One

The influence of Mrs. Fitzherbert over the Prince of Wales was all for good. He kept better company, drank less, gambled not at all. In fact, he led a reasonably respectable life. Of course he was not faithful to Mrs. Fitzherbert, but she closed her eyes to these passing liaisons, regarding them as beneath her notice. intrigue of his attracted a good deal of attention—that with Anna Maria Crouch, the singer and actress, who had separated from her husband in 1791, and was the mistress of Michael Kelly, whose pupil she had been.

As she was a reigning sovereign at Brighton, so in London, Mrs. Fitzherbert kept up an almost royal state. With part of the money that had been granted in 1787 to the Prince for the payment of his debts, His Royal Highness took for her a mansion in Pall Mall, which, at his expense, was equipped with the utmost luxury.

A picture of the establishment is given in the Journal of Mary Frampton, who had known Mrs. Fitzherbert as a girl: "When Mrs. Fitzherbert was living in Pall Mall, within a few doors of Carlton House, we were at one of the assemblies she gave, which was altogether one of the most splendid I was ever at. Attendants in green and gold, besides the usual livery servants, were stationed in the rooms and up the staircase to announce the company and carry about refreshments, etc. The house was most beautifully furnished; one room was hung with blue satin. A whole-length picture of the Prince of Wales, and his bust and that of the Duke of York, ornamented the dining-rooms. Her own manners ever remained quiet, civil, and unpretending; and in the days of her greatest influence she was never accused of using it improperly."

At the end of 1788 the King was seriously ill-the illness

being of a mental nature-and the appointment of a Regent had to be decided by Parliament. There was at once brought into the foreground of all discussions, public as well as private, the relations of Mrs. Fitzherbert with the Prince of Wales, who naturally was the person to be chosen. Mrs. Fitzherbert believed that when His Royal Highness became Regent he would openly avow the marriage. The trouble was that many other people believed the same. There was an acrimonious debate in the House of Commons in February 1789. The official Bill enacted that if the Prince "shall at any time marry a Papist, then, and in every case, all his powers and authorities, vested in his said Royal Highness, by virtue of this Act, shall cease and determine." John (afterwards Baron) Rolle, Member for Devonshire, moved an amendment, to insert after "or shall at any time marry a Papist," the words " or shall at any time be proved to be married, in fact, or in law, to a Papist." As was only to be expected, a tremendous hubbub arose, which was only stilled, in the end, by a Ministerial announcement denying the marriage. On the eve of the Regency Bill becoming law, the King recovered. A cartoon, "The Funeral Procession of Miss Regency," with Mrs. Fitzherbert as chief mourner, epitomised the position. When the Prince did become Regent, a score of years later, he had long since parted company with Mrs. Fitzherbert.

For the next few years everything went on very much the same as before between Mrs. Fitzherbert and the Prince. "He is even more attached to her than ever," Lord Malmesbury wrote in June 1792; "he is now more under her influence than ever." They went together to Brighton and elsewhere, and the only apparent blot on their happiness was their heavy indebtedness. To meet

urgent demands, sometimes one or other was compelled to pledge jewels or plate.

"The Prince is too much a lady's man ever to be the man of any lady," Sheridan said, and the truth of this remark became increasingly obvious. One of the results, direct or indirect, was a degree of estrangement. The Duke of Gloucester told Mrs. Harcourt, who, of course, made a note of it, that "the marriage between the Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert was without much love on either side. He had his amusements elsewhere, but he had much consideration for her. She was sometimes jealous and discontented; her temper violent, though apparently so quiet. He hoped the Prince would remain in her hands, as she was no political intriguer, and probably, if they parted, he would fall into worse hands.'

What the Duke of Gloucester feared soon came to pass. The Prince came under the influence of Frances, wife of George Bussy Villiers, fourth Earl of Jersey, a man of courtly manners, who has been described by Mrs. Montagu as the "Prince of Maccaronies." His wife, the daughter of the Bishop of Raphoe, had been known as "the beautiful Miss Twysden, and, although she was now forty-one and the mother of a large family, she was still extremely handsome. She exercised what Wraxall has described as her "irresistible fascination and charm to effect the conquest of the Heir-Apparent. Her success was not long delayed. News of this new affair of the Prince was soon communicated to Mrs. Fitzherbert, and, when His Royal Highness had broken one or two engagements with her, her pride rebelled, and she went abroad for a while.

CHAPTER V

CAROLINE, PRINCESS OF WALES (1768–1821): (1) WIFE

"Your Majesty's Greatest Enemy "-The Prince of Wales's MarriageHis heavy financial liabilities-He applies to Pitt for relief-An execution at Carlton House Carlton House closed-Mrs. Fitzherbert -The Prince consents to marry-Princess Caroline of Brunswick— The Court of Brunswick-Caroline as a child—Her wit and waywardness-An attractive girl-Her love of children-Sir James Harris demands her in marriage for the Prince-His accounts of CarolineLady Jersey-Caroline comes to England-Her first meeting with the Prince Marriage-George takes a dislike to his bride-His illtreatment of her-The birth of Princess Charlotte of Wales-Separation agreed upon.

WHEN an officer of his Household informed George IV of the death of Napoleon in May 1821 in these words, "Your Majesty's greatest enemy is dead," Thank God she is dead," replied the King piously, assuming that it was the death of his Consort which was thus announced to him.

For years, and times without number, it had been urged upon the Prince of Wales that it was his duty to marry, but he had always refused point-blank. The mere fact that it was his father's wish he should contract an alliance was in itself sufficient for him passionately to desire to remain single. "I will never marry! My resolution is taken on that subject! I have settled it with Frederick! No, I will never marry!" he said excitedly to Sir James Harris (afterwards created Earl of Malmesbury) in 1784, who tried to mediate between the King and his eldest son in this matter. The efforts of others met with as little success. Later, his relations

with Mrs. Fitzherbert further complicated the question. The Prince was heavily in debt, largely owing to his extravagance and his dissipated manner of living, and the matter was becoming a public scandal. Parliament was not unwilling to relieve the Heir-Apparent from his embarrassments. The King, however, would have none of it, and commanded his Ministers to reject any suggestion of a grant. Of course, the King said, in effect, when the marriage of his son was announced, then it would be possible, indeed it was quite clear that it would be necessary, to reconsider the position.

This unpleasing, sordid quarrel continued. Neither father nor son would give way. In 1786 the Prince asked Pitt to propose in the House of Commons a vote of a quarter of a million. Pitt temporised; in the end did nothing. The Prince, in despair, approached the King, who, after some correspondence, declined in definite terms to sanction any application for an increase of his son's allowance.

Thereupon the Prince announced that it was his intention to shut up Carlton House and live in the country as a private gentleman on a small estate, and to set aside forty thousand a year of his income for his creditors. The King did not regard the threat seriously, and was unmoved in his attitude.

Perhaps the deciding point was that in this year an execution was put in at Carlton House for six hundred pounds, and the sheriff's officers remained in possession for some days, until with difficulty a surety could be found for this small debt. The Prince closed Carlton House, and stopped the building operations there that were then in progress-he had a mania for building; he greatly reduced his racing stud; sold many of his carriage horses, and even some of the carriages-the