But there was constant trouble. No sooner was the threat of invasion removed than the family was at war within itself.
The Prince of Wales hated his wife and this was an even sadder pattern than that set by the family when father and son were fighting together. At least he had been faithful to his Queen; George II had been notoriously uxorious in spite of constant infidelity. George I— ah, there had been a sad case of husband and wife who had been enemies— But what was the use of thinking of the past? He dared not think too much.
His head went into a painful whirl when he did so. He tried to catch at his thoughts and found them eluding him. He grew alarmed when that happened.
I must not think of it, he told himself. And I must not receive her. On her request Spencer Perceval called to see Caroline and listened to her account of the King’s refusal to receive her.
‘This must not be allowed to continue,’ he told her, ‘or it will be said that you were guilty. His Majesty is treating you though you are. This must be stopped at all cost or the verdict of the people will be against you. This is unthinkable, for try as they did the Council could prove no case against you. The King must receive you. You should write again and request him to do so.’
This she did and it brought a reply from the King. He would see her; but before the meeting could be arranged she received a letter from Windsor in which the King said that he must postpone receiving her because he had heard from the Prince of Wales that he intended consulting his lawyer with regard to the Council’s findings. Until he heard the result of this His Majesty must put off the meeting.
When Caroline received this letter she was furious. She wrote indignantly to the King. It was with great pain that she had read his letter, she said. It was seven months since she had seen the King and now that nothing had been proved against her there was no longer any reason why he should refuse to see her. She signed herself : ‘His dutiful and affection ate but much injured subject and daughter-in-law’.
She declared that she would be received at Court. She was not going to be thrust aside in this way. How dare the Prince of Wales, whose own life was so scandalous, treat her in this way?
Perceval came to see her. He heard of the latest developments and said they must delay no longer. It was necessary to deliver an ultimatum. The only thing she could do was threaten to publish the findings of the Council which would enable the public to know how she had been slandered and proved innocent. They were already on her side because of their dislike of the Prince of Wales and would be ready to believe her; and neither the Prince of Wales nor the King dared stand out against public opinion.
He dictated a letter which she was to send to the King.
‘As to any consequences which may arise from such publication, unpleasant or hurtful to my own feelings and interests, I may perhaps be properly responsible— but whatever these consequences may be, I am fully convinced that they must be incalculably less than those to which I am exposed by my silence—’ As there was no reply to this letter, Perceval arranged for five thousand copies to be printed of what was known as The Book; this contained a full report of the proceedings against the Princess of Wales at the Delicate Investigation.
Then, due to a dispute concerning Catholic reform, the Government fell, and the Whig friends of the Prince of Wales were replaced by the Tories. Lord Portland was Prime Minister and Spencer Perceval was given the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. The leading ministers were now the enemies of the Prince of Wales which meant that they would give support to Caroline. Perceval lost no time in doing all he could to reinstate her. Very soon after the new Ministry had been formed, he prevailed upon Portland and other Ministers, including George Canning, to put their names to an ultimatum which was addressed to the King.
‘Your Majesty’s confidential servants humbly submit to Your Majesty that it is essentially necessary, injustice to Her Royal Highness and for the honour and interests of Your Majesty’s illustrious family, that Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales should be admitted with as little delay as possible into Your Majesty’s royal presence, and that she should be received in a manner due to her rank and station in Your Majesty’s Court and family.’ Another letter followed this in which it was suggested that a suitable residence be found for the Princess of Wales which would be nearer to the royal palaces and enable her to be within easy access of the Court.
This was something the King could not ignore. He knew if he did so, The Book would immediately be published and the people would rise up against the Prince of Wales— and perhaps the King— for treating the Princess so cruelly.
‘She must be invited to Court without delay,’ he told the Queen, who was wise enough to recognize an ultimatum.
‘It is something we shall be forced to endure,’ she agreed.
‘And where can she be lodged?’
‘As far from Carlton House as possible, I suggest. Perhaps Kensington Palace.’
So Kensington Palace it was; but although Caroline took apartments there she kept on Montague House and declared to Mrs Fitzgerald that she was only going to Court to let people know that she was innocent of the charges brought against her, for to stay away might give an appearance of guilt. What she enjoyed most would be her stays in Montague when she could devote herself to Willikin and entertaining her friends there in her own way without the ceremony which could not be avoided in palaces.
The King greeted her with affection and tears in his eyes. ‘My dear, how glad I am to see you! It has been a bad time— eh, what, a bad time?’
‘A very bad time, dear Uncle. But I hope it is over now and your feelings towards me have not changed.’
With tears in his eyes he assured her this was not so.
The Queen regarded her coldly and gave her only the barest acknowledgement while her eyes rested on the extravagant dress of too many colours, cut far too low. Caroline wanted to laugh at her; but she reminded herself that she must be on her best behaviour.
The Princesses of course followed their mother and treated her with an almost cool insolence.
And then the Prince of Wales. She looked at him almost hopefully. He was splendid, not so glittering as in the past being under the influence of Beau Brummell who had taught him his own special brand of unobtrusive elegance.
She dropped a curtsey.
His bow was notorious. There was no one who could perform the act with such grace. There was a breathless moment when he enacted this feat for now it was especially interesting.
It was over very quickly— that most elegant bow— and then she was looking at the Prince’s back. He had turned and was speaking to one of his sisters.
So— she was to be received back at Court though ignored by the Prince of Wales and the Delicate Investigation was over— but not forgotten.
Royal Scandals
Just before Caroline had gone to Court she had had sad news from Brunswick.
Her father, the Duke, had been killed while leading the Prussian army against Napoleon.
This event had momentarily made her forget her own dismal affairs. She was very melancholy. She thought of her father and all he had meant to her in the past.
He had been perhaps the only person she had really loved during her Brunswick childhood. It was true that it was long since she had said goodbye to him but she had never forgotten him.
Incidents from the old days kept coming back to her; the occasion when she had pretended she was in labour, Charlotte’s wedding; the day he had told her that she need never marry if she did not wish. If only she had taken his advice, but would she have enjoyed life any more in Brunswick, at the mercy of her rather silly mother and sensible Madame de Hertzfeldt? And then she would never have had Charlotte.