The Queen Who Became A Physician's Mistress - Caroline Matilda of Great Britain

Caroline Matilda was a sheltered princess who grew up to become a queen - it sounds like the beginning of a fairytale, but her story would fast turn into a horror story. Neglected by a husband who didn't want her, Christian VII of Denmark, lonely Caroline Matilda fell into the arms of his physician, Johann Struensee, and embarked on a love affair that would literally change the politics and structure of the country she helped rule. But their story would not end well, and Caroline Matilda's life would end in Hanover, with no lover or husband, far from her children, and would die at the age of just 23...
*I incorrectly state the House of Oldenburg was Swedish, when it is in fact Danish! I'm only human, and sometimes do make a silly error, as I'm a one-person team. Apologies!*
***NOTE ABOUT PRONUNCIATION! I always try where possible to use the names and placenames native to the place where the history is set, in this case, Denmark! However, it's not my first language, and I do try to pronounce things properly, but please let me know (gently!) if I can improve it.
For my images and footage, thanks to:
Pexels
Pixabay
Wikimedia Commons, especially:
Losch
Rita Greer
Hajotthu
Many of my images in this video were made with Midjourney, see if you can spot which ones!
I strive to always credit everyone whose images I use, and try as much as possible to use images freely in the public domain (purchased where not possible) - please let me know if I have missed you so I can give you due credit.

[@monicacall7532]

There’s an excellent film called “A Royal Affair” that stars Alicia Vikander and the marvelous Mads Mikkelsen who play Caroline Matilda and Dr Stunsee. My dad’s father was Danish and loved to talk all about Denmark. The changes that Strunsee advocated for and that the king made as law were a blessing to the people, especially especially the abolition of serfdom. Denmark is now considered to be one of the most politically and socially enlightened countries in the world and much of the foundation for that mighty change from serfdom to top country status is due to Stunsee.

[@Mandiepink1]

I saw that movie recently!! I really enjoyed it. It was really good.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I do love the film! (I ignore any historical inaccuracies in it, because it's just nice to have a film about her). Struensee was definitely a complicated person, but I do feel like his heart was in the right place, before he went mad with power.

[@YourGrace_06]

I love that movie

[@libiusperseus]

This movie is left-wing propaganda.

[@Koppse]

Well all of Dr. Struness reforms was retracted after his execution 1772 and he Never ended serfdom”Stavnsbåndet” In Denmark-Norway. the king Christian’s 7th son King Christian 6th. Abolished serfdom in 1788.😊

[@brendatompeterson8401]

Shocked at how young she was when she died.

[@areiaaphrodite]

Oh, thank you for this! I actually quite like the story of Caroline Matilda because it's not the typical story for a queen of the age in which she lived. She was flawed but still quite politically savy even when she was banished. Not many channels c9ver her story, so I'm glad a quality channel like yours has done so!

[@leeannproctor2966]

I feel more sympathy for the husband not carolina mathilda.

[@areiaaphrodite]

@@leeannproctor2966 I didn't say I felt sympathy for her. I just like her story because it's different than most Queens

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

You're welcome, I'm so glad you enjoyed it - and thank you! ☺ Like you say, she was really different from many other queens at the time, and I think a lot definitely had to do with her somewhat sheltered upbringing. I think that upbringing had an effect on her siblings as well, if we consider George III, who was very different from his father and grandfather. It would be fascinating to think about what Caroline Matilda might have done had she lived longer and gone through with the coup!

[@DomusQueen89]

lol she wasn't "politically savy" she was extremely sloppy. and destroyed her life

[@areiaaphrodite]

@@DomusQueen89 after she was exiled and she made decisions in her son's name, she was quite respected for her choices in that arena.

[@kimm.8800]

I have always admired Caroline Matilda because of her adultary! After all, her marriage was arranged, and everyone deserves to experience love with a partner of their own choice. Particularly considering the fact that kings were allowed to cheat as much as they wanted - it is so refreshing to see a queen do the same!

[@DomusQueen89]

Kings could cheat because they couldn't possibly become impregnated with someone else's child...They may have had illegitimate children but they were almost never able to succeed to the throne. Men and women are different. A woman's faithfulness is obviously extremely important, especially within monarchy. Fine if she couldn't help herself but her sloppiness is dumb. She could have had her cake and eaten it too....but she wasn't intelligent enough. She flaunted her affair...unbelievable. Lets not exalt dumb women. We have many actually admirable, intelligent women to admire. Her husband was an idiot....she could have gotten away with it.

[@helene4397]

But for Kings it was expected and accepted. For Queens it was a disaster.

[@kimm.8800]

@@helene4397 Exactly. All the more reason to respect the queen's to defied that injustice. It makes me sad to see the queens who were considered to be a perfect queen in that sense, since it means they accepted the injust norms of the society.

[@helene4397]

@@kimm.8800 royal Princesses were raised to expect that their husbands to be might have mistresses.

[@michellemorrison9663]

The difference here is that they were both manipulated. Because one showed sentimental vulnerability (Caroline) and the other, mental vulnerability (Christian with his schizophrenia). So this guy took advantage of both. That is nothing to be proud of, she is still a victim, and not by choice. They were both manipulated.

[@Anna_Key]

I had no knowledge of this Queen. Thank you. She is overshadowed by the huge popularity and tragedy of Marie Antoinette and the magnificence of Catherine the Great. But the name Struensee is familiar 🤔 I don't know why 😕

[@lfgifu296]

when you say at what age she died I gasped! I had thought she was already in her late 30s at least…

[@leeannproctor2966]

I wonder if she was poisoned?

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I know! The portraits of her always 'look' so much older than her real age, and I wonder how much of that was anxiety and stress, how much was just her genetics, and how much was the artist?

[@miedk9871]

Great video about Caroline Matilde and your pronounciation was almost spot on. Thank you from a danish history nerd.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Mange tak! 😊 I'm always nervous with pronouncing other languages because my lisp can make it difficult to say English words sometimes, so that means a lot! 😅

[@helpinyerdasellavon]

Thank you for another insightful history video. Your storytelling is always delightful to listen to and visuals to look at. High quality work 💖

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you as always! I'm pleased you enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun with this one. 😊

[@lfgifu296]

Just one thing, I think you switched the title with that of Karin Månsdotter (can’t remember how to write it, sorry Swedish people)

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I did, I was tired when I was uploading this one, and I've corrected the title this morning! Sorry, everyone! 😅

[@Elora445]

You wrote it correctly, so no worries. :)

[@lourias]

👍🏻👍🏽👍🏻👍🏽😉 for writing your correction in the description. I would never have known of any error because i am not a history buff. I like learning new things.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you! I'm only human and I do make errors (especially as I'm a one-woman band at the moment lol), so I try to correct them or at least note them when they happen. Which thankfully isn't too much, I think!☺

[@lfgifu296]

For the question, who do you wish had won the Battle of Hastings? My answer might be a little predictable (just a tad), but I’m wish Harold Godwinson had won. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really like him, but William winning the Battle was one of the worst things that could’ve happened to England, definitely at the time, and Harald Hardrada would’ve likely been similar, although the changes would’ve been less severe, imo.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

**sucks air in through teeth** Okay. I had to set aside time to consider this one, not going to lie! 😂And my answer is going to come as someone who is from the North of England - I also wish Harold Godwinson had won! Although having said that, this is with the understanding that the changes made in England would therefore not have occurred, and maybe they still would have. But let's pretend. William the Conqueror was responsible for some thing that might initially be seen as 'good'. Being from Normandy, he allowed trade links and friendly relations to be established on the continent, especially with Normandy itself and surrounding areas within France. Being French also meant the French language was introduced to England, with the result that our vocabulary was expanded, and as a writer, I love that so many words exist in English. It's also made English a great 'multi' language to be used in other parts of the world as it has Germanic, Latin, and Celtic-based words within. The Domesday Book was also a fantastic thing for historians, because it gives us one of the first 'censuses' in England, and gives us a glimpse of all kinds of historical titbits, such as what animals people were raising, where, how, how many people might have been in households, were any women in charge of their households, who was the local lord for an area, and so on. BUT. Also, there's the Harrying of the North. And as someone from the North, even nearly a thousand years later, it cuts deep. Doing that not only decimated much of the population in the north, (around 3/4 of the population, I think?), but forced the economic centres of the country down south as a result, made worse as the new Norman nobles remained mostly in the south even when they held northern lands. This would have far-reaching implications even hundreds of years into the future; for example, the long-held loyalties to families such as the Percy family, and the Neville family, and even Richard III, all come from the fact that those nobles actually came and _lived_ in the north and took part in its development in some way. The Harrying also led eventually to the economic collapse England suffered afterwards, and that is very obviously bad news for anyone trying to collect taxes. To this day, this is still a problem, as the economic centres are all in London, and the majority of businesses in our country are down south. The north struggles, and only became a powerhouse when it was relied upon for its industrial output for a few centuries. Then there's the fact he was French - not in a xenophobic way, but in a 'oh no, now what will the English ruler actually rule over'. Cue hundreds of years of logistical and geographic problems in which English rulers didn't know where to spend most of their time, didn't know who to put in charge of French domains while they were in England (have to be careful it's not someone who will come back for your crown!), endless money poured into wars attempting to keep parts of France as they were deemed part of England. Yes, there were successive claims that relied on later monarchs (such as Edward III having a claim through his mother, Isabella), but the seed of this idea came from the days of William the Conqueror and his sons and grandsons, especially Henry II, marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine and increasing that problem, and giving rise to the idea that an English ruler could straddle both places. William's descendants wouldn't really think of themselves as 'English' for hundreds of years, and were happy to bleed England dry to expand their territory and also do other terrible things, like taking Ireland for their collection and subduing the population there. He also introduced castles as a way of controlling the population, and I have...mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I do love castles now, haha. They're amazing to visit, to marvel at, to understand history through. But at the time, towns and villages went from places led by a religious centre that did care for people as hospitals and schools, and while that continued, before they were the main centre, and the Lord's manor house was just the biggest house in town. Now castles became places to run to for safety, yes, but they were also a domineering, scary feature that dominated the landscape of your local town, and reminded you just how firmly you were under the thumb of your new overlords. Having said all, castles were going to happen at some point in Europe, and therefore everyone else would have to follow suit in order to be able to defend themselves equally. But having said ALL of this....ultimately I wouldn't change history at this point. I love what a mixed bag of everything England is, and that is partially due to William the Conqueror as well. I love that our language is muddled up with everything, I love that this tiny collection of islands was so involved with European history, and I do like the good parts of our culture that were passed down from that. Also, CASTLES.

[@lfgifu296]

Ooh idk anything about her!! I must admit, the Georgian period isn’t my favourite period to study, so Idk much about it, so it’s great to learn more about the people from then :))

[@DarthDread-oh2ne]

Hi friend, I hope you’re safe and doing well.

[@lfgifu296]

@@DarthDread-oh2ne I am, and hope you are also :)

[@DarthDread-oh2ne]

@@lfgifu296 I am, I just learned A younger cousin to Kaiser Wilhelm I physically attacked his wife for not giving him A son.

[@lfgifu296]

@@DarthDread-oh2ne oh… a great family indeed💀

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

If Frederick hadn't died would caroline mathilda be better prepared to being a queen.

[@Jerseyboondocks]

Thank you I love to listen

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

You're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it! ☺

[@MichelleBruce-lo4oc]

Hi, awesome live history video. I enjoyed it. How are you and Mallard your cat doing? I'm doing well, and so is my cat Benjamin. He's big and happy. How is the weather where you are? We have warmer weather in Ontario, Canada. Next video in the future, could you do elizabeth boleyn and thomas boleyn Mother and father of Queen anne boleyn in the tudor times. Have a great day. See you next video 😊

[@leeannproctor2966]

I wonder if Christian got syphilis which would explain a lot.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Hi Michelle, we're all good, thanks! ☺ I'm glad you and Benjamin are doing well and your weather is good - we've gone backwards over here! It's cold again, and the daffodils are trying to push their way out through the frost! 😂 All messed up. And thanks for the suggestion, I will certainly think about putting them in their own video at some point.

[@NiobiumThyme]

9 children by 32...? I might quit watching just for the cruelity of that fact. I'll still give a thumbs up. my uterus is screaming at me atm.

[@kirstenberg6960]

Having 9 children isn’t cruel. Lots of women still have close to that number and they are happy. A woman’s body is strong and made to be able to give birth. Some more so than others. If she was that fertile, it meant her body could handle it. Clearly.

[@NiobiumThyme]

@@kirstenberg6960 how many children have you birthed?

[@hiddenechoes]

My mom's teeth cracked regularly during her three pregnancies that made it to term. She took all the recommended prenatal pills, but it seemed calcium was leached from her bones and teeth and it led to some issues. She had 8 pregnancies, 5 miscarriages. After the last miscarriage her doctor explained to my father that if they continued trying for more he would have to find a new wife after burying this one. Then my dad took it seriously and got a vasectomy. I know a woman who had 16 pregnancies, 8 to term, and her body is wrecked. She is trying to recover now. Pregnancy may be beautiful, and women's bodies may be "strong" but pregnancy is also incredibly challenging. 9 children by 32 is indeed rough as the depletion of the nutrients are real.

[@zackhalter9571]

Thanks!

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you so much, Zack! As always, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. (Even if this time I temporarily forgot to change the title, haha!)☺

[@DarthDread-oh2ne]

Great job with your work and video. I have A question for you: what is your favorite era in history ?

[@leeannproctor2966]

I would like to know as well.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! ☺Oooh.....that is such a tough question. I honestly really like all eras of history, and it's difficult to compare one to the other, but I _think_ I probably like the medieval period the best. I get very interested in little pockets of history here and there, but something always drags me back into the medieval era, so I think that probably is my favourite. After that, it's ancient history, but that's almost a different subject sometimes!

[@JangianTV]

Superb as always! Complex but ultimately tragic character.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

That marriage was messed up.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! ☺ Poor Caroline Matilda certainly was a complex person, it would have been interesting to see if she would have followed through with trying to hold Denmark as regent through a coup, had she lived longer.

[@VenusianLissette]

thank you

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

You're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it! ☺

[@funtimefoxy6136]

Which Norman royal consort is your favorite? 1. Matilda of Flanders 2. Matilda of Scotland 3. Adeliza of Louvain 4. Matilda of Boulogne (you could say Stephen was still one since he was Henry I’s nephew) 5. Godfrey of Anjou (if you can consider Empress Matilda as the first Queen regnant)

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I do consider Matilda the first Queen Regnant personally! But only because she's my absolute favourite of all time. 🤣 So, from favourite to least favourite; 1. Geoffrey of Anjou. He fought for his wife's lands and treated her well despite the fact they constantly argued, and according to sources of the time, they were pretty ichor a united front on most things. 2. Matilda of Boulogne. Despite being my favourite's enemy, she was a really admirable woman - she raised an army to rescue her husband, worked with him at all times, stood by his side, and was generally as much of a fighter as Empress Matilda. 3. Adeliza of Louvain. I know she didn't make much impact, but she seems like a sweet person who was loyal to her friends, and that's always a good thing. 4. Matilda of Flanders. 5. Matilda of Scotland.

[@Anna_Key]

I had no idea how many Matildas there were!! I only knew of Queen (Regnant) Matilda. I think of Stephen as a pretender. But, luckily, the succession got back on track when Queen Matilda's son was crowned.

[@altinaykor364]

interesting! at first you want to feel sad for Caroline, especially with the way Christian treated her and his indifferentness towards her affair. and can even understand her, because of the lack of attention she was given and really needed love and Struensee had good ideas as well, like letting go of slavery and opening doors for the third class people...but as the story goes, it becomes difficult to have sympathy for either of them, especially Caroline since she grows more arrogant and about Struensee, I'm sorry, I'm just not a fan of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his logic and haven't seen one of his admirers turn into decent people. and Struensee also seems to turn extremely prideful and uncaring of what he's causing and what he's making everyone believe and ultimately I just dislike him for his final betrayal. another example that makes me believe how much 18th century was tragic and painful time, despite it's beautiful and deceiving appearance

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I totally agree! At first, it's easy to be on her side because it's understandable that someone charming paying her attention would turn her head, and heck, even have a little low-key affair on the side for a while. But once you and your lover start side-lining the king (even with his 'permission', which is difficult to ascertain because he may not have mentally been in a position to really understand that permission), and doing everything out in the open, it's kind of different. Sometimes the relationship between Caroline Matilda, Christian and Johann is presented as polygamy, or at least polyamorous, but I honestly don't think it was. If it was truly polygamous in some fashion, Christian wouldn't have been pushed to one side, and there would have been some affection seen from all sides. This reads much more like a cuckolded husband who was unable to fight back - although honestly, he was an awful person as well for treating his new wife the way he did.

[@hiddenechoes]

Ngl, they seem like a fun non traditional spouse couple that could have benefitted from modern medicine and mental health treatments. I love that Christian made sure she wouldn't be charged with any crimes. I feel like she and Julie the Opera singing duelist would have gotten on well.

[@crocodiledundee8685]

What’s happened to the Sea Queens series?

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I've paused it for the time being as it wasn't getting much interest, but I'm still going to be adding some videos to it over the next year, here and there. ☺

[@miedk9871]

Tak!

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Mange tak, jeg er glad for du nød det! 😊

[@miedk9871]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople well, now you’re just showing of 😂🤣

[@misslawlesss]

Theres a brilliant movie about this. ´A Royal Affair´ (2012) with Mads Mikkelsen as the Doctor and Alicia WIkander as Queen Mathilde. See it!

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I love that film! It's got some inaccuracies, but I love the feel of the film, I think it really captured the personalities very well.

[@tamarak.8800]

When you think the guy is pure evil and then turns out to be a progressive master mind...

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

That got me too! 😂

[@lyndamcmullen5506]

❤❤❤

[@Heothbremel]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Not a good life for anyone involved, a terrible time to be living. Like deployed 👍

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

Christian's family hadn't neglected him would he not suffered from mental ilness.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Absolutely true! Of course it was always worse (and is always worse) for those with no money, but factors such as illness and war are no judge of social status, and everyone could be badly off. And thank you! ☺

[@animallover6645]

yeah she had such an awful life but could she have chosen anyone but the physician she did it to herself. Only have a bit of sympathy for her, feel more bad for her husband. Also didn't she figure out that if a woman had affairs they would be in more deeper trouble then say the king.

[@user-fg9xz4bz3b]

I do really wonder why Christian wasn't interested in her?

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

This is it, it's easy to have sympathy for her, but also see what a fundamentally messed-up decision she made. I think it's also possible that Caroline Matilda felt some affinity with Johann because he primarily spoke German, and while (I think) she did learn some Danish, German would have felt closer to her because of her family.

[@sandramatras8345]

​@@user-fg9xz4bz3bhe was severely mentally ill. Probably paranoid schizophrenic.

[@leeannproctor2966]

What she and that physician did was unforgivable and possibly attempted murder if they didn't get caught.

[@DomusQueen89]

She was born into unbelievable privilege lol what? She was very spoiled which is why she did what she did...

[@ing-mariekoppel1637]

You say "the Swedish house of Oldenburg" I do not think the Danes like that. House of Oldenburg = Danish !!!

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Apologies, I will make a note in my description! I'm only human, and sometimes make an error.

[@restingsithface]

I love your videos, have enjoyed them for some time, but the recent addition of AI generated images has really put me off, I'm afraid. Some of the ones you used for this video were genuinely horrifying to look at! It's a shame to see such a well researched and well presented channel use low quality recycled material, it just seems lazy, and kinda disrespectful to the historical subjects to use meat grinder "art" in this way.

[@altinaykor364]

on the contrary those photos are amazing and artistic

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

1. Not 'recent'. I've been using AI images for over a year now. 2. It's extremely difficult to make AI do exactly the historically correct image you want, they are only used when there are not enough real historical images, and I expect an audience intelligent enough to enjoy history to be able to lose themselves in a story, especially when the person making them does not have the budget or costume rack of a BBC documentary. 3. When I have historical images available, I use them. Some of the actual images in this (the country-style painting of Matilda and her son in blue, for example) is actually real, and two people so far have made the incorrect assumption it was AI. 4. Please feel free to enjoy a different *free* (can't stress that enough) well-researched history documentary elsewhere on KZbin that only uses historical images, if my use of a few AI images is so abhorrent.

[@tullesigbrand2576]

Couldn't agree more.