The Princess who died in Childbirth

A new royal heir is born in Britain and the world celebrates. However childbirths in the British royal family have not always been as joyful as they are in Prince George of Cambridge's case. Almost 200 hundred years ago the British people were crushed with sorrow due to the fact that Princess Charlotte had died in childbirth. Princess Charlotte was the daughter of George IV of the United Kingdom and Princess Caroline of Brunswick and as their only child and the only legitimate child of George IV she was the heir to the throne of United Kingdom.

Princess Charlotte of Wales

Princess Charlotte later went on to marry her cousin, Leopold of Saxe-Coburg (who later became King of the Belgians). At 20 years she became pregnant and the pregnancy went well. The baby was due on 19 October 1817, however Charlotte didn't go into labor until 4 November. It was a very difficult birth and 50 hours later the princess gave birth to a stillborn son. 

Princess Charlotte was exhausted after having given birth. She was extremely cold and felt strange. The doctors tried to do anything they could for her but a few hours later she died of internal bleeding.

Investigation of the incident showed that nothing could have been done to save the Princess. In spite of that the obstetrician named Richard Croft was very upset about the Princess' and the baby's death and committed suicide three months later. 

The death of Princess Charlotte leads to Victoria becoming Queen

After Princess Charlotte's death it became clear that her uncle, William would become King. King William only had one legitimate child who died as a newborn so later Victoria, Princess Charlotte's cousin, became Queen of the United Kingdom since all her father's brothers had died leaving no legitimate surviving children.