The youngest and posthumous daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha , Caroline Matilda was raised in a secluded family atmosphere away from the royal court. At the age of 15, she was married to her first cousin, King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway, who suffered from a mental illness and was cold to his wife throughout the marriage. In , Struensee entered the service of the Danish king; initially Caroline Matilda treated him coldly, but he quickly won the Queen's heart and they began a love affair.
Struensee gained more and more power and instituted a series of reforms that Caroline Matilda supported. In , Juliana Maria directed a plot to remove Struensee and the Queen from power. Struensee was executed and Caroline Matilda was divorced and banished to Celle , Electorate of Hanover , where she died at the age of 23 from scarlet fever in Caroline Matilda was born on 22 July [ O.
Her godparents were her brother George , her aunt Caroline , and her sister Augusta. Caroline Matilda grew up in the large group of siblings, and during the remaining years of the reign of George II , Augusta chose to live in seclusion with her children, devoting herself to their care, and bringing them up away from the English court and the depravities of court life. She was described as temperamental, but natural and informal, and for this reason, she was uninterested in politics and court intrigues as an adult.
She enjoyed reading and could speak three languages besides English: Italian, French, and German. Additionally, the deceased Queen Louise had been very popular in Denmark. Initially, the marriage negotiations were intended for the eldest unmarried daughter of the former Prince of Wales, Princess Louisa Anne , but after the Danish representative in London, Count von Bothmer, was informed of her weak constitution, her younger sister Caroline Matilda was chosen for the match instead.
The official betrothal was announced on 10 January Two days later, Caroline Matilda departed from Harwich for Rotterdam , and three weeks later she crossed the river Elbe and arrived in Altona , in the then Danish Duchy of Holstein. There she left her British entourage and was welcomed by her appointed Danish courtiers. Twelve days later, Caroline Matilda arrived in Roskilde , where she met her future husband for the first time. She held her official entry into the Danish capital on 8 November to great cheers from the population.
