The King grunted; he was already working out in his mind fresh arrangements involving more discipline in the nursery. They sat with the younger children until they finished their dinner, and when they had been to their nursery they sat on together and the King talked in a rather excited manner about young George.
"But I have heard that he learns quickly and is very bright indeed at his lessons.”
"He must learn humility," replied the King. "That must be taught him. You agree, eh? You'd admit he was showing some arrogance. You wouldn't approve of that, eh? What?”
"He has very high spirits and that is no bad thing. I think that on the whole we should be rather proud of him.”
The King nodded, and said he would work out new rules for the children's household; and he would see that the Prince of Wales was taught a little more humility. He wondered how they were getting on with their music. They must love music. He had found more pleasure in music than any other entertainment. He believed that Handel was one of the best of musicians and he wanted the boys and the girls in time to be familiar with his works. Whether they had inherited his love of music or not they were to be made to like it ... just as they would be made to like lean meat and fish when it was not their day for meat.
The door of the room was cautiously opened; the Queen turned sharply, but the King had not heard. Charlotte saw Frederick's face, rather red, his blue eyes alight with purpose and behind him the taller figure of the Prince of Wales.
Suddenly Frederick shouted: "Wilkes and Number Forty Five forever.”
The King leaped to his feet. There was a sound of scampering feet and rushing to the door George saw his elder sons disappear up the staircase. Charlotte came and stood beside him. Then George began to smile; Charlotte smiled too. Then they were both laughing.
"So you see," said the Queen demurely. "Your Majesty cannot get away from Wilkes even at Kew.”
The children should be made aware of their public duty, said the King; and no one could deny that he was a devoted father. To give them an interest and to take their minds from their own petty importance he ordered that a model farm be made at Kew and there they could have their own animals and feel as the King said 'a responsibility towards them'. The King believed that what was entrancing to him must be to his children; and it was he who took more pleasure in the model farm than his sons did. When he was at Kew he would go to see how the milking was getting on and take a turn with the butter making.
"Come, George," he would say. "Come, Fred. You are not princes at this moment. You are farmers. Understand, eh? What's that? You'd rather be a prince, George. I've no doubt. I've no doubt. But you will have to learn to appreciate the joys of working the land, boy.”
For the most part the boys did enjoy playing with their father. They were fond of the animals; but none of them showed the skill the King had in dealing with them. The King had decided that on every Thursday Kew should be thrown open to the public so that they could wander about the grounds and the farm, and see the children at play. They would watch the games of cricket and rounders at which the elder Princes excelled; and the Prince of Wales always enjoyed an audience.
The act of throwing Kew open to the people proved to be a good one, for the King's popularity began to rise again and whatever else was said of him all agreed that he was a good father; and when he met any of his subjects wandering over his lawns he always behaved with the utmost courtesy and never expected them to treat him as a King.
He was a bit dull, they said; and there was nothing exciting about his Court; but he was a good husband and father and that was rare in Kings. But this mingling with the public could be carried too far and when George decided that he wished the children to hold a Court of their own there was some criticism of this. Young Frederick who was at this time seven had, when only a few months old, been given the title of Bishop of Osnabruck, which amused the lampoonists so much that the child was always represented in Bishop's regalia when he appeared in cartoons as he did constantly since he had received this title.
At the reception the five eldest children stood on a dais where they received the company in the utmost solemnity. The Prince of Wales, wearing the Order of the Garter, looked particularly jaunty and young Frederick, the youthful Bishop, wore the Order of the Bath. The ceremony was subjected to the utmost ridicule which delighted those noblemen who, with their wives, had been obliged to bow before such young children.
The cartoonists were busy; examples of their work were handed round; and the Prince of Wales was drawn flying a kite while a Whig dignitary bowed low before him. It was a mistake, George realized; and he was very susceptible to the feelings he aroused in his subjects. But even though this ceremony brought the jeers of the writers and artists, everyone went on admitting that the King was a good father and considering the state of the country and that he was therefore overwhelmed by anxieties brought about by the hostilities between his ministers and their ineptitude in solving the nation's affairs, he still had time to supervise his children's education.
George was a family man.
Scandal at home
A family, though, could prove a heavy liability. George had long known that his brothers were creating scandal by the lives they led. Deploring this, George reminded himself that this fault in them could to some extent be blamed on their upbringing. So eager had their mother been to shield them from contamination by the wicked world that she had kept them shut away until they were too old to go on leading the sheltered lives she had arranged for them. And the result! As soon as they were free they began living like libertines, desperately, feverishly trying to make up for lost time.
There had been Edward, the companion of his childhood, who had been his favourite brother.
When they were boys they had shared confidences and it was to Edward that George had told the story of his love for Hannah Lightfoot, and it was Edward who had said that he would always stand beside his brother in everything he did. But when Edward broke free of maternal restraint he had given vent to such lechery that George could no longer feel the same affection for him; and Edward had chided his brother for his prudery. It had broken some of the links which bound them together, but the affection had still been there. George was affectionate by nature and the love for a brother could not be so easily destroyed. Edward Duke of York had gone to sea and, when ashore at Monaco, he had attended a ball, caught a chill and died. That had been a shock to George, even though some of his affection had waned. He could not forget the friendship of their boyhood and he had been very sad for a long time over Edward's death.
Now he was to receive a fresh shock, this time through the younger of the two brothers who remained to him, Henry the Duke of Cumberland. Young Cumberland came to George one day in an abject mood so unusual with him that George guessed something was very wrong. He soon discovered how wrong.
Cumberland said: "I have been a fool, George." And the fact that he called him by his Christian name was an indication to the King that he was appealing to him as a brother.
George replied: "Doesn't surprise me. I've heard tales of your doings from time to time. What have you been up to now, eh? What?”
"It's Lord Grosvenor, George.”
"Well, well, well, what of him, eh? what? Get on.”
"He's suing me for damages.”
"Suing a member of the royal family! He can't do that.”
"Well, George, he is threatening to do it.”
"On what grounds, eh?”
Cumberland hesitated and looked sheepish. "Well, you see, I was very fond at one time of Lady Grosvenor.”
"You idiot! You young fool! And now what?”