Princess Mary of Great Britain

Mary of Great Britain
Portrait by Johann Heinrich Tischbein, c. 1754
Landgravine consort of Hesse-Kassel
Tenure	1 February 1760 – 14 January 1772
Born	(1723-03-05)5 March 1723 (New Style) Leicester House, London, England
Died	14 January 1772(1772-01-14) (aged 48) Hanau, Germany
Burial	1 February 1772 Marienkirche, Hanau, Germany
Spouse	Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel ​ ​ (m. 1740; sep. 1754)​
Issue	Prince William William I, Elector of Hesse Prince Charles Prince Frederick
House	Hanover
Father	George II of Great Britain
Mother	Caroline of Ansbach

Mary of Great Britain (5 March 1723 – 14 January 1772) was the second-youngest daughter of George II of Great Britain and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach, and Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel as the wife of Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.

Princess Mary was born at Leicester House, Westminster, London.^[1] Her father was the Prince of Wales, later King George II. Her mother was Caroline of Ansbach, daughter of Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.^[1]

Her father succeeded, as George II, on 11 June 1727, and she became "HRH The Princess Mary". Upon her death in 1737, her mother, Queen Caroline, entrusted Mary to her elder sister Caroline, urging her to "do what she could to support the meek and mild disposition of Princess Mary".^[2]

A marriage was negotiated with Landgrave Frederick of Hesse-Kassel, the only son and heir of William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.^[3] For the marriage, Parliament voted Mary £40,000.^[3]

They married by proxy at the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace in London on 8 May, then in person on 28 June 1740 at Bellevue Palace, Kassel.^[1] They had four sons, three of whom survived to adulthood.^[3]

The marriage was unhappy, and Frederick was said to be "brutal" and "a boor". Frederick reportedly subjected Mary to spousal abuse.^[4] In late 1746, Mary made an extended trip to Britain to escape his maltreatment. The couple separated in 1754 on Frederick's conversion to Roman Catholicism. She was supported by her father-in-law, who provided her with a residence in Hanau, as she did not wish to return to Great Britain, but to stay on the continent to raise her children.^[4]

In 1756, Mary moved to Denmark, to take care of the children of her sister Louise of Great Britain, who had died in 1751. She took her children with her, and they were raised at the royal court and her sons were married to Danish princesses. Her husband succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in 1760, and so Mary was technically Landgravine consort for the last twelve years of her life, despite her estrangement from her husband.

Mary died on 14 or 16 January 1772, aged 48 at Hanau, Germany.^[1]

Mary's personal library and documents are preserved in the Archive of the House of Hesse, which is kept in Fasanerie Palace in Eichenzell, Hesse, Germany.^[5]

On 30 August 1727, as a child of the sovereign, Mary was granted use of the arms of the realm, differenced by a label argent of three points, each bearing a canton gules.^[6]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Princess Mary of Great Britain.

• Rigg, James McMullen (1893). "Mary (1723-1772)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 36. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Weir, Alison (2008). Britain's Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5.
• Williamson, David (2004). "Mary, Princess (1723–1772)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18253. Retrieved 15 March 2011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

• Portraits of Princess Mary at the National Portrait Gallery, London