by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2013
Princess Louisa of Great Britain was born on December 18, 1724, at Leicester House in London, England. Her father was the future King George II of Great Britain and her mother was Caroline of Ansbach. Louisa was the fifth daughter and the youngest child of her parents’ eight children:
- Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707 – 1751), married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, had issue, including King George III
- Anne, Princess Royal (1709 – 1759), married Willem IV, Prince of Orange, had issue
- Princess Amelia (1711 – 1786), unmarried
- Princess Caroline (1713 – 1757), unmarried
- Prince George William (1717 – 1718), died in infancy
- Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (1721 – 1765), unmarried
- Princess Mary (1723 – 1772), married Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, had issue
Louisa was christened on December 22, 1724, at Leicester House in London, England. Her godparents were:
- Princess Amelia of Great Britain, her sister
- Princess Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, her paternal first cousin, the future Queen of Sweden
- Friedrich, Crown Prince of Prussia, later King Friedrich I of Prussia (the Great), her paternal first cousin
On December 11, 1743, in Altona, Duchy of Holstein, now in Germany, the 19-year-old princess married Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Norway, the son and heir of King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway. King Christian hoped that this marriage would cause the British government to support his or his son’s claim to the Swedish throne. Furthermore, the Danish government hoped (incorrectly) that marriage would put a damper on Crown Prince Frederik’s affairs and drunkenness. The couple got along reasonably well and although Frederick continued his affairs, Louisa pretended not to notice them. The couple had five children:
- Christian (1745 – 1747)
- Sophia Magdalena (1746 – 1813), married King Gustav III of Sweden, had issue
- Caroline (1747 – 1820), married her first maternal cousin Wilhelm I, Elector of Hesse, had issue
- King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway (1749 – 1808), married his maternal first cousin Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales, had issue
- Louise (30 January 1750 – 12 January 1831), married her maternal first cousin Prince Carl of Hesse-Kassel, had issue
Louisa was popular with the Danish people and was interested in music, dance, and theater. The Danish people greatly appreciated Louisa’s efforts to learn and speak Danish and her insistence that her children learn Danish, a rarity in an almost German-language Danish court.
Louisa’s husband succeeded his father as King Frederik V in 1746, but sadly Louisa died only five years later at the age of 27. While pregnant with her sixth child, Louise died due to complications from a miscarriage on December 19, 1751, a day after her 27th birthday, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was buried in Roskilde Cathedral, the burial place of the kings and queens of Denmark, in Roskilde, Denmark.
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Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty
- Kingdom of Denmark Index
- Danish Orders and Honours
- Danish Royal Burial Sites: House of Oldenburg, 1448 – 1863
- Danish Royal Burial Sites: House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, 1863 – present
- Danish Royal Christenings
- Danish Royal Dates
- Danish Royal Residences
- Danish Royal Weddings
- Line of Succession to the Danish Throne
- Profiles of the Danish Royal Family