Charlotte Stuart, Duchess of Albany

Charlotte Stuart, styled Duchess of Albany[1] (29 October 1753 – 17 November 1789) was the illegitimate daughter of the Jacobite pretender Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie" or the "Young Pretender") and his only child to survive infancy.[2]

Quick facts: Charlotte Stuart, Born, Died, Title, Partner... ▼

Charlotte Stuart
Portrait by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Born	29 October 1753 Liège
Died	17 November 1789(1789-11-17) (aged 36) Palazzo Vizzani Sanguinetti, Bologna
Title	Duchess of Albany
Partner	Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan
Children	Marie Victoire de Rohan Charlotte de Rohan Charles Edward Stuart, Count Roehenstart
Parents	Charles Edward Stuart Clementina Walkinshaw

Her mother was Clementina Walkinshaw, who was mistress to the Prince from 1752 until 1760. After years of abuse, Clementina left him, taking Charlotte with her. Charlotte spent most of her life in French convents, estranged from a father who refused to make any provision for her. Unable to marry, she herself became a mistress with illegitimate children, taking Ferdinand de Rohan, Archbishop of Bordeaux, as her lover.

She was finally reconciled with her father in 1784, when he legitimised her and created her Duchess of Albany in the Jacobite peerage. She left her children with her mother, and became her father's carer and companion in the last years of his life, before dying less than two years after him. Her three children were raised in anonymity; however, as Prince Charles Stuart's only grandchildren, they have been the subject of Jacobite interest since their lineage was uncovered in the 20th century.