Voting Station

Caroline of Ansbach

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Royalty

The Resume

    (March 1, 1683-November 20, 1737)
    Born in Ansbach, Germany
    Married George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover (1795-37)
    Queen Consort of Great Britain (1727-37)

Why she might be annoying:

    She encouraged her husband to form an opposition party against his father, but got pissed off when their son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, formed an opposition party against them.
    She said about Frederick, ‘I wish the ground would open this moment and sink the monster to the lowest hole in Hell.’
    She frequently picked out mistresses for her husband in order ensure that they were not better looking than her.
    Her death – caused when a section of intestine poking through an umbilical hernia burst – prompted Alexander Pope to write the doggerel, ‘Here lies, wrapt up in forty thousand towels,/the only proof that Caroline had bowels.’

Why she might not be annoying:

    She served as a regent in Britain four times when her husband returned Hanover.
    She helped popularize variolation, an early form of inoculation against smallpox, by having three of her children inoculated.
    She also ordered an experiment in which six condemned prisoners were offered a chance to undergo variolation followed by exposure to smallpox instead of execution; all six survived.
    Voltaire praised her: ‘This princess was born to encourage the arts and the well-being of mankind; even on the throne she is a benevolent philosopher; and she has never lost an opportunity to learn or to manifest her generosity.’
    While on her deathbed, she encouraged George to remarry. He refused, but undercut any romance in the gesture by adding, ‘I shall have mistresses.’ She replied, ‘That needn’t stop you.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 89 Votes: 49.44% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 92 Votes: 58.70% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 54 Votes: 70.37% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 155 Votes: 41.29% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 85 Votes: 50.59% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 32 Votes: 50.0% Annoying