Caroline of Ansbach - Queen and Regent

Queen and Regent

Caroline became queen consort on the death of her father-in-law in 1727, and she was crowned alongside her husband at Westminster Abbey on 11 October that year. She was the first queen consort to be crowned since Anne of Denmark in 1603. Though George II denounced Walpole as a "rogue and rascal" over the terms of the reconciliation with his father, Caroline advised her husband to retain Walpole as the leading minister. Walpole commanded a substantial majority in Parliament and George II had little choice but to accept him or risk ministerial instability. Walpole secured a civil list payment of £100,000 a year for Caroline, and she was given both Somerset House and Richmond Lodge. Courtier Lord Hervey called Walpole "the Queen's minister" in recognition of their close relationship. For the next ten years, Caroline had immense influence. She persuaded the King to adopt policies at the behest of Walpole, and persuaded Walpole against taking inflammatory actions. Caroline had absorbed the liberal opinions of her mentor, Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia, and supported clemency for the Jacobites (supporters of the rival Stuart claim to the throne), freedom of the press, and freedom of speech in Parliament.

Over the next few years, she and her husband fought a constant battle against their eldest son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, who had been left behind in Germany when they came to England. He joined the family in 1728, by which time he was an adult, had mistresses and debts, and was fond of gambling and practical jokes. He opposed his father's political beliefs, and complained of his lack of influence in government. The Regency Act 1728 made Caroline rather than Frederick regent when her husband was in Hanover for five months from May 1729. During her regency, a diplomatic incident with Portugal (where a British ship had been seized on the Tagus) was defused, and the negotiation of the Treaty of Seville between Britain and Spain was concluded. From May 1732, she was regent for four months while George II was again away in Hanover. An investigation into the penal system uncovered widespread abuses, including cruel treatment and conspiracy in the escape of wealthy convicts. Caroline pressed Walpole for reform, largely unsuccessfully. In March 1733, Walpole introduced an unpopular excise bill to parliament, which the Queen supported, but it gathered such strong opposition that it was eventually dropped.

Caroline's entire life in Britain was spent in the South-East of England in or around London. As Queen, she continued to surround herself with artists, writers and intellectuals. She collected jewellery, especially cameos and intaglios, acquired important portraits and miniatures, and enjoyed the visual arts. She commissioned works such as terracotta busts of the kings and queens of England from Michael Rysbrack, and supervised a more naturalistic design of the royal gardens by William Kent and Charles Bridgeman. In 1728, she rediscovered sets of sketches by Leonardo da Vinci and Hans Holbein that had been hidden in a drawer since the reign of William III.

Caroline's eldest daughter Anne married William IV of Orange in 1734, and moved with her husband to the Netherlands. Caroline wrote to her daughter of her "indescribable" sadness at the parting. Anne soon felt homesick, and travelled back to England when her husband went on campaign. Eventually, her husband and father commanded her to return to Holland.