Princess Friederike Caroline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt (20 August 1752 – 22 May 1782) was a member of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...

and by marriage a Duchess of

Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in northern Germany consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district (the former Lordship of Stargard), ...

. She is the direct most recent common

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...

ancestress (through women only) of Queen

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

, King

Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess B ...

, King

Albert II of Belgium , house = Belgium , father = Leopold III of Belgium , mother = Astrid of Sweden , birth_date = , birth_place = Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , death_place = , signature = Albert II of Belgium Signat ...

, King

Harald V of Norway Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the li ...

and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.

Life

Friederike was born in Darmstadt, the eldest daughter of

Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt (11 July 1722 – 21 June 1782) was a Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was born in Darmstadt. He was the second son of Landgrave Louis VIII and Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenbe ...

, second son of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, and

Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg (16 March 1729 – 11 March 1818); also known as ''Princess George'', was heiress to the barony of Broich and by marriage Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the grandmother and ...

. She married Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on 18 September 1768 in Darmstadt. They had ten children together. Two daughters became queens consort as Louise would marry Frederick William III of Prussia and Frederica would marry Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover. Friederike died of complications resulting from child birth in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, where her husband was field marshal of the household brigade. After her death her husband married her younger sister

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

in 1784. In 1794 her husband succeeded to the throne of

as Charles II and in 1815 at the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

, he was raised to the title grand duke. She died at the age of 29, three days after giving birth to her tenth child, Augusta, who lived just one day. Friederike is buried in the royal crypt of the church of St John the Baptist in

Mirow Mirow () is a town in the district of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte in southern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Name (Etymology) "Mir" in Slavonic languages means "peace" or "glory". The name "Mirow" was derived from "villa mirowe", translating ...

Issue

Friederike had ten children between 1769 and 1782, six of whom survived to adulthood. Two of her daughters married royalty, Louise becoming Queen of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and Frederica becoming Queen of

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friederike Of Hesse-Darmstadt, Princess 1752 births 1782 deaths House of Hesse-Darmstadt House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Deaths in childbirth Nobility from Darmstadt Duchesses of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Landgravines of Hesse-Darmstadt