WI : Queen Charlotte I of Great Britain

What would be the consequences of Princess Charlotte of Wales, eldest daughter of King George IV of Great Britain, not dying in childbirth in 1817?

How would Charlotte rule Britain?
What happens to OTL Queen Victoria?
Would Belgium still become independant? If so, who would be its first King? It can't be OTL Leopold I of Belgium, since he would be Prince-Consort of Britain.
 
Charlotte had Whiggish sympathies, which was especially evident in 1814 when the Prince Regent tried to arrange her marriage to the Prince of Orange, which wholly failed owing to her own opposition to the match, which garnered her a lot of sympathy within Parliament. If she survives past 1817, Leopold and Charlotte's home would certainly be a popular place for the liberal opposition. Catholic Emancipation would still pass in 1829, and once George IV is dead we might see the Reform Act happen a bit earlier. Charlotte would probably probably reign in a very hands off manner. We don't know much about her personally, but I doubt she'd rock the boat the way her father did. At most, we might see her make a free selection for Prime Minister much like William IV did for the last time in the 1830s; but much like Victoria's reign, Charlotte's will continue to advance the Constitutional Monarchy. She was definitely a liberal though, and well beloved by the public.

We'll assume minimal butterflies and if Victoria is born as OTL, she'll be a minor British princess. She could marry her cousin, George V (the son of the Duke of Cumberland), or maybe a son of the Duke of Cambridge. She could make a foreign match too, but given she'd merely be a niece of Charlotte's, I'd say it's likely she probably marries one of her English cousins and is domiciled in Britain. Victoria in this scenario would probably be relatively unimportant. The OTL William IV would succeed George IV as King of Hannover--assuming minimal butterflies, he'd be succeeded by the Duke of Cumberland when he dies without heirs. It'd be interesting if William IV had a surviving son in this scenario, as along with Charlottean/Carolean* (is that what would replace Victorian in this TL?) Britain we could also have a liberal Hannover. William IV gave them a constitution IIRC, which Cumberland surpressed. Either way, I think it's likely that Victoria would end up Queen of Hannover (married to William IV's alt-son or the OTL George V), or the Duchess of Cambridge.

Her survival probably wouldn't impact foreign affairs too much; the Belgians are still going to have grievances so will probably will revolt. Leopold was not the first choice to be king: the Belgian Congress originally chose the Duke of Nemours, the son of Louis-Philippe, but he was vetoed as Britain feared French annexation of Belgium. Britain will probably still be wary over French influence over Belgium, so we'd probably see a minor German prince take the Belgian throne, much like what happened in Greece. There were plenty of other Saxe-Coburg-Gothas that could take Leopold's place.
 
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DrakeRlugia said:
There were plenty of other Saxe-Coburg-Gothas that could take Leopold's place.

That phrase made me wonder something... Is it possible that the ATL first King of the Belgians in case of Charlotte's survival would be Prince Albert, OTL prince consort of Queen Victoria?

Thus, could Leopold and Albert swith place if Charlotte survive?
 
That phrase made me wonder something... Is it possible that the ATL first King of the Belgians in case of Charlotte's survival would be Prince Albert, OTL prince consort of Queen Victoria?

Thus, could Leopold and Albert swith place if Charlotte survive?

Possibly, given in the 1830s both he and his brother Ernst are young. There could be another partition of the Saxon duchies at the end of the 19th century though, given that Albert's older brother had veneral diseases (unsure when he caught them, but certainly in the 1830s) which rendered him impotent. If Albert becomes King, he can't succeed to Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Maybe one of his second sons, if he has one.

Even if he becomes King of Belgium, unsure if he'd marry Victoria. The Saxe-Coburg-Gothas already have a connection to Britain through Leopold. Albert would probably marry a French princess or a Catholic one, to bolster support within the country. Albert's heirs would certainly be raised Catholic given Belgium is a Catholic country, and that's how things typically worked for those German princes who were raised to foreign thrones (the first generation kept their religion, while their children went 'native' so to speak). Plus, given how protective Victoria's mother was over her, a foreign marriage seems even more unlikely when she's no longer the heiress. Victoria ending up the future Duchess of Cambridge seems most likely, as even marrying the heir to Hannover may be a bit too much to stomach. She could even end up a spinster, like the majority of George III's daughters.
 
Albert (born 1819) is too young to become King of the Belgians in 1831. Also, bear in mind that there's very real possibility that, in a "Charlotte lives" scenario, Princess Victoria of Kent is never born.
 
Albert (born 1819) is too young to become King of the Belgians in 1831. Also, bear in mind that there's very real possibility that, in a "Charlotte lives" scenario, Princess Victoria of Kent is never born.

This is true. I completely forgot that the rush of marriages by George III's bachelor sons was caused by Charlotte's death. If she survives, it's likely the royal Dukes continue to live in sin with their mistresses, as many of George III's sons did owing to the Royal Marriages Act. The only son who married prior to Charlotte's death was Cumberland. So he still likely ends up as King of Hannover, succeeding a bachelor William IV.

He was curious regarding Victoria in such a scenario, so I answered. Just as it's possible she is never born, it's possible she could be, or at least someone similar. Minimal butterflies could still cause the Dukes to rush to marry; perhaps Charlotte of Wales falls ill in 1817/1818, and her death seems likely, but she pulls through, for instance.
 
I have my doubts about Victoria marrying her first cousin George, Duke of Cambridge. I'm not sure if that is too close for Hannoverian England, as opposed to OTL Victorian Europe.
 
It was already discussed in another thread, Albert was her first cousin as well.

But, in the other hand, as Victoria isn't the queen she would have less freedom to choose who her husband would be. So she could easily become a tool for political alliances in continental Europe, and Queen Charlotte might decide that she shouldn't be "wasted" with a minor German prince.
 
But, in the other hand, as Victoria isn't the queen she would have less freedom to choose who her husband would be. So she could easily become a tool for political alliances in continental Europe, and Queen Charlotte might decide that she shouldn't be "wasted" with a minor German prince.

True, but I wonder if Charlotte would be too concerned with Victoria's marriage. After all, Charlotte opposed her father's attempts to marry her to the Prince of Orange, and truly had feelings for Prince Leopold. I doubt Charlotte would believe Victoria's marriage 'wasted' or force her into foreign match for political benefit. She'd be more concerned with her own children I believe. So I think a match with a British cousin is likely, as her overly attached mother would probably want to keep her close to her, or she simply wouldn't marry at all. In this scenario she isn't the heiress presumptive so she'd be fairly ignored, under the yolk of her mother, who would probably be allowed to do what she pleased with the young princess.
 
Possible side effects of Wilhelm, King of Hanover:

Wilhelm grants Hanover a liberal constitution.
Ernest Augustus repeals it.
Hanoverians repeal him and set up a republic.
Along come the Prussians, who say, "We are unifying Germany. Resistance is futile."
Hanoverians tell Prussians to shove it. War ensues.

(I've been thinking about this for my own TL.)
 
Possible side effects of Wilhelm, King of Hanover:

Wilhelm grants Hanover a liberal constitution.
Ernest Augustus repeals it.
Hanoverians repeal him and set up a republic.
Along come the Prussians, who say, "We are unifying Germany. Resistance is futile."
Hanoverians tell Prussians to shove it. War ensues.

(I've been thinking about this for my own TL.)

while Ernest Augustus got unholy shit from the British press he was loved in Hanover, even the British Press that hated him said when he died he'd been a good king, don't get me wrong he was a tory from the top of his head to the soles of his boots but he was never dumb and he knew and understood he was hated, he wanted to be hated (said as much to Prince Albert) all the rage of the British Press going at him kept it off the rest of the family (more or less)
 
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