14. The Princess Who Kicked Off Her Married Life by Throwing Up on Her Wedding Dress and on Her Mother in Law
Princess Augusta found herself in an entirely new environment, rushed into a marriage ceremony conducted in a language she did not understand. Understandably, she got nervous. As the groom’s mother, Queen Caroline, translated from English into German and whispered it into Augusta’s ear, the bride suddenly threw up all over her wedding gown. As her mother-in-law lent a hand to wipe the mess off Augusta’s dress, the nervous bride had a second bout of the heaves and vomited all over the queen. Her marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, was just as awkward.
The new Princess of Wales continued to play with her dolls until her relatives finally forced her to stop. Her husband took advantage of his wife’s naivety. Among other things, he got Augusta to employ his mistress as her lady of the bedchamber after he convinced her that rumors of an affair were fake news. There was a lot of drama between the Prince of Wales and his parents, and Augusta was often dragged unwillingly into the middle of the mess and took fire from both sides. Despite the hassles and absence of love, she nonetheless performed her expected role and gave birth to nine royal children. However, she never got the hoped-for payout of becoming queen consort. Her husband died before his father, King George II, and upon the latter’s death, the crown went to Augusta’s son, George III.