Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen

| title = Duchess Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Mirow
Princess of Mirow

| full name =

| image = Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen.jpg

| caption = Portrait by Allan Ramsay

| reign =

| succession =

| coronation =

| predecessor =

| successor =

| spouse = {{marriage|Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg|1735|1752|end=d}}

| issue = {{Plainlist|

Duchess Christiane
Duchess Karoline
Duke Adolf Friedrich IV
Duchess Elizabeth Christine
Duchess Sophie Louise
Duke Charles II
Duke Ernst Gottlob
Charlotte, Queen of the United Kingdom
Duke Gotthelf
Duke George Augustus

}}

| house = Saxe-Hildburghausen

| father = Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen

| mother = Countess Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1713|8|4|df=y}}

| birth_place = Hildburghausen, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Holy Roman Empire

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1761|6|29|1713|8|4|df=y}}

| death_place = Neustrelitz, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Holy Roman Empire

| place of burial = Johanniterkirche, Mirow

}}

Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen (4 August 1713 – 29 June 1761) was a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.{{cite book | title=L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome VI: Bade-Mecklembourg | publisher=Laballery |author1=Huberty, Michel |author2=Giraud, Alain |author3=Magdelaine, F. and B. | year=1991 | location=France | pages=187, 201, 210–211| isbn=2-901138-06-3}} She served as regent for her son after the deaths in 1752–1753 of her husband and brother-in-law of, respectively, the ducal appanage of Mirow and of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Biography

Elisabeth Albertine was a daughter of Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1681–1724), and his wife, Countess Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach (1683–1742).

On 5 February 1735, Elisabeth married Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Mirow (23 February 1707 – 5 June 1752) at Eisfeld, the youngest son of Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and half-brother to Adolphus Frederick III. They became the parents of ten children.{{ cite web | last = McDonald | first= Simon |url= http://ukingermany.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=618417582 | title = A British Queen from Mecklenburg | date= 2011 | work= British Embassy, Berlin | url-status= dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703185708/http://ukingermany.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=618417582 |archive-date= 3 July 2011 | author-link=Simon McDonald, Baron McDonald of Salford }}

The death of her childless brother-in-law on 11 December 1752, six months after she was widowed, left Albertine as regent of both men's duchies on behalf of her eldest son, Adolphus Frederick IV, until he attained his majority at the age of 14 on 17 January 1753. During that brief period she ruled the Strelitz duchies under the protection of George II of Great Britain, warding off encroachments from Duke Christian Ludwig II, ruler of the Schwerin branch of the House of Mecklenburg.

She died in 1761, shortly before the marriage of her daughter Sophia Charlotte to King George III of Great Britain, and was buried at the ducal crypt in Mirow.

Issue

Elisabeth had ten children, including the future Queen Charlotte, consort to King George III of the United Kingdom.

width=20% \| Name	width=60px \| Portrait	Lifespan	Notes
style="margin:0.3em auto; text-align:center; min-width:70em" class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" ! colspan=4 \| Issue
Christiane	60px	6 December 1735- 31 August 1794	Died unmarried
Caroline		22 December 1736- 22 December 1736	Died in infancy
Adolphus Frederick IV Duke of Mecklenburg	60px	5 May 1738- 2 June 1794	Died unmarried
Elisabeth Christine		13 April 1739- 9 April 1741	Died in infancy
Sophie Louise		16 May 1740- 31 January 1742	Died in infancy
Charles II Grand Duke of Mecklenburg	60px	10 October 1741- 6 November 1816	Married firstly Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt and had issue; married secondly Princess Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt and had issue
Ernst Gottlob Albert	60px	27 August 1742- 27 January 1814	Died unmarried
Sophie Charlotte Queen of the United Kingdom	60px	19 May 1744- 17 November 1818	Married George III of the United Kingdom and had issue;
Gotthelf		29 October 1745- 31 October 1745	Died in infancy
George Augustus	60px	16 August 1748- 14 November 1785	Died unmarried