12 The Music Party Frederick, Prince of Wales with his Three Eldest Sisters, Philippe Mercier 1733., Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth <strong>2017</strong>. ENLIGHTENED PRINCESSES AT KENSINGTON PALACE A major new exhibition at Kensington Palace – Enlightened Princesses: Caroline, Augusta, Charlotte and the Shaping of the Modern World – explores the lives of three German princesses, whose marriage into the British royal family and wide-ranging interests placed them at the very heart of the enlightenment in progress in 18th century Britain. The exhibition, which has been on view at the Yale Center for British Art, will open at Kensington Palace opens on 22 June. While much has been written about the Hanoverian monarchs – the German Kings who famously feuded with their sons and lost control of the North American colonies – the important role played by their wives has never before been carefully evaluated. Now, thanks to new research emerging from a fruitful academic partnership between Historic Royal Palaces and the Yale Center for British Art, their story will be told for the first time. Three fiercely intelligent, dynamic and culturally curious women emerge from the shadows of history: committed patrons of the arts and sciences, and powerful advocates of ‘Brand Britain’. Their shaping of the monarchy leaves its legacy to our present day. Caroline, Augusta and Charlotte were German born, Protestant princesses, who married into the Hanoverian dynasty and moved to Britain; Caroline and Charlotte became queens consort to George II and George III respectively, while Princess Augusta held the titles of Princess of Wales, Regent, and Princess Dowager, and was mother to King George III. Each fulfilled their dynastic role – providing heirs (they had over 30 children between them). From then on, each would break the mould. From advocating the latest scientific and medical advances – crucial to women’s health – to their involvement in charity work and roles as patrons of British trades and manufactures, Caroline, Augusta and Charlotte would each subtly alter the role women played in the British royal family, with lasting results. The three women lived in an immensely dynamic and exciting time, and actively fostered the culture of the Enlightenment from their position right at the heart of the British establishment. Their glittering courts drew in the leading cultural and intellectual figures of the age. At Kensington Palace, Caroline’s drawing room welcomed writers Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, scientist and astronomer <strong>Is</strong>aac Newton – who performed light refraction experiments there – and composer George Frideric Handel, alongside a steady stream of Prime Ministers and international statesmen. It wasn’t just within the confines of their palaces, however, that the princesses made their mark; Caroline, Augusta and Charlotte made use of the many products of the Empire – exotic plants, rare birds and wild animals – to create and recast each other’s gardens with imports from the Caribbean, India, Africa, China and Australasia. The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew still stand today as a testament to their ambition and skill. The three women were each mother to future kings, and took a great interest in education and child-rearing. Over the course of their lifetimes, attitudes to child-rearing changed rapidly, and the princesses became active contributors to the educational programmes devised for their children, seeking to draw them into experiences outside the palace walls. Beyond their own children, the princesses were involved in ambitious and wide-reaching public philanthropic projects, especially those connected to health and social welfare. They championed inoculation, and publically supported the creation of <strong>London</strong>’s Foundling Hospital to house deprived and abandoned children. The American Goldfinch the Acacia & the water locust, Mark Catesby, Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth <strong>2017</strong>. t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e
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