Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Kassel

Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Kassel (25 February 1726 – 8 October 1808) was a Prussian princess, married to Prince Henry of Prussia. Wilhelmina was the daughter of Prince Maximilian of Hesse-Kassel and Friederike Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the niece of William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and King Frederick I of Sweden. She was introduced to Henry when he visited Kassel in 1751 and was married to him on 25 June 1752 at Charlottenburg Palace. Henry's eldest brother, King Frederick the Great, insisted that his brother marry, of course equally, just as their father had once arranged Frederick's marriage against his will. He only left him the choice of which of the sisters from the House of Hesse he wanted. Wilhelmina was described as a charming beauty. Wilhelmina and Henry had their own court and lived at Schloss Rheinsberg and Berlin. Wilhelmina had no children with Henry, who was reported to pay more attention to his male friends than to her. At his marriage Henry described the situation to his siblings that he was "changing from the captivity of the king to the captivity of marriage". Although the whole court spied on her behavior, she always managed to appear in a good mood and not to offer court gossip a target thanks to her consistently friendly demeanor.