William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (8 January 1686 – 7 January 1723), was Margrave of the Principality of Brandenburg-Ansbach from 1703 until his death in 1723. He was the younger brother of Caroline of Ansbach and thus brother-in-law of George II of Great Britain. William Frederick was born in Ansbach in 1686 to John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach. His two surviving half-brothers, Margraves Christian Albert and George Frederick II, both died unmarried and without legitimate issue. He married his first cousin, Christiane Charlotte of Württemberg-Winnental. He died
Caroline of Ansbach ugly little she-mouse" rather than a "large, fat, healthy boy" as the pitiful nature of the baby made a supposititious child unlikely. The circumstances of the birth deepened the estrangement between mother and son. According to Lord Hervey, she once remarked after seeing Frederick, "Look, there he goes—that wretch!—that villain!—I wish the ground would open this moment and sink the monster to the lowest hole in hell!" In the final years of her life, Caroline was troubled by gout in her feet, but more seriously she had suffered an umbilical hernia at the birth of her final child in 1724.