Caroline of Ansbach

Born into a small German principality in 1683, Caroline was orphaned young and raised at the Prussian court of Sophia Charlotte, who gave her an education and a liberal outlook rare for royal women. She turned down a Habsburg archduke to marry George Augustus, heir to Hanover and third in line for the English throne. After moving to Britain in 1714, she and her husband became the focal point of opposition to his father, George I - a rift that saw them expelled from court in 1717 until Walpole brokered a public reconciliation. When George Augustus became king in 1727, Caroline became the true anchor of Walpole's government, exercising power openly during four regencies and quietly the rest of the time. Her own son Frederick turned into the next generation's opposition figurehead, souring their bond. She died in November 1737, mourned by allies who understood what she'd held together and by a king who never took another wife.