The Queen Who had An Affair With Her King's Doctor

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain

Born in 1751 at Leicester House in London, Princess Caroline Matilda was the posthumous daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the youngest sister of King George III. Raised in comparative seclusion, her life changed abruptly in 1766 when, at just fifteen years of age, she was married to her first cousin, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway. The union was immediately fraught. Christian suffered from severe psychological instability, erratic mood swings, and violent outbursts, leaving the young queen isolated and neglected in the rigid, conservative court of Copenhagen.

The dynamic shifted dramatically in 1769 when Christian returned from a tour of Europe accompanied by a German physician, Dr. Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee possessed the unique ability to manage the King's unstable behavior and soon gained Caroline Matilda's deep trust after treating her ailments and successfully inoculating the infant Crown Prince Frederick against smallpox. By early 1770, Caroline Matilda and Struensee had become intimate confidants and romantic partners, forming an alliance that quickly sidelined the traditional privy council.

With Christian VII mentally incapable of direct governance, Struensee ruled Denmark as de facto regent with Caroline Matilda's full support. Influenced by radical Enlightenment philosophy, Struensee passed over a thousand royal decrees in less than two years. His sweeping reforms included the abolition of judicial torture, the complete elimination of press censorship, municipal sanitation overhauls, and the reduction of noble privileges. Caroline Matilda openly flouted traditional Danish decorum, riding astride on horseback in trousers and living openly with Struensee, which deeply alienated the conservative nobility and clergy.

In January 1772, a palace coup led by the Queen Dowager Juliana Maria and conservative aristocrats took control of Christiansborg Palace. Struensee and his inner circle were arrested, condemned for high treason, and publicly executed in April. Caroline Matilda was arrested, imprisoned at Kronborg Castle, and subjected to intense interrogation. Her marriage to Christian VII was formally dissolved, and she was permanently separated from her two children, Crown Prince Frederick and her infant daughter, Louise Augusta.

Direct diplomatic and naval pressure from her brother, King George III, prevented harsher punishment, securing her release into British custody. Caroline Matilda was exiled to Celle Castle in the Electorate of Hanover, where she lived under quiet house arrest until her sudden death from scarlet fever in May 1775 at the age of 23. Years later, her son Frederick seized power as regent, ultimately restoring and implementing many of the progressive Enlightenment policies his mother had championed.