REJOICINGS FOR WATERLOO—THE MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND—PRINCE
LEOPOLD—MARRIAGE RUMOURS—MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE—HOW IT WAS
BROUGHT ABOUT—LATER REVELATIONS—CHARACTER OF THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE.
JOURNAL CONTINUED.
JUNE 23 and 24, 1815.—London was illuminated, and order given out for
the Court going into mourning for the Duke of Brunswick, on the 29th,
for two months. I went to the Opera with Miss Tisdall, on the 24th; “I
Riti d’Efeso,” and “L’Enfant Prodigue”—a bad opera and bad ballet; the
subject of the latter was the beautiful parable of the Prodigal Son, in
the Arabian costume. The actors came forward and sang “Exulta
Britannia,” which was composed last year, and “God save the King.” The
following week brought with it nothing very interesting. I dined on
Wednesday, the 28th, at Count de Salis’s, where there was a pleasant
party, and most of my time I afterwards spent with Princess
Castelcicala, who was very uneasy about her eldest son, from whom she
had not heard, and who appears to have been taken prisoner. On the 30th
I had a letter from Princess Charlotte, very uneasy about the Duke and
Duchess of Cumberland[53] probably proposing a marriage with her son,
Prince Salms Brauenfels, by her first husband, brother of the King of
Prussia; telling me, likewise, she had other views, which were promoted
by the Duke of York.
On the 2nd of July, I went to Lord St. Vincent’s, at Rochetts. On the
3rd, the Duke of Cumberland’s request for an additional grant of
6000_l._ a year for himself and his Duchess was thrown out by a majority
of one, which one was Lord Cochrane, who had paid his fine and appeared
once more in the House. Dreadful abuse of the two royal personages.
On the 8th we received the account of the surrender of Paris,[54] by a
military convention, to the Duke of Wellington. Mr. Whitbread[55] cut
his throat the other morning; his friends say it was on account of his
disappointment as proprietor of Drury Lane Theatre; his enemies suppose
a political conspiracy with Bonaparte, discovered by papers found in the
carriage of the latter. The most probable reason is insanity, at least
temporary, caused by the pressure of blood on the brain, which had, in
the opinion of some, rendered him liable to apoplexy. Colonel Palmer
came on the 8th, and stayed till the 9th, as did Mr. Parker. The Duchess
d’Angoulême was going to Bordeaux, as Madame de Narbonne writes me, but
waits, for fear of committing the loyal Bordelais, now that the
remaining rebel army is permitted by the Convention to take their route
across the Loire. General and Mrs. Egerton passed a day and night.
Louis XVIII. entered Paris on the 8th, and was received with
acclamations and white cockades. On the 10th the Emperors of Austria and
Russia and the King of Prussia arrived there.
I had a letter from Princess Charlotte on the 13th, and another on the
18th, both very kind and confidential. The Queen very ill from vexation,
and still keeping firm in her refusal to receive the Duke of Cumberland,
who is daily expected; and Princess Charlotte is ordered to leave town,
which she does on the 22nd. The Dowager Lady Rosslyn has resigned, and
new arrangements are mentioned. She is first to go to Cranbourne Lodge,
and afterwards to Weymouth.
22nd.—News arrived of Bonaparte having surrendered himself to Captain
Maitland, of the _Bellerophon_, off Rochefort.
On the 28th I left Rochetts to pass one night in London, and proceeded
next day to Savernak Lodge. Lord and Lady Aylesbury, having made up
their minds to go to Paris for ten days or a fortnight, wished me to
stay with their children in the mean while, and to take Lord Bruce on my
way. I dined at Prince Castelcicala’s, and called on the Duke de Sérent
and Madame de Narbonne. Madame d’Angoulême was gone, and they had heard
of her safe arrival at Dieppe. In the evening we walked through the Park
to Lady Charleville’s.
29th.—In the morning I went to Mitcham, fetched Lord Bruce, and arrived
about half-past nine in the evening at Tottenham Park. Bonaparte is to
go to St. Helena in the _Northumberland_, Admiral Sir George Cockburn,
guarded by Sir Hudson Lowe, who was Blücher’s interpreter last year. St.
Helena is to be purchased by Government from the East India Company, and
a regiment to be sent to guard the prisoner. It is reported that Madame
Bertrand[56] attempted to kill herself when she heard of this
destination, and that Bonaparte has declared he will not be taken alive
on board the _Northumberland_, or out of the _Bellerophon_. Crowds of
people get round the ship daily to see him.
Princess Charlotte[57] arrived at Weymouth on the 3rd of this month
(August). She was received with enthusiasm wherever she passed, and the
same at Weymouth; but having a bad cold, she was obliged to stay at home
on her first arrival there.
August 12th.—Letters from Plymouth brought accounts of Bonaparte having
been transferred from the _Bellerophon_ to the _Northumberland_, off
Torbay. On Monday, the 7th, Lord Keith sailed from Plymouth in the
_Tonnant_, hoisting his flag on board her for the purpose of presiding
over the _transhipment_—a word which seems to have been fabricated for
the present purpose. He went in the barge of the _Tonnant_ to fetch
Bonaparte, who, with Marshal Bertrand and his wife, and a Count and
Countess de Montholon (with their children), attended by a few servants,
are to go in the _Northumberland_, Admiral Sir G. Cockburn, to St.
Helena. An officer who was on board the _Northumberland_ when they
arrived on board, says, in a letter to his sister, dated the same day,
that Bonaparte was rather in better humour, but had been very sulky for
several days, having expected to remain in England. During the time the
_Bellerophon_ was off Plymouth, the crowd of spectators which flocked in
boats around her was enormous. Lord R. writes that the people began to
be partial to Bonaparte. The papers say this morning that Sir Hudson
Lowe is arrived in town, which appears as if he were not to accompany
the prisoner.
Sir Hudson is appointed Governor of St. Helena, and is going out very
soon. It is said a Prussian and an Austrian Commissioner are appointed
to reside there also. Commissioners from all the Courts, including
France, have been appointed.
14th.—Lord and Lady Aylesbury returned from Paris, where they left
everything quiet, though in a very odd state, and such a one as cannot
be expected to last. The Prussians are the most disliked, the English
praised, and the Russians courted. The works of art are claimed by the
Prussians and other nations, from whom they were taken by the French.
On the 7th of October the two Chambers met, and the King made a speech
to them, announcing the treaty he had made with the Allied Sovereigns,
the particulars of which he should in a short time communicate to them.
The French complain heavily of the pictures, statues, and other works of
art which they had taken from other countries being taken from them.
Canova is at Paris, commissioned by the Pope to pack up those which were
taken from Rome.
October 20th.—Accounts arrived from Paris of the addresses of the
Chamber of Peers and that of Deputies to the King; both very loyal, and
the latter very strong with respect to the punishment of traitors.
General Porlier, who with some officers and about eight hundred men had
attempted to revolutionise Corunna, has been executed by order of the
Spanish Government.[58]
[1816.]
January 10th.—Princess Charlotte summoned to Cranbourne Lodge to
accompany the Queen to Brighton, where her birthday was to be kept, and
it was and still is expected that she is to marry the Prince Leopold of
Saxe-Coburg at her own request. She went to Brighton with the Queen on
the 6th. Nothing extraordinary seems to have been done for her
birthday,[59] though it completes her twentieth year. Many people of
rank were invited to meet the Queen when she was there at Christmas, but
not so now.
I had a kind message from Princess Charlotte this morning, conveyed by a
person who saw her while at Cranbourne. She was much thinner, as she had
been reduced by the medicines she had been obliged to take for a pain in
her side, occasioned by a bilious disorder, which was erroneously
treated as nervous.
This morning I called on Lord St. Vincent in Mortimer-street, as he came
to consult Clive and Sir Edward Horne for his wrist, which had suffered
by a fall. I also went with Princess Castelcicala to see the paintings
and drawings of Gottenburgh, a German from Vienna. He is an old man, but
still makes beautiful small drawings in pencil, portraits chiefly of
Roman women; and his small copies in oils, from Correggio and other
masters, are very good.
12th.—I called in the morning at Lady Louisa Macdonald’s, Mr. Keate’s,
and on the Ladies Bruce. Everybody talks of this marriage, and K. told
me the Queen and Prince Regent, when they wrote to order Princess
Charlotte to Cranbourne and Brighton, said she would meet with an
agreeable surprise. It is now supposed they will prolong their stay at
Brighton till after the 18th, and it is supposed the young man will be
sent for. People say he has only 200_l._ a year, which they calculate is
just enough to buy him two coats and a dozen of shirts. I dined at Mr.
Hallam’s, where I met Mr. Ward, Mr. H. Fane, and Mr. W. J. Rose. The
first is counted one of our first wits; has not been long returned from
Italy. He is certainly very clever and entertaining, but odd, and rash
in his judgments.[60] Mr. H. Fane appears pedantic, but well informed.
13th.—I dined at Lady Downshire’s. The Duke of Sussex and his son,
Captain d’Este, &c. &c., dined there. No mention was made of Princess
Charlotte’s marriage. It is said that the Dukes of Bedford and
Devonshire have received nothing from their tenants for the last year.
14th.—I dined at Prince Castelcicala’s. General Count Nugent, commander
of the Austrian army in Italy, has married the orphan daughter of the
late Marquis Carleto at Naples, whose mother was one of the daughters of
Prince Xavier of Saxony.
17th.—Dined at Sir Archibald Macdonald’s. Duchess-Dowager of Leeds and
Lady Catherine Osborne, Mr. Osborne Markham, Mr. Jekyll, and Archdeacon
Pott there. Sir Robert Wilson, Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. Bruce, who
travelled with Lady Hester Stanhope in the desert, were accused of high
treason in France for effecting the escape of Lavalette.[61]
18th.—Called on Miss Fielding, Lady Mary Parker, and Miss Mercer
Elphinstone. The latter said she had received only one letter from
Princess Charlotte since her stay at Brighton, and no mention in it of
the marriage.
23rd.—I had letters from Lady Mary Hill, and Mr. Hallam mentioned a
paragraph in the _Morning Chronicle_ of a Prince Leopold of saxe-coburg
being married at Vienna, but it proves to be a Prince Ferdinand.
February 6th.—I had a letter from a friend, who mentions Princess
Charlotte as desiring to contradict the reports relative to her
marriage. It appears that there is some obstacle which she cannot
surmount, as she wishes to consult the papers respecting her engagement
with the Prince of Orange. Probably in this instance, as in that, her
father and his Ministers wish her to live abroad.
8th.—Went to town. Princess Castelcicala and the Ladies Hill called. It
seems Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg _asked_ for the command of the
troops in Hanover. I dined at Lady Downshire’s.
22nd.—I called on the Misses [ ]. Mr. D. said he had just seen Lord
Liverpool, and that he and Lord Castlereagh were to accompany the Prince
of Saxe-Coburg to Brighton to-morrow. Afterwards called on Mrs. R. Keate
and Lady Neave. Mr. Lyttleton had been there, and said the Princess
Charlotte would not marry the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, as he would take
her to Hanover.
26th.—Princess Charlotte goes with the Queen to-day to Brighton. At
Windsor they consider the marriage as certain.
28th.—I received a very kind letter from Princess Charlotte, dated
Saturday, 24th. Very happy in the thoughts of approaching freedom, and
saying that she should send for me to visit her as soon as she was
mistress of her own house. I went this morning to Chantry’s, while Lord
St. Vincent sat for his bust.
I afterwards saw a person, who told me Princess Mary had informed him
that the Prince Regent was quite nervous with impatience to get Princess
Charlotte married, as otherwise the Opposition might clamour for her
being treated as an heir-apparent, and want more than ministers could,
or it would be proper to, give.
March 1.—I was at a small party at Lady Harrington’s. It was said there
that orders had been sent to Weymouth to prepare the Lodge for the
reception of somebody, but of whom it is not known. Some said the Prince
of Saxe-Coburg was to remain there until the marriage; others, that
Princess Charlotte was; others, that perhaps they were to be married
soon, and both go there to stay till after Easter. It is now said the
Prince Regent is to come to town on the 10th.
The introduction of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg was very embarrassing
to Princess Charlotte, and (what must have been still more so) the Queen
then left them together. He is now sent on a tour, and to finish at
Weymouth, where he is to remain till the day before the marriage. She is
gone back to Cranbourne Lodge. Lord Winchilsea, who is just returned
from Windsor, said at the Opera that the message about the marriage was
to go down to Parliament to-day. Others say it is not to be till this
day week. I dined at Prince Castelcicala’s. I believe it is true that
the Duke de Berri is to marry the grand-daughter of the King of Naples,
by the first wife of the Hereditary Prince, who was sister of the
Emperor of Austria.
6th.—The message[62] did not come down; and Mr. Thomas Granville told
Mr. T. that the reason was because there was a difficulty; for that the
Prince Regent wished 50,000_l._ a year to be asked for Princess
Charlotte and her husband, but only 10,000_l._ of it to be given into
their hands for their privy purse, and the salaries of three ladies and
three gentlemen; the other 40,000_l._ to be given to him to provide
house, &c. for them. This being an intention subversive of all
confidence in their future Queen, Mr. Thomas Granville considered as
impossible to be proposed by any Ministers, and therefore concluded some
alteration in it must take place. How true this account might be I know
not; but the provision has been settled at 10,000_l._ a year to Prince
Leopold, for their joint expenses, and 60,000_l._ as an outfit.
29th.—The Duke de Berri’s approaching marriage with the Princess
Caroline, daughter of the Hereditary Prince of Naples, by his first
wife, a sister of the Emperor, is confirmed.
Cards have been sent to the Queen’s ladies for the 4th of May, to attend
the wedding of Princess Charlotte. It is said the precedent for the
wedding, &c., is the marriage of the late Duchess of Brunswick, but all
Peers and Peeresses were invited to that, and will not be to this.
Lady John Thynne and Lady Emily Murray are appointed ladies of the
bedchamber to Princess Charlotte; Mrs. Campbell, privy purse and
bedchamber woman; Miss F. Coates, bedchamber woman; Colonel Addenbroke,
equerry. The marriage is now fixed for the 2nd of May.
May 1.—The Queen came to Town on the 29th of April. Prince Leopold of
Saxe-Coburg to the apartments of the Duke of Clarence, and Princess
Charlotte to Warwick House. The royal household, the Cabinet Ministers
and their wives, and Foreign Ministers and their wives, are invited to
the wedding.
6th.—Intend leaving London to-morrow for Dover, in my way to Paris with
Sir Thomas and Lady Troubridge, and two Mr. Norgates. Received a very
kind message from Princess Charlotte, which she gave to Madame [ ] on
the day of her wedding, regretting my going.
* * * * *
[This appears to be the fittest place for the introduction of the
following supplementary remarks on the career and character of the
Princess Charlotte, which are entered in a separate note-book, and bear
proof of having been written, from memory, at a much later date. Some
passages have been advisedly omitted, either because they contain
statements of doubtful authenticity, recorded as such by Miss Knight, or
because they touch, in a manner that might give pain, on the private
concerns of living individuals:]
The marriage of the Hereditary Prince of Orange with a sister of the
Emperor of Russia gave reason for many people to believe that he and the
Grand-Duchess Catherine had contributed to disunite the Prince and
Princess Charlotte. What passed at the Portland Hotel seemed _intended_
to prove the contrary.
The King of Würtemberg has since then assured me that the late Queen,
the Grand-Duchess, constantly expressed the greatest fondness for
Princess Charlotte, and the most fervent regret for her death.
The marriage of the Princess Mary with the Duke of Gloucester took place
very soon after that of Princess Charlotte with Prince Leopold, in 1816.
The wish of the Princess Charlotte, after the rupture of the intended
marriage with the Hereditary Prince of Orange, was to marry one of the
Prussian Princes, and some months elapsed before she entirely gave up
this plan, which was opposed on both sides of the water. * * * *
An English lady, who happened to be standing very near the Prince of
Orange soon after the news of Princess Charlotte’s death had reached
him, assured me that his sighs and sobs were quite affecting.
At a party given by their present Majesties (William IV. and Queen
Adelaide) I met the Prince of Orange, who came to solicit protection and
assistance during the troubles of Belgium. He took no notice of me, and
I have always heard he had been much prejudiced against me, for which I
cannot account, as I did what I could with propriety in his favour,
after Princess Charlotte had once given her consent; and, indeed, I
thought she would have been happier in Holland than in England, as every
motive must have engaged the King and Queen of that country to endeavour
to gain her affection; and here unfortunately the heir-apparent is
always an object of jealousy on the one hand, and of artful intrigues on
the other.
The conduct of the Prince of Orange, however, since his marriage has not
been such as to make one believe that she would have been happy with
him. Providence has done the best for her, and, as it appears, for
Princess Victoria.
I have lived to witness the termination of many things, and I humbly
bend with resignation and gratitude to the Divine dispensations.
With respect to myself, all I can say is this. I cannot help regretting
having left the Queen. My intentions were not bad, but in many respects
I consulted my feelings more than my reason. My mind was then too
active, perhaps now it is too indolent; but either I ought to have
remained with the Queen, or I ought to have carried things with a higher
hand to be really useful while I was with Princess Charlotte. I had no
support from the good Duchess; nor, indeed, from any one. She had
neither energy of character nor powerful connexions. I had the romantic
desire that Princess Charlotte should think for herself, and think
wisely. Was that to be expected from a girl of seventeen, and from one
who had never had proper care taken of her since early childhood? She
might have been great indeed. She had a heart and a mind capable of
rendering her so. She had the most charitable disposition possible.
I forgot to mention in my journal for 1814, that when I perceived the
marriage treaty must be broken off, if some assurance were not given of
an establishment in England, I begged to see Lord Liverpool myself, that
I might tell him my apprehensions, and beg that something might be done
to prevent the mischief. He only came and asked for Princess Charlotte,
but when I heard he was in the library, I asked her permission to go
down and speak to him first, which she granted. I went and told him what
I thought my duty to say, but he made no decisive answer, and seemed
impatient to go up-stairs. When Princess Charlotte entered on the
subject, all she could get from him was, that some arrangement might be
made like that between two persons, who were named, by no means of
distinguished families, and at last said he would try to obtain from the
Regent permission that she might retain Warwick House for some time
after her marriage.
When Princess Charlotte told all this to the Prince of Orange, he was
still more indignant than herself, both on account of the comparison
with Mr. —— and Miss ——, and also of Warwick House, saying, “Did Lord
Liverpool think he would live in such an ugly old place?”
Another thing which made Princess Charlotte very unhappy was, that not a
word was said to her about what was to be her household, or how it was
to be composed. But I remember hearing one of my own acquaintance say,
“Would she not have had a very agreeable existence at Brussels, where
she and her husband were to have kept their Court?”
Princess Charlotte had not the slightest idea of that, but supposed she
was expected to live with the King and Queen of the Netherlands.
It is possible that when Princess Charlotte was a child, her temper
might have been violent and head-strong, and the world held that opinion
when she was grown up.[63] I never saw anything of this violence or
obstinacy. Much agitation, nervous uneasiness, and sometimes nervous
impatience,—all this I observed, and sometimes to such a degree as to
injure her health. As a proof of this, it may be remarked that she was
so much afraid of her father, that when she had seen him, or expected
him, she stuttered exceedingly,[64] which she never did at times when
there was nothing particular to agitate her. This nervous feeling was
perhaps one of the principal causes why, so far from being obstinate,
she was often persuaded to things she did not like, and would think
firmness so essential to the happiness of every one, and more especially
of a royal person.
Of this want of firmness the artful and designing took advantage, and
unfortunately those about her had been so often changed, and she had so
few natural friends, that it was difficult to obtain her perfect
confidence; or, I should rather say, to preserve it.
Her humanity and kindness to all who were in distress or affliction
surpass belief, and I never knew a person less selfish. The only value
she set on a present was as it proved more or less the kind intentions
of the person who made it. I never saw in her any personal vanity, and
there was nothing unforgiving in her disposition.
Her notions were aristocratical, though her mind had received from her
father an early bias in favour of the Whig party, of which he was long
considered as the support, and of course that party did not neglect any
opportunity of making her their friend, and persuading her that the good
of the country would depend on her continuing to encourage them.
However, she was equally attentive to all who paid her proper respect,
whether of the Ministry or Opposition.[65]
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