alternatehistory.com

I'm always working on The Prince of Peace, but sometimes I like to take a breather and focus on another projects. I did have two other TLs planned, one surrounding Charles II's marriage to Anne d'Orléans and another around an alternate French Restoration, but I think I'll be shelving those two indefinitely out of lack of interest (on my end that is, not from lack of readers or anything like that). I'd like to start a second more focused project in the vein of my PoP timeline, that's brought me a lot of joy to write and also shooed away personal fears that I always tend to get bored and would never be able to hold a project down.

It was the discussion in this thread which inspired me. The question of a surviving Charlotte of Wales is one of those questions that gets asked occasionally but is never really explored. The scenario is used in a GURPS world which results in a fantastical Georgian steampunk world, but I don't think there has been any serious work on the boards regarding her survival. Charlotte's death was one of those losses that had an immediate rippling effect (at least, concerning Britain and the British royal family). If she had survived, things would've been a little different. I know many choose to simply have her survive her pregnancy in 1817, but I'd like to choose a different POD: in 1814, her father was intending to marry her to the Prince of Orange (the future William II), yet she was adamantly against it. One of these reasons was because of her infatuation with a Prussian Prince (it was either Augustus of Prussia or Frederick of Prussia; We'll assume the Prince Frederick, as he is closer in age). She wrote in her diary that she hoped that the Prussian would make his interest known to the Prince Regent, otherwise she would "take the next best thing, which was a good tempered man with good sence ... that man is the P of S-C (Prince of Saxe-Coburg)."

So Charlotte gets her way. The Prussian makes his interest known, and the Prince Regent is slowly worn down. When it's obvious that opposition from all directions means he won't get his Dutch match, he consents, and Charlotte and Prince Frederick are married in 1816. Frederick is made a Knight of the Garter and probably a British Field Marshal. The pair have a harmonious marriage, and probably have a few children by the early 1820s. The line of succession is secure, and a branch of the House of Hohenzollern will reign in Britain in due time. Her survival means the unmarried sons of George III will not rush to contract marriages in order to produce a legitimate heir to the throne. The Dukes of Kent, Sussex, and Cambridge will certainly remain unmarried and continue living with their mistresses. The Duke of Clarence (OTL William IV) may marry as he is the future King of Hannover, but I think it is perfectly likely that Hannover will eventually be inherited by the Duke of Cumberland, who married Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1815. Charlotte probably becomes Queen in 1830, although George IV could certainly eat himself to death faster. Anywhere from the late-1820s to 1830 seems possible for her ascension.

Now what happens? Britain will be connected to Germany as she was in the reign of Victoria, albeit now through the Prussian Royal House. Charlotte had Whiggish sympathies, so we may see her champion the causes of Catholic Emancipation and the Reform Act before she becomes Queen. This POD could also see things in the Netherlands play out quite differently, as the Belgian revolution was not cemented in stone. I'd also like to explore the implications of a surviving Duke of Berry. It'd be interesting to see an alternate Charles X (that is, the Duke of Berry instead of the OTL Count of Artois) reigning in the same period as Charlotte of Wales.

Anyways, those are just some of my ideas. This will probably be a more focused timeline in lieu of the Prince of Peace which I tend to have a more broad strokes. I've picked up two books on Charlotte, a biography written in 1885 about the Princess, as well as a book of her letters and anecdotes so I could better understand her. But I'd like to generate some discussion and get some other ideas before I start writing. :)
Top