By chance, I heard of Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp a few months ago. What I particularly read about her, that truly horrified me, was that the girl was fifteen years old - fifteen!!!! - when she was married off to some member of the Swedish royalty in 1774. Good grief!! I have felt a little sorry for Victoria because she has not been able to marry until she was a few weeks short of her thirty-third birthday, but to me that is better than being married off to someone you haven't even met when you are fifteen. We Swedes were barbarians in the 18th century, weren't we?
Fortunately Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte seems to have been a happy, charming, lively and quite independent girl. Good for her!
Ann
