Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen married William, Duke of Clarence on July 11th 1818 in a discreet ceremony at Kew. In fact, it was so discreet, this royal bride didn't even get the day to herself. Her wedding was a double celebration with her groom's brother also saying 'I do' at the same time. Adelaide was easily the least showy of the four protagonists that day. But she kept on keeping on and ended up as Queen of England.
Adelaide had grown up in a forward thinking and ambitious court, her childhood playing out at the same time that her much older husband was forming a family with his partner, Dorothea Jordan. That relationship ended in 1811, around the time Adelaide was reaching the age that princesses were put on the marriage market. By the summer of 1817, William was a bluff, jovial and rather red faced duke with ten illegitimate children while Adelaide was a sophisticated if understated princess. The chances of the two meeting, let alone marrying, seemed slim. Yet in November that year, William was left mourning his niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, who died giving birth to a stillborn son. Her family was devastated and the Monarchy was left in peril. For Charlotte had been the only legitimate grandchild of the ailing George III.
|William IV was a far from appetising marriage prospect and nearly three decades older than his intended bride
William was sent off to marry suitably and settled on Adelaide. The couple met for the first time on July 4th 1818 at Grillon's Hotel in London and married exactly a week later. Quite what would have happened had either taken a dislike to one another at Grillon's remains unknown. Adelaide and William said 'I do' and settled in Hanover where Sailor Bill underwent something of a transformation, cutting back on his passions for drinking and overspending, even living within his means.
Adelaide would become an instrumental figure in the childhood of the future Queen Victoria
Adelaide and William never enjoyed the chance to raise a family together. Two baby daughters died very young while they also endured miscarriage and stillbirths. By the time Adelaide became Queen of England, in 1830, she knew the throne would pass to the girl born to the couple she had married alongside on July 11th 1818. She became devoted to young Alexandrina Victoria and the affection was mutual. When her niece became queen and a mother herself, her first born child was named Victoria Adelaide.
Adelaide, Queen of Great Britain and Queen of Hanover, 1830 - 1837
Queen Adelaide isn't that well known, neither is she a groundbreaking queen. But she was extremely well loved and help to shape the concept that has kept Britain's monarchy afloat for almost two centuries, that of being centred on a happy family. A power behind the throne if ever there was one, Adelaide is the quiet princess who became a queen.
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