Maria was his wife— and now he proposed to marry a German Princess because Parliament, the King and Mr. Pitt demanded it. They did not accept his marriage to Maria because the King had passed a law saying that no member of the royal family could marry without his consent. That was the law; and any ceremony which ignored that law— even though a priest had officiated, even though the marriage vows had been taken— was null and void. A court had proved it with Augustus. So it was clear enough and Maria must understand that it was not his fault. He had been bludgeoned into this for the sake of the State.
Oh, what a burden it was to be heir to a Crown! He let his thoughts wander back to the early days with Maria. His passion for her, that wild uncontrollable Passion when he had believed that he would do anything— just anything— in order to marry her.
‘I’d crowns resignTo call thee mine he had sung, and meant it.
Oh yes he had meant it. And he would have given up everything then and left England with her. They could have had a pleasant little house on the Continent, in France say. No, not France, that unhappy country, which had so bloodthirstily rejected monarchy— not France, which had brought home to him how uneasily crowns sat on royal heads; and this very precariousness had made them seem infinitely desirable. Infinitely, yes— and he had reassured himself there was no need to give up his crown for Maria, because he could have them both.
So the marriage had been denied by Fox in the House of Commons and it had been shown to him that although he and Maria considered themselves husband and wife, the State did not. So all was well, which it would not have been. If the marriage had been accepted by the State— for not only was Maria a commoner but a Catholic. And on the grounds of the latter alone he could have lost his crown.
I’d all resign, Except my crown might have been a more accurate expression of his feelings. Maria must understand. She must.
Maria was unlike other women. Most would have stormed and raged— at least made some attempt to get him back.. Ne remembered Perdita’s futile endeavours for which he had despised her. But Maria made no such attempts.
Maria left England; she did not answer his letter but meekly accepted his decree — as though she did not care.
But now she was back in England, how he would like to see her again. To reason with her, to explain: See my difficulties Maria. I have to marry this German woman. I know I am going to dislike the poor thing. But I have to marry her. We have to have heirs. I shall endeavour to do my duty and when it is done— I need never go near her. Frances Jersey? She’s a siren. Irresistible. But I don’t love her— not as I love you— always have— always will— Until death, Maria— But Maria made no attempt to see him. And how could he return to her now?
One of the conditions of this horrible bargain had been that he must give her up.
Only while he behaved as though there had been no marriage with Maria could he enter into one with Caroline of Brunswick. Although the State declared the marriage with Maria was no marriage, the Church accepted it. And there would be many people in the country who did.
What would the people think of a prince who, married to one woman, allowed himself to be married to another?
It was quite clear— Frances aside— that he dared not return to Maria now.
But he did not want her to think he had forgotten her. He wanted her to know how sad this situation had made him. He decided that he would go without delay to see the King.
The King received the Prince of Wales with a show of affection.
How the old man has changed! thought the Prince. By God, he looks as if he could lose his reason again at any moment. But there was one benefit from the change; he had grown more mellow; he was more inclined to see reason.
The Prince’s manner was more gentle towards his father than it had been in the past and this helped to subdue the animosity between them. The King was sad rather than angry. How many sleepless nights this son of mine has given me, he thought. But he was young and now he is beginning to realize his responsibilities.
He’ll do his duty now.
‘Your Majesty, I have today written to Malmesbury telling him to expedite matters over there.’
The King looked pleased. No sign of truculence. After all these years of resistance to doing his duty, the Prince was now prepared to take this step.
Excellent, eh, what? thought the King.
‘I hope she proves as fertile as your mother.’
God forbid, thought the Prince. Surely even his father realized that thirteen— and there might have been fifteen— was more than enough with which to burden the State.
‘I feel optimistic that we shall not disappoint Your Majesty.’
The King inclined his head and, determined to come to the point while he was in this tolerant mood, the Prince said quickly, ‘There is one matter on which I should like to consult Your Majesty.’
‘Yes, what is it, eh?’
‘Your Majesty will know that I had a connection with a certain lady which— er— no longer exists.’
‘I am glad to hear it no longer exists. It must no longer exist, for if it did that could provide very grave consequences you understand, eh, what?’
The Prince kept his temper and went on, ‘I know this full well, Your Majesty.
The connection no longer exists but I feel certain obligations towards the lady.’
The King grunted but the Prince hurried on, ‘During this connection the lady received three thousand pounds a year, which I intend to continue although my connection with the lady is completely severed. But I should like Your Majesty’s assurance that in the event of my death before that of the lady this pension should be continued.’
The King interrupted him. ‘I know I know—’ Then he softened. ‘This lady is Maria Fitzherbert, a comely widow.’ The King’s mouth slackened a little, he was looking back over the years before he had been ill; he was thinking of all the temptations which had come his way and how he had resisted them. They would be surprised, these people who surrounded him, if they knew that in his way he was as fond of women as his sons were proving themselves to be.
Sarah Lennox making hay in Holland House. What a little beauty she had been! And he would have married her. He certainly had it in his mind to do so.
And before her there had been Hannah Lightfoot, the beautiful Quaker girl. He had better not think of her. But he had done what he had thought right and married plain homely Princess Charlotte and tried to put other women out of his mind.
Elizabeth Pembroke— what a beauty! There was a woman he could love. She was at the Court and he had to see her every day and he had to remind himself that he was married to Charlotte and that it his duty to set an example. Duty.
Always duty.
Plain Charlotte instead of beautiful Sarah Lennox. Fifteen children and not an illegitimate one among them. There had been Hannah of course but that was before that was all in the past. Since his marriage he had been a faithful husband — except in thought, of course. But how could a man help his thoughts?
And because of his own feelings, he could understand the Prince’s. This Maria Fitzherbert was a good woman by all accounts. Pity she had not been a Protestant German Princess instead of a Catholic English widow. He believed she would have had a good influence on the Prince. In fact he knew she had had this because she urged him to live less extravagantly, to gamble less, to drink less, to give up his more disreputable friends.