Frederick of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands

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Frederick
Medium
King of the British and of the People of his other Realms
Reign5 January 1923 - 7 July 1951
Coronation17 May 1923
PredecessorGeorge IV
SuccessorCharles III
Prime Ministers
King of the Dutch
Reign5 January 1923 - 15 August 1947
Inauguration1 January 1924
PredecessorGeorge IV
SuccessorCharles III
King of Hanover
Reign5 January 1923 - 20 November 1924
Coronation17 May 1923
PredecessorGeorge IV
SuccessorMerged with the United Kingdom through the Kingdom of Hanover Act 1924
Emperor of India
Reign5 January 1923 - 15 August 1947
PredecessorGeorge IV
SuccessorPosition abolished[1]
Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers
Reign5 January 1923 - 15 August 1947
Coronation1 January 1924
PredecessorGeorge IV
SuccessorCharles III
Prince Regent of the United Kingdom
Regency1 March 1921 - 5 January 1923
MonarchGeorge IV
BornPrince Frederick of Wales, the Netherlands, and Prussia
(1895-11-22)22 November 1895
Rideau Hall, Ottawa, Canada
Died7 July 1951(1951-07-07) (aged 57)
Buckingham Palace, London
Burial25 July 1951
Spouse
Victoria Louise of Prussia
(m. 1913; ann. 1919)

Issue
Detail
Full name
Edward Frederick William
HouseHanover-Stuart-Orange-Nassau (until 1924)
Amsterdam-Windsor (from 1924)
FatherGeorge IV
MotherSophia of Prussia
ReligionProtestant

Frederick (English: Edward Frederick William; German: Eduard Friedrich Wilhelm; Dutch: Eduard Frederik Willem; French: Édouard Frédéric Guillaume; 22 November 1895 - 7 July 1951) was King of the British, King of Hanover, King of the Dutch, and Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers from 5 January 1923 to 7 July 1951. He was also the last Emperor of India, reigning from 1923 to 1947 until the abolition of the British Raj and its subsequent partition into India and Pakistan.

The eldest son of King George IV and Princess Sophia of Prussia, Frederick was born during the reign of his grandfather King William V. At the age of eighteen, he was wedded to Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II, in an attempt at mending British-German relations. However, despite the birth of a son, namely the future Charles III, the end of the First World War, coupled with existing ideological differences, resulted in the couple having their marriage annulled as Frederick subsequently remarried to Princess Margaretha of Sweden, with whom he had a daughter.

Upon ascending to the throne in 1924, Frederick oversaw a rather tumultuous post-war period, which was further aggravated by the occurrence of the Great Depression in 1929. However, it was during this time that Frederick would later gain much personal acclaim for his efforts in preserving the monarchical institution, amidst rising but small republican and other extreme sentiments across the country. In addition, as King, Frederick also oversaw his countries' involvement in the Second World War against Nazi Germany, a conflict that would mark the last few years of his reign, and which preceded a rather tumultuous and testy period afterwards marked by anti-colonial rebellions in various British and Dutch colonies in Asia, namely the British Raj and the Dutch East Indies. Meanwhile, in 1946, Frederick became the first President of the Hanoverian Union, a politico-economic union comprising the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. On 7 July 1951, at the age of fifty-five, Frederick passed away and was thereafter succeeded by his only living son who ascended to the throne as King Charles III.

In 1924, amidst rising nationalist and anti-German sentiments, Frederick officially changed the family name from the "House of Hanover-Stuart-Orange-Nassau" to the new "House of Amsterdam-Windsor", thereby becoming the first of the three Amsterdam-Windsor monarchs until King Thomas reverted the family name back to the original "Hanover-Stuart-Orange-Nassau" in 2007, effectively re-establishing the previous line of monarchs and ending the temporary eighty-three-year-long Amsterdam-Windsor monarchy.

Early Life

Personal Information

Titles & Honours

  • 22 November 1895 - 23 November 1910 His Royal Highness Prince Edward of Wales, the Netherlands, and Prussia
  • 23 November 1910 - 30 January 1913 His Royal Highness Prince Edward of the Netherlands, Duke of Cambridge
  • 30 January 1913 - 1 March 1921 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Prince of Orange, and the Hereditary Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers
  • 1 March 1921 - 5 January 1923 His Royal Highness The Prince Regent
  • 5 January 1923 - 9 June 1924 His Majesty The King of the United Kingdom, King of Hanover, King of the Dutch, Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers
  • 9 June 1924 - 30 March 1951 His Majesty The King of the United Kingdom, King of the Dutch, Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers

Honours

Ancestry

  1. Frederick continued as titular Emperor of India until 22 June 1948.