A Princess In Need Of A Prince

Royal marriages rarely include love instead duty is the other four-letter word used. Most royal couples hope for some form of compatibility between the prospective bride and bridegroom. And for Princess Charlotte and the Prince of Orange, such an outcome was hoped for as well. The first meeting between the royal pair was to happen over a dinner party her father was throwing.

For the party, Charlotte donned a “violet satin, trimmed with black lace.” The gown didn’t help hide how pale she was  or her agitation. At dinner, Lord Liverpool sat on her left and to her right was the Prince of Orange. 

Charlotte described the future King William III of Netherlands as “very plain but he was so lively and animated that it quite went off…” 

After dinner and allowing the two strolling in the gallery,  an impatient Prinny drew his daughter to a corner to learn her opinion of Slender Billy. Charlotte said, “I like his manner very well, as much as I have seen it.” All her father heard was her agreement to wed the prince so he summoned the Prime Minister (actually entitled First Lord of the Treasury) Lord Liverpool and his wife who offered their felicitations, which was followed by the surprised Prince of Orange. 

It seems Slender Billy was smart than Prinny since in truth he didn’t think he impressed her much. And he hadn’t. She “thought him particularly plain and sickly in his look, his figure very slender, his manner rather hearty and boyish, but not unpleasant in a young soldier.” Not words of affection not even a stir of such feeling. In fact, Charlotte wrote, “I am persuaded I shall have a very great regard and opinion of him which perhaps is better to begin with and more likely to last than love.”

The next day, Prince William called upon her. It wasn’t a success. He informed Charlotte that she would have to spend two or three months a year in Holland when he visited his home country. 

She was devastated. The prince promised that she wouldn’t have to accompany him on his every visit and when she did, she could bring her ladies with her. 

Such a concession had to be enough for her though. That didn’t stop her anger with her father. Slender Billy was chance at freedom from her father nevertheless, the government held the position that the Princess never leave England’s shores.

On January 7 1814, Charlotte spent her eighteenth birthday by visiting her mother during the day and the evening, at a concert with her uncles, the royal dukes. 

The next two months the marriage negotiations raged. Charlotte kept informed of every detail of the negotiations by having them put in writing. Her father was a feckless man who would change anything to suit his whims and that included sending his daughter to Holland. 

A Peace Party

While the talks continued, Napoleon was defeated and all of Europe (except France of course since they lost) and their sovereigns journeyed to England, including the Tsar’s favorite sister, the Grand Duchess Catherine, to celebrate. Much like everyone else, the Grand Duchess was impressed by the Princess. She described her as “the most interesting member of the family…She is blonde, has a handsome nose, a delicious mouth and fine teeth…She is full of spirit and positive in character. She seems to have an iron will in the smallest things…Her manners are so extraordinary that they take one’s breath away… She walks up to any man, young or old, especially takes them by the hand, and shakes it with all her strength… She looks like a boy, or rather a ragamuffin.” 

That strong will the duchess noticed in Charlotte stood firm against her father and his demands of her to visit Holland after her marriage. The princess refused to give in. To irritate her father even more the Prince of Orange didn’t want her to do anything against her will. In the end, the marriage contract specified that Charlotte would not have to leave England against her will. 

While Charlotte signed the marriage contract, Prince of Orange was at Ascot, getting rip roaring drunk. He had to be sent back to London in a coach. Two days later, Charlotte attended a great banquet at Carlton House (the only state occasion she was permitted to attend). Prince William also attended and as was his habit, he got drunk. 

Charlotte was becoming disheartened by the arrangement. She learned Slender Billy’s true nature. Her impression of him changed. To her, he was a “callow, scruffy boy who could not even hold his liquor.” 

Charlotte’s yearning for freedom wasn’t enough to marry Prince William and for three solid reasons. The first was that she wished to marry another prince since Slender Billy was a “dismal prospect”. The second reason was another prince had caught her eye, a certain handsome Prince August. The third was her duty to stand by her mother who would protect her own position as heir presumptive. 

Back Away Not So Slowly

On June 16 1814, Charlotte and Prince of Orange met at Warwick House where she informed him that she’d marry him only if her mother would always be welcome in their home. William wouldn’t agree to that (the two parties hated each other thanks to European politics). She couldn’t marry him without it. 

A shocked William plead for her to think over her decision. Of course, the Whigs and her mother were happy. Prinny not so much. 

 The Princess didn’t know what awaited her.  Soon after her meeting with Billy, she and a companion called upon the Tsar and his sister, who happened to be staying at the same hotel as the Prince of Orange. During the visit, the Tsar attempted to persuade Charlotte to change her mind. She wouldn’t budge. When Charlotte was departing, the Grand Duchess Catherine sent her to the back stairs to avoid William. 

She took the stairs where a small group lingered at the foot of them. Charlotte spotted “A tall, dark, handsome officer wearing the all-white uniform of the Russian heavy cavalry. The officer turned. He was not more than twenty-four years old, but his badges signified that he was already a Lieutenant-General.” 

The handsome Lieutenant-General asked if he could assist the ladies and the princess’s companion informed him of Charlotte’s identity and asked him to see them to her carriage. He did.

The drop-dead gorgeous officer was the General Officer Commanding Cavalry of the Tsar, Prince Leopold Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. 

Love had come for the Princess. 

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A Royal Marriage…Perhaps?

A Princess With Benefits

The Prince Regent had marriage on his mind. Not for himself but for his daughter and the man he had his eye on William VI—Slender Billy—the Prince of Orange. Slender Billy hated the British but there was a threat a bigger threat—Napoleon and Britain was his only hope to defeating the Corsican.

Napoleon had taken the throne of Holland and with it William’s seat so a marriage between the Hereditary Prince of Orange (who reigned over Holland) and Princess Charlotte sounded like a win.

In 1813, this possible marriage fit into England’s desire. Napoleon’s army was rushing back to France and the plan for peace was to create a “buffer state” between France and Prussia. That state was Holland. And to sweeten the deal, the plan was to increase the size of Holland but subsume part of Austrian Netherlands (Belgium to us) and give the Dutch a constitutional monarchy like merry ole England and make Slender Billy king. Naturally, he loved the idea. 

The whispered rumors of the marriage negotiations reached Charlotte. Her mother, Caroline of Brunswick, hated Billy and his family but this was Charlotte’s chance to escape from her father’s thumb. 

A Prince Will Do

Two days after the Prince Regent’s birthday party, the Prince of Orange arrived from Spain to deliver the news of the Duke of Wellington advancing into France. Charlotte knew his appearance was a ploy to have Billy and Charlotte meet. It didn’t happen. 

The cautious Princess wished to learn more about Slender Billy. The Hereditary Prince was described in a way that would not make a woman’s heart race.  He was “very gentlemanlike, well informed and pleasant” as well as the best waltzer. All this was encased in a body that was “excessively plain” and “thin as a needle”.  A month later the Billy return to the theatre of war. 

In October, the first mention of the political marriage was raised to Charlotte. Not by her father but a Sir Henry Halford. Charlotte wasn’t ready to accept the Prince so used a ploy of her own, stating that she preferred the Duke of Gloucester, an Englishman. She was believed. 

Prinny was not pleased. And he knew what was wrong with his daughter. She was drunk because she couldn’t possibly fallen for Gloucester otherwise. This didn’t win over the Princess so the Prince Regent changed tactics by telling his daughter, “There were plenty of eligible princes to choose from and then assured her that he was not the sort of man who would force his daughter to marry anyone against her will.” 

She knew the bull her father was serving her. 

Dinner Then Decide

With Napoleon dealt with, Prince Orange was returning from France to Holland by way of England (the long way home) so the Prince Regent planned a dinner for him. Now, Charlotte had to meet him and consider marriage. Prinny’s new ploy to earn his daughter’s agreement was to be more respectful and loving with her than he had ever been in her life. 

The stubborn young lady understood she had a duty to her nation and her people. The marriage played into the interests of both Holland and Great Britain. Charlotte had a demand. She refuses to accompany Slender Billy to Holland during his visits, saying, “As heiress presumptive to the Crown it is certain that I could not quit this country, as Queen of England still less. Therefore P of O must visit his frogs solo.” 

Slender Billy’s boots hit British soil on December 10. The next day the Prince Regent visited his daughter to pressure her again. Charlotte put off giving an answer by promising to decide after the small and informal dinner. 

Now, a Princess had to decide if Slender Billy will do for her. 

Or another…

Charlotte Augusta: The People’s Princess

The lone child of the Prince of Wales and his utterly unwanted wife resided above her parent’s apartments in the nursery of Carlton House. When Charlotte was a year old, her mother moved out of Carlton House and to a place five miles away in Blackheath.

Charlotte, Princess Of Wales

Not that either parent could be describe as tentative yet, she saw more of her father than her mother since she lived at Carlton House, the Prince’s residence though his attendance there was spotty at best. Charlotte’s staff raised her. When she was an eight-year-girl, Charlotte left behind that place and moved into Warwick House. With this move as well, the staff that had been with her since her first days were replaced. Warwick House was east of Carlton House and nothing more than a crumbling old brick building.

Her new governess was dowager Lady de Clifford. This fifty plus woman was in charge of the “…temperamental tomboy…” The good-natured woman couldn’t discipline her effectively since the princess who may not behave as a princess yet she knew her position and used it to her benefit. Like children everywhere still do.

Nevertheless, the two ladies grew fond of each other and Lady de Clifford did all to make Charlotte’s life less lonely. She had one of her grandsons, the Honorable George Keppe befriend her, a friendship that would last through her lifetime. These two kids got up to much trouble. Later in Keppe’s life when he became the Earl of Albemarle, he wrote a memoir of their childhood. In his memoir, he shared stories which include stories of “..fisticuffs, bolting horses and tears.” He even shared the time that when Charlotte and George visited his parents at their home named Earl’s Court. She slipped through a side gate and joined in the back of the crowd that had gathered outside the house to see the princess.

Yet, it was all fun. Children especially Princess’s must be educated. That task fell to Retired Reverend Dr. John Fisher, Bishop of Exeter. The man had tutored the Duke of Kent and had a long list of court positions. “He was sincerely pious and a connoisseur of painting and drawing. But he was pompous, homourless, dogmatic, willful and absurdly old-fashioned.” The man “…still wore a wig and spoke affectedly.” That man pronounced bishop as “bishup”. At nine, Charlotte graced him with the nickname “the Great UP.”

Charlotte, described as blue-eyed and with peculiarly blonde hair with beautifully shaped hands and feet, had a great talent for acting and mimicry. So, when Lady de Clifford and the “Great Up” argued about Charlotte’s lessons, the Princess would stand behind the bishop and mock him. Lady de Clifford struggled to hold back her laughter while trying to best the man. She would stand behind him, “…jutting out her lower lip, waving her arms and generally ridiculing his expressions and mannerisms in an exaggerated mime.”

This young Princess was educated in religious studies, English, Latin, ancient history, and religious instruction as well as reading, writing, French, German, modern history, and music, dancing, drawing, and writing. For her excellent education, the young princess was much like other children. If in trouble, she wasn’t about a little lie to get out of trouble or her studies.

In 1806, Charlotte saw one of her household writing and asked her what she was doing and was told that she was making her will. The Princess declared that she would too. She left many of her belonging to various staff and her birds to a Mrs. Gagrin and her dog or dogs to Mrs. Anna Hatton, her chambermaid.

In 1809, Charlotte’s tutor was replaced because Dr. Nott, tutor to the Princess had written to Princess Caroline. And no pleading save him, the man who was an “adoptive parent” and Charlotte wrote, “If we never meet again, keep for me your regard and affection.”

Yet, she met another who would love her–the Duke of Brunswick, her uncle William. He is describe as “bluff but dignified and patient.” The loving uncle listened to Charlotte’s “lisping chatter” and never tired of hearing it. The princess loved him so that she returned home and “painted a black moustache on her face and marched up and down in military manner barking guttural expletives, which she hoped very much sounded like German swear words.” Just like her uncle.

Also came the Honorable Margaret Mercer Elphinstone, a companion and confidante for the Princess.

As she grew older, Charlotte learned that she would have to be careful in deed and word, whether written or spoken. Now fifteen, her life would change. In January 1811, the government presented the Regency Bill. On February 6, the Prince of Wales was sworn in as Prince Regent.

The Regency began.

A Rotten Wedding

The Prince of Wales, George, (who would go on to be crowned George IV—son of George III—the Mad King who lost America) loved the finer things in life—fashion, art, architecture, and fine food. He spent every shilling of his allowance on his interests.

And he had a very fine allowance. The Prince received an annual allowance of 60,000 pounds from the Privy Purse and as the Duke of Cornwall (as Prince Charles is now), he received an income of 13, 000 a year from the duchy. Yet, this spoiled, indulged man was in debt for over 600,000 pounds. So, the Prince went to his daddy, the King, who he never enjoyed a good relationship with, but the king refused to pay his bills yet the Prime Minister (a title that didn’t exist at this time and was actually called the First Lord of the Treasury) promised that when the Prince married, his income would increase to 100,000 a year.

Two Princesses were put on the marital block—Princess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, niece to the Prince’s mother, Queen Charlotte. The other was Princess Caroline of Brunswick, niece to George III.

Caroline of Brunswick

Instead of following his mother’s lead, the Prince listened to his scheming mistress, Lady Jersey, and settled upon Princess Caroline of Brunswick, who the Queen had heard many “unsavory rumors” about her.

“The Brunswicker Princess was said to be coarse and uninhibited. She was said to have had several affairs, one with an Irish officer in her father’s army, and it was known that earlier marriage negotiations had been broken off without reason.”

The Prince must not have heard these tales because he sent James Harris, Baron Malmesbury to Brunswick to escort the Princess to England. The Baron arrived on 20 November 1794. The woman presented to him shocked the man.
“It was clear from the disheveled state of her clothes that no one had helped her to dress and that no one had ever taught her how to do it herself: it was also obvious for other reasons that it was at least several days since she had washed herself.”

However, he described her as “pretty face–not expressive of softness–her figure not graceful–fine eyes-good hand–tolerable teeth but going–fair hair and light eyebrows, good bust…”

Her father, the Duke of Brunswick, informed the baron that she is no fool but that she lacks judgment.”

Princess Caroline was twenty-six years old and couldn’t be described as discreet. “She was over-familiar with everyone, and her conversation was coarse and tactless.” Poor Malmesbury spent his time there teaching the Princess the manners of a Princess and proper behavior.

On 29 December 1794, they left for England but had to head to Hanover because it was too dangerous to continue. For the next six weeks, Malmesbury lived his own version of My Fair Lady teaching Caroline how to behave like an English Princess.

Finally, on 28 March 1795, they boarded the HMS Jupiter and traveled to Gravesend, England then climbed on the royal yacht, Augusta, and sailed to Greenwich, landing on Easter Sunday. No one was there to meet her so she was taken to St. James Palace and remained until her wedding day.

Then came the meeting between the couple. Caroline waved at the crowds from an open window, the Prince of Wales entered.

Malmesbury wrote in his diary. “She very properly, in consequence of my saying it to her it was the right mode of proceeding, attempted to kneel to him. He raised her (gracefully enough), and embraced her, said barely one word, turned round, retired to a distant part of the apartment, and calling me to him, said ‘Harris, I am not well; pray get a glass of brandy.’ I said, ‘Sir, had you not better have a glass of water?’—upon which he much out of humor, said with an oath, ‘No; I will go directly to the Queen,’ and away he went…”

Well, Princess Caroline wasn’t a meek miss. She gaped and said, “My God! Is the Prince always like that?” And even added what many thought, “I think he is very fat, and nothing like as handsome as his portrait.”
That night, the couple dined together. It did nothing to improve their relationship. Caroline still hurt by the Prince’s treatment of her was sarcastic and made it known that she knew of the Prince’s relationship with her lady-in-waiting, Lady Jersey. Malmesbury wrote “The Prince was disgusted and this unfortunate dinner fixed his dislike.

Three days later, Caroline was at the altar of the Chapel Royal dressed in a gown chosen by the queen. An old-fashioned confection of huge hoops, broad ribbons, and big bows wrapped around the outside.

The prince ambled his drunk self to the altar, thanks to the literal support of the Dukes of Bedford and Roxburghe. According to Caroline, now the Princess of Wales, her husband passed the greatest part of his bridal night under the grate, where he fell, and where I left him.”

The marriage didn’t improve. Caroline tried to please him but she was dirty and smelled and the Prince voice his displeasure so Caroline just repeated whatever action or word that had displeased him. After three weeks, the couple was living separately. Caroline on the ground floor of Carlton House and the Prince in his luxurious apartment above his wife’s.

Yet, one day short of their ninth month anniversary on 7 January 1796, Princess Charlotte was born into this dysfunctional famil