach, daughter of Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.^[2]

Her father succeeded, as George II, on 11 June 1727, and she became HRH The Princess Mary.

Marriage

A marriage was negotiated with Landgrave Frederick of Hesse-Kassel, the only son and heir of William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.^[3] For the marriage, Parliament voted Mary £40,000.^[3]

They married by proxy at the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace in London on 8 May, then in person on 28 June 1740 at Kassel.^[2] The marriage was unhappy, and Frederick was said to be "brutal" and "a boor". In late 1746, Mary made an extended trip to Britain to escape his maltreatment. The couple separated in 1754 on Frederick's conversion to Roman Catholicism. They had four sons, three of whom survived to adulthood.^[3] In 1756, Mary moved to Denmark, to take care of the children of her sister, Louise of Great Britain, who had died in 1751. She took her children with her; they were raised at the royal court and her sons were married to Danish princesses. Her husband succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in 1760, and so Mary was technically Landgravine consort for the last twelve years of her life, despite her estrangement from her husband.

Mary died on 14 or 16 January 1772, aged 48 at Hanau, Germany.^[2]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 5 March 1723 – 11 June 1727: Her Royal Highness Princess Mary^[4]
• 11 June 1727 – 8 May 1740: Her Royal Highness The Princess Mary
• 8 May 1740 – 25 March 1751: Her Royal Highness Princess Frederick of Hesse-Kassel
• 25 March 1751 - 1 February 1760: Her Royal Highness The Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Kassel
• 1 February 1760 – 14 January 1772: Her Royal Highness The Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel

Arms

On 30 August 1727, as a child of the sovereign, Mary was granted use of the arms of the realm, differenced by a label argent of three points, each bearing a canton gules.^[5]

Issue

Ancestors

References

1. ↑ The Peerage – Landgrave William VIII
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Weir, Alison (2008). Britain's Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5. 
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Williamson, David (2004). "Mary, Princess (1723–1772)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18253. Retrieved 15 March 2011. 
4. ↑ The London Gazette refers to her as "Princess Mary"
5. ↑ Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family

Sources

•  Rigg, James McMullen (1893). "Mary (1723-1772)". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography 36. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 
• Weir, Alison (2008). Britain's Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5. 
• Williamson, David (2004). "Mary, Princess (1723–1772)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18253. Retrieved 15 March 2011. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Princess Mary of Great Britain.

• Henry Churchyard "Royal Genealogies, Part 10"
• Sam Sloan "Big Combined Family Trees (pafg751)"