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 Charlotte died on a visit to her native Hanover. Caroline was devastated, writing to Leibniz, "The calamity has overwhelmed me with grief and sickness, and it is only the hope that I may soon follow her that consoles me." In June 1705, Queen Sophia Charlotte's nephew, Prince George Augustus of Hanover, visited the Ansbach court, supposedly incognito, to inspect Caroline, as his father the Elector did not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he himself had. The nephew of three childless uncles, George Augustus was under pressure to marry and father an heir to prevent