Queen of Denmark and Norway Caroline Matilda

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (Danish: Caroline Mathilde; 22 July [O.S. 11 July] 1751 – 10 May 1775) was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1766 to 1772 by marriage to King Christian VII. The youngest and posthumous daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Caroline Matilda was raised in a secluded family atmosphere away from the royal court. At the age of 15, she was married to her first cousin, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, who suffered from a mental illness and was cold to his wife throughout the marriage. She had two children: the future Frederick VI and Louise Augusta; the latter's biological father may have been the German physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. In 1769, Struensee entered the service of the Danish king; initially Caroline Matilda treated him coldly, but he quickly won the Queen's heart and they began a love affair. Struensee gained more and more power and instituted a series of reforms that Caroline Matilda supported. Struensee's reforms and his relationship with the Queen generated powerful enemies, who included Christian VII's stepmother Queen Dowager Juliana Maria and her son Prince Frederick. In 1772, Juliana Maria directed a plot to remove Struensee and the Queen from power. Struensee was executed and Caroline Matilda was divorced and banished to Celle, Electorate of Hanover, where she died at the age of 23 from scarlet fever in 1775.

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