Sophia Matilda (Hannover) of the United Kingdom (1777 - 1848)

Born 3 Nov 1777 in Buckingham House, London, England

Ancestors

Died 27 May 1848 at age 70 in Kensington Palace, London, England

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Sophia (Hannover) of the United Kingdom is a member of the House of Hanover.

Biography

Born in 1777, Princess Sophia was the twelfth child of George III and Queen Charlotte. Together with her sisters, she was raised in the strict and cloistered environment of Windsor Castle though she was well-educated. The King and Queen were adverse to marriage for their daughters so Sophia never wed though she was said to have had a liaison with one of the King’s equerries that led to her giving birth to an illegitimate son.

Upon the death of her parents, Princess Sophia moved to an apartment at Kensington Palace where she lived quietly alongside her widowed sister-in-law, the Duchess of Kent, and her infant niece, the future Queen Victoria. In later life, Sophia’s eyesight failed and she became totally blind. She died in 1848; it is said that her ghost still haunts Kensington Palace.

Her miniature portrait is a variant of the original Cosway portrait dated 1792 that is housed in the Royal Collection. Cosway is known to have produced a number of copies and variants of this portrait.

Sources

• Wikipedia contributors, "Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Princess_Sophia_of_the_United_Kingdom&oldid=1158880954 (accessed June 11, 2023).