Augusta Sofia British

Early life

Princess Augusta Sofia was born in Buckingham Palace in London and was the sixth child and second daughter of George III (1738-1820) and his wife Queen Charlotte . Her father really wanted a girl to be born and Augusta Sophia was born to his delight ^[3] . The princess was baptized on December 6, 1768 by the Archbishop of Canterbury Frederick Cornwallis at St James's Palace .

The young princess was the middle of an older trio of princesses: Princess Charlotte (born in 1766) and Princess Elizabeth (born in 1770) grew up with her. In 1771, two senior princesses traveled to Kew Palace to study under the supervision of Lady Charlotte Finch and Miss Planta. The princesses studied ordinary female occupations, such as manners, music, dance and art, but their mother also made sure that they studied English, French, German and geography, and also had well-educated governesses.

In 1782, Augustus made her debut in society at the celebration of the king's birthday. In August 1783, the king’s youngest daughter, Amelia , was born. Augusta became the godmother of her sister along with Charlotte and Georg .

By adolescence, the three older princesses spent a lot of time with their parents. They accompanied them to the theater, opera and court, with the princesses always dressing the same when they went out. At one of the events, she met John Adams . Augusta was very friendly with her brothers Ernest , Augustus and Adolf . She was also very close to her sister Elizabeth, but not to Charlotte, as she often behaved arrogantly because of her title of Royal Princess ^[3] . In July 1783, Augusta and Charlotte received a maid of honor. Although princess training was coming to an end, their mother could not stand it if they had free time, so they continued to devote much time to classes.

Youth and Beyond

By 1785, Augusta and Charlotte reached an age when they could be considered potential brides for foreign princes. In the same year, the Crown Prince of Denmark (later King Frederick VI ) informed George III that he would prefer a marriage with a British princess to any other. It is assumed that he favored Augusta, and not her older sister. However, the king stated that after King Christian VII 's terrible treatment of his younger sister , he would never send one of his daughters to Denmark. In 1797, Augusta received an offer from Prince Frederick Adolf from Sweden, which was not approved by the Swedish royal house. The British princess was a prize, but Augusta's father no longer wanted to allow his daughters to get married ^[4] .

Unable to get married, some daughters of George III began a relationship with men at court. Around 1800, Augustus Sofia first met with Sir Brent Spencer, a senior officer in the British Army. In 1812, she wrote to her brother, the future king George IV, but at that time to the prince regent, that they began communication in 1803. In 1805, he was appointed king's stalmaster . In 1812, Augustus asked the Prince Regent to consent to her marriage to Spencer ^{[5] [6]} . Although no marriage records exist between them, in 1818 during the marriage of her sister Elizabeth in the Hesse-Homburg court, it was noted that Augustus was “married privately”. It was Spencer who informed Augusta about the death of her mother in the same year, and according to rumors, Spencer was holding a medallion with the image of Augusta on the day of his death in 1828 ^{[4] [7]} .

Death

Augusta Sofia died on September 22, 1840 at Clarence House , and was buried in the chapel of St. George in Windsor on October 2 ^[8] .

Title

• November 8, 1768 - September 22, 1840: Her Royal Highness Princess of Great Britain

• J Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte maintains the Princess Augusta Sophia Collection of English Drama , a group of more than 800 plays published from 1618 to 1826.
• Letters from and concerning Princess Augusta Sophia viewable online at the Royal Collection