National Grief

#4825 Princess Charlotte of Wales

Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, only daughter of the future George IV and Caroline of Brunswick, died after suffering a still-birth with her first child, a son, after 55 hours labour. She succumbed within days of the trauma and the nation’s grief was instant, palpable & long-lasting. There was anger too and the royal obstetrician, Sir Richard Croft, took his own life for what many described as his failure to ensure both mother & child had been safe. Born 1796, she died on 6 November 1817 aged 21. She was buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor, on 19 November. The country’s grief was matched only later at the death of another Princess of Wales, Diana, in 1997.