History

Frederick Louis (or Lewis), Prince of Wales, K.G., was born on 20 January 1707 at Hanover in Germany and died 31 March 1751 in London. He was the eldest son of King George II and father of George III and was a great patron of the arts, residing at Carlton House. His death was blamed on a burst abcess in the lung, perhaps the result of a sporting injury - by legend it was caused by a cricket or tennis ball. His wife was Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, born 1719, and they married at St James's Palace in 1736. She lived to see her son on the throne and died on 8 February 1772. Both are buried in the Hanoverian vault, with George II and his queen, in Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey. This runs underneath the central aisle of the chapel.

Buried with them are five of their children:

Elizabeth Caroline 1740-1759

Louisa Anne 1749-1768, who is said to have died "of a decline"

Edward Augustus, Duke of York 1739-1767 who died unmarried at Monaco and was returned for burial in the Abbey.

Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland and Strathern 1745-1790. He married the Hon.Anne Horton and was interred at a private ceremony on 28 September. His coffin was covered with a black velvet pall adorned with escutcheons of his coat of arms, and his coronet was borne on a black velvet cushion.The canopy was borne by eight admirals, with dukes and earls acting as mourners. The funeral procession, accompanied by drums and trumpets, made its way from the Prince's chambers in Old Palace Yard through the south east door of the Abbey where the coffin was received by the Abbey clergy and choir. The first part of the burial service was read in the chapel and then the body was interred and the service continued.

Frederick William 1750-1765

Small stones mark their graves in the floor of the chapel. Frederick Louis' brother William, Duke of Cumberland "the butcher of Culloden", and unmarried sisters Caroline and Amelia are also buried in the vault.