The book “Friederike of Prussia. Queen Louise’s Passionate Sister” by Carolin Phillips tells the life story of the princess born Mecklenburg-Strelitzky, married Princess of Prussia, who later became Princess of Solms-Braunfels and died as queen of Hanover.

Princess Friederike Mecklenburg-Strelitzky was born on March 3, 1778 in Hanover. Friederike and her sisters — Charlotte, Therese, and the future Queen of Prussia Louise — were raised by their grandmother after their mother’s death. In December 1793, her elder sister Louise was married in Berlin to Frederick William, the crown prince of Prussia, and Friederike was married to Prince Frederick Ludwig, the younger brother of the heir to the Prussian throne.

Friederike’s marriage proved unhappy. Before marrying her, her husband had been in love with a woman beneath him and married Friederike only out of obligation. At the age of 18, she was widowed and moved with three small children to Schönhausen Palace near Berlin.

When Friederike became pregnant, the husband of her older sister Louise, King Friedrich William III, demanded that she marry the child’s father, Friedrich of Solms-Braunfels, an officer of the royal guard. After the wedding, the couple was forced to move to Ansbach, while Friederike’s son from her first marriage was to remain in Berlin. Soon Friederike’s husband resigned from military service “for health reasons” and lost his income. She was forced to support her family with her own money, an annual rent paid to her by her brother-in-law Friedrich William III. Sometime later, Fredericka petitioned him to dissolve the marriage. On May 29, 1815, she married an English prince, Duke Ernst Augustus of Cumberland, the fifth son of the King of England. After the death of Friederike’s brother-in-law, King William IV of Great Britain, who left no heirs, his niece Victoria ascended the British throne, and Friederike’s husband, the Duke of Cumberland, became King of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg with the throne name Ernst August I.

Queen Friederike died after a short illness on June 29, 1841 in Hanover. For Friederike’s burial, a mausoleum was built in the garden of Herrenhausen Palace by order of the king. One of Hannover’s squares was named after Friederike.