Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen

Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen (4 August 1713 – 29 June 1761) was a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.[1] She served as regent for her son after the deaths in 1752–1753 of her husband and brother-in-law of, respectively, the ducal appanage of Mirow and of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.[1]

Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Duchess Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Mirow
Princess of Mirow
Portrait by Allan Ramsay
Born(1713-08-04)4 August 1713
Hildburghausen, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Holy Roman Empire
Died29 June 1761(1761-06-29) (aged 47)
Neustrelitz, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Holy Roman Empire
Burial
Johanniterkirche, Mirow
Spouse
(m. 1735; died 1752)
Issue
HouseSaxe-Hildburghausen
FatherErnest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
MotherCountess Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach

Biography

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Elisabeth Albertine was a daughter of Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1681–1724), and his wife, Countess Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach (1683–1742).[1]

On 5 February 1735, Elisabeth married Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Mirow (23 February 1707 – 5 June 1752) at Eisfeld, the youngest son of Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and half-brother to Adolphus Frederick III.[1] They became the parents of ten children.[2]

The death of her childless brother-in-law on 11 December 1752, six months after she was widowed, left Albertine as regent of both men's duchies on behalf of her eldest son, Adolphus Frederick IV, until he attained his majority at the age of 14 on 17 January 1753.[1] During that brief period she ruled the Strelitz duchies under the protection of George II of Great Britain, warding off encroachments from Duke Christian Ludwig II, ruler of the Schwerin branch of the House of Mecklenburg.

She died in 1761, shortly before the marriage of her daughter Sophia Charlotte to King George III of Great Britain, and was buried at the ducal crypt in Mirow.

Issue

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Elisabeth had ten children, including the future Queen Charlotte, consort to King George III of the United Kingdom.[1]

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F. and B. (1991). L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome VI: Bade-Mecklembourg. France: Laballery. pp. 187, 201, 210–211. ISBN 2-901138-06-3.
  2. ^ McDonald, Simon (2011). "A British Queen from Mecklenburg". British Embassy, Berlin. Archived from the original on 3 July 2011.