1796 - Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, daughter of HM King George IV, was born. While her father George was mildly unhappy that she was not a boy, Charlotte’s grandfather, King George III, was delighted at the birth of his first legitimate grandchild. Sadly her childhood was spent being used as a pawn between her parents conflicts. In May 1816 Charlotte married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (future King of the Belgians and Uncle to Queen Victoria). On 5 November 1817 she gave birth to a Stillborn son and the next day 6 November herself died. The reaction of the public to the news of her death has been liken to that of the death of Diana Princess of Wales. The whole country went into shock. The hope of the Monarchy and the heir to the throne had gone.

It is one of the great What Ifs. What if Charlotte and her son had survived? The monarchy of Britain and that of Belgium would both be totally different. There, definitely would have been no Queen Victoria who was one of the results of the mad scramble of her father and Uncles to find legitimate spouses and children after the death of Charlotte. She is our Lost Queen.