Queen Adelaide (nee Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen) (Adelaide Louise Theresa Caroline Amelia) (August 13, 1792 - December 2, 1849) was the Queen consort of King William IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Early Life

Adelaide was born on August 13, 1792 at Meiningen, Thuringia, Germany. Her father was George I, the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Her mother was Louisa Eleonora, the daughter of Prince Christian of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. She was styled as a Princess of Saxe-Meiningen from her birth.

Marriage

Adelaide married HRH Prince William, Duke of Clarence, a son of King George III, on July 13, 1818, at Kew Palace in Surrey, England. Her husband, who was more than twenty years her senior, already had illegitimate children by the popular actress Dorothy Jordan, but had never been married before. It was largely the death in childbirth of the heir to the throne, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, wife of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield (Leopold I of the Belgians) that had prompted the duke and his profligate bachelor brothers to marry so late in life, and so quickly, all of them anxious to provide a new heir.

In the course of their marriage, Adelaide had five pregnancies, including twin sons, but only two of her children survived birth:

• Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Clarence
• Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of Clarence

Both daughters died in infancy, leaving the couple with no surviving children.

Queen

At the time of their marriage, William was not heir to the throne, but became so when his brother, Frederick, Duke of York, died childless in 1827. In 1830, on the death of his elder brother, George IV, William acceded to the throne, and Adelaide was crowned along with him on September 8, 1831, at Westminster Abbey. As queen, she aroused none of the controversy of her immediate predecessor, and was beloved by the British people for her modesty as well as her tragic childbirth history. She survived her husband by only twelve years. She died at Bentley Priory in Middlesex and was buried at St. George's Chapel, Windsor.

The city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia, was named in her honour.

Titles

• Her Serene Highness Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
• Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Clarence
• Her Majesty The Queen
• Her Majesty Queen Adelaide