Early life
Caroline was born a princess of Braunschweig, known in English as Brunswick, with the courtesy title of Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, on 17 May 1768 at Braunschweig in Germany. She was the daughter of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and his wife Princess Augusta of Great Britain, eldest sister of King George III. Caroline was brought up in a difficult family situation. Her mother resented her father's open adultery with Baroness Luise von Hertefeld, whom he had installed as his official mistress in 1777, and Caroline was later to confide to Lady Charlotte Campbell that she was often tired of being a "shuttlecock" between her parents, as whenever she was civil to one of them, she was scolded by the other.
She was educated by governesses, but the only subject in which she was given a higher education was music. From 1783 until 1791, Countess Eleonore von Münster was her governess, and won her affection, but never managed to teach her to spell correctly, as Caroline preferred to dictate to a secretary. Caroline could understand English and French, but her father admitted that she was lacking in education. According to Caroline's mother, all German princesses learned English in the hope that they would be chosen to marry George, Prince of Wales, George III's eldest son and heir apparent and Caroline's first cousin.
John Stanley, later 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley, saw her in 1781, and noted that she was an attractive girl with curly, fair hair. In 1784, she was described as a beauty, and two years later, Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau described her as "most amiable, lively, playful, witty and handsome". Caroline was brought up with extremely limited contact with the opposite sex even by the standards of her own time. She was reportedly constantly supervised by her governess and elder ladies, restricted to her room when the family was entertaining and ordered to keep away from the windows. She was normally refused permission to attend balls and court functions, and when allowed, she was forbidden to dance. Abbé Baron commented during the winter of 1789–90: "She is supervised with the greatest severity, as they claim she is already aware of what she is missing. I doubt if the torches of Hymen will illuminate for her [i.e.I think she will never marry]. Although always attired with style and elegance, she is never allowed to dance", and that as soon as the first dance began, she was forced to sit down at the whist table with three old ladies.
A rare occasion was the wedding of her elder brother Charles, when she was finally allowed to dance, though only with the groom and his new brother-in-law, the Prince of Orange – she was, however, still forbidden to dine alone with her brother. Her secluded isolation tormented her, which was demonstrated when she was later again banned from attending a ball. She simulated an illness so severe that her parents left the ball to see her. When they arrived, she claimed to be in labour and forced them to send for a midwife. When the midwife arrived, she stopped her simulation and asked her mother: "Now, Madam, will you keep me another time from a ball?"
Her mother early on favoured a match between one of her children and a member of her English family, and when her nephew Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany visited Brunswick in June 1781, she lamented the fact that Caroline, because of her age, could not be present very often. Caroline was given a number of proposals from 1782 onward. Marriage with the Prince of Orange, Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, Charles, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and the second son of the Margrave of Baden were all suggested, while her mother and father supported an English and a Prussian Prince, respectively, but none came to fruition. Caroline was later to state that her father had forbidden her to marry a man she had fallen in love with because of his low status. The identity of this man is not clear, but contemporaries point out an officer who was referred to at the time as the "Handsome Irishman" who lived in Brunswick, and with whom Caroline was said to have been in love. There was also a rumour that Caroline had given birth at the age of fifteen.
Though she was not allowed to socialise with men, she was allowed to ride, and during riding, she visited the cottages of the peasantry. She had done this already as a child, during which she had met children to play with, and as an adult, one of these visits allegedly led to a pregnancy. There is no confirmation of this rumour, but it was well known during her life, and referred to as a reason why she married at an older age than was usual, despite being regarded as good-looking and having been given so many proposals.
