THE GREAT FROST—DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS OF THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE—PROJECTED
MARRIAGE WITH THE PRINCE OF ORANGE—THE QUESTION OF RESIDENCE—ANXIETIES
OF THE PRINCESS—TORTUOUS NEGOTIATIONS.
ON the 1st January, 1814, Princess Charlotte went to dine at Windsor,
attended by the Duchess, and the fog was so thick that I could not go to
Lord Bruce’s, where I had promised to dine. Her Royal Highness returned
the next day, and on the 7th, which was the anniversary of her birthday,
her eighteenth birthday, to which she had looked forward in hope of an
establishment and comparative liberty, she had only permission to make a
morning visit to her mother, to which she was accompanied by the Duchess
of Leeds; and in the evening we had Vacari and Dizzi, who gave her
lessons on the harp, for the purpose of having a little music. The upper
servants, and the tradespeople and their wives, had a dance in the
dining-room. The Dukes of Kent and Sussex called in the evening to see
her.
The fog, which had disappeared on the 6th, was succeeded by very severe
frost and snow, which lasted for many weeks, and at last rendered the
roads almost impassable. We scarcely saw anybody except the masters, the
Duchess and Lady Catherine, and the Miss Fitzroys, who arrived in town
soon after the 7th. We took airings in the park when the weather
permitted, read, drew, &c. Music was also a great resource to Princess
Charlotte, and we went one evening (the 29th) to the Duchess of Leeds’,
who gave a ball for children. Princess Charlotte was very kind to the
young Princes of Brunswick, whom her uncle, when he left England, had
particularly recommended to her. She had them to dine with her that day,
and took them with us in the evening.
In the beginning of February the Prince Regent, who had been far from
well since his return from the Duke of Rutland’s,[157] and other places
where he had been visiting, sent for me one morning. He was sitting on a
sofa in his bedroom, looking very ill and weak. He said there was an
unpleasant circumstance had happened, but nothing that he was so angry
at as to make Princess Charlotte or me uneasy. The Duke of York, he
said, had shown him a paragraph in the papers[158] about a fine carriage
building for Princess Charlotte at Birch the coachmaker’s, and, out of
friendship for him, being the brother nearest his own age, had told him
all about this Birch, who was a protégé of the Duke of Kent, &c. &c. I
explained to him the circumstance as well as I could, for it was, of
course, the Duchess who had ordered this carriage when the three years’
job of the former one had expired, which was while we were at Windsor,
and, as I understood, the Duke of Kent was consulted previously by Lady
de Clifford on similar affairs. I also told the Prince the account of
the new carriage had been misstated in the papers if it was said to be
green, as it was yellow, like all the carriages belonging to his Royal
Highness, and I could not think it was put in by Birch himself, as the
description was not correct.
The Prince said that his coachmaker, who had served him for many years,
had made heavy complaints, &c. &c. He spoke much of the Duke of Kent,
and also of the Duke of Sussex, but attached more deceit and deep-laid
plans to the former. He read one part of a letter he was writing to the
Duke of Cambridge, promising to visit Hanover in the course of the
summer, and seemed to have perfectly forgiven the Duke of Cumberland for
having made his appearance at Hanover before Bernadotte, which had been
much criticised, and had, it was said, excited his displeasure. In
short, he seemed willing to talk, and kept me a long while; spoke of the
King as having always done justice to _his_ honourable principles, even
when they were at variance on some points; complained of being much
exhausted from having been kept low for many days, and really, I must
say, he affected me. He mentioned Princess Charlotte spending too much
with jewellers, and said it was fruitless to conceal anything from him,
for tradespeople would talk, and it came to his knowledge. He thought it
very shameful in young ladies of immense fortunes to take valuable
presents from Princess Charlotte.
I took this opportunity to say I had made an agreement with her Royal
Highness, as I had done with Princess Amelia, that no presents should be
made to me, as, where confidence was placed, it would hurt me if one
human being could suppose I availed myself of it for interested motives.
He burst into tears when I mentioned Princess Amelia, and regretted he
could not more fully comply with her last wishes, seemed embarrassed,
and excessively overcome. At last he let me go, saying that Charlotte
must be content without amusements that spring, as he could not give any
entertainments under present circumstances. I said her Royal Highness’s
music and drawing, with her books, made the time pass, and that I was
endeavouring to amuse her by little musical proverbs and entertainments.
He said all that was very well, but she must not now think of frivolity;
she was to be married, and must think of the duties of a wife.
On my return to Warwick House, I found Princess Charlotte very uneasy to
know what had passed, and why I had been kept so long.
That evening she acted with Lady Catherine and the Miss Fitzroys, a
little French proverb I wrote for her; and this amusement was continued
for some time. I wrote two others, and, as she was beginning to sing
with Lindley, they were of use in that respect, and still more so in
giving her more facility for speaking French. Only the Duchess and I,
with the upper servants and masters, were the audience. The weather was
very severe; we scarcely saw any one, but the days passed quietly and
not uncomfortably. I wrote Italian songs, which she set to music, or got
Lindley or Vacari to set them. She composed waltzes, &c. Sometimes, when
all other resources failed, we sent for old Vitalba, the drawing-master,
to come in the evening, and she would make drawings with him, with
stumps burned in the candle, which had a very good effect.
The Prince was much worse after I saw him; indeed, I believe in imminent
danger for a day or two. When he got a little better, the Queen and
Princesses came to see him, and the Duke of York came over to fetch
Princess Charlotte, who made him a half-hour or an hour’s visit; but was
not asked to dine with the family. The Prince was in bed.
On the 2nd of March, Princess Charlotte and I were sent for to Carlton
House. The Prince was better, but had his leg on a chair. The object of
our coming was for her Royal Highness to see the letters from the
sovereign of the Netherlands and his son to ask her (formally) in
marriage: they were brought over by Baron Van der Duyn de Maasdam,[159]
who was said to be the principal agent in the Dutch counter-revolution,
and he was also the bearer of a portrait of the Prince of Orange. The
following day was appointed for Lord Liverpool to introduce him and M.
Fagel, the Dutch Ambassador, to Princess Charlotte.
They came, and the Duchess and I were present. They did not bring the
picture to Warwick House, but afterwards gave it to the Duchess. Fifteen
thousand pounds were sent by the House of Orange for jewels, which the
Prince said Princess Charlotte herself should choose, and Bridge was
accordingly sent to receive her orders, the Regent having announced that
when he knew what she chose he should order his own present for her.
Parliament was to meet on the 21st (of March),[160] and it was supposed
the intended marriage would be then announced.[161] It had been
announced to the States of Holland, which seemed irregular; but that was
attributed to the pressure of circumstances, and it was evident that
ministers had been most anxious to obtain Princess Charlotte’s consent
at the time they did, to strengthen the means of executing their plans
in Holland and the Netherlands.
Miss Mercer came to town, and Lady Anne and the Fitzroys faded before
her. Princess Charlotte grew uneasy with respect to the article of
residence, and explained her sentiments on that subject to the
hereditary Prince with great frankness. He answered in the same manner,
and appeared to wish that their residence for a considerable portion of
the year should be fixed (by Parliament) in England. He did not
appear[162] himself to like Holland, but at length his letters showed
that he could do nothing to prevent their residing there, and by the
arrangements making for houses there, and none here, it was clear enough
what the intentions were.
Affairs began to take the most favourable turn on the Continent.
Ministers, particularly Lord Liverpool, had evidently wished to make
peace with Bonaparte; but it was said the Prince never did, and his
gentlemanly, noble conduct to the Bourbons during their adversity makes
me willing to believe he was sincere in wishing their restoration. News
arrived of the defeat of the French army by Lord Wellington, and of
Bordeaux opening its gates and declaring for the Bourbons.
On the 23rd and 24th we were at Carlton House, the Queen and two
Princesses being in town, and a small party meeting them there. On the
29th the Queen came again, and we were that evening at Carlton House,
the next at the Duke of York’s, and the 31st at Carlton House, where the
party was rather larger. That day arrived the Grand-Duchess Catherine,
widow of a Prince of Oldenburg,[163] and sister of the Emperor of
Russia. This was the lady who had been so much talked of last spring for
the Prince Regent, in case he could have got a divorce from the
Princess; and as Count Munster was shut up with him many hours every day
at that time, it was supposed he was managing the affair. However that
might be, there was great bustle between Lady Liverpool and Princess
Elizabeth, about arrangements for her reception. Count Lieven, the
Russian Ambassador, was closeted in another room, and word was at last
brought that she was gone to bed, but would be introduced to the Queen
next day, and would afterwards dine and spend the evening at Carlton
House.
Princess Charlotte was ordered to be present at this audience, attended
by the Duchess of Leeds, and the Grand-Duchess afterwards called to
leave her name at Warwick House. In the evening there was a large party
at Carlton House, and a concert, which annoyed the Grand-Duchess so much
that she left the room abruptly. It seems that music overcame her
nerves. She was said to have frequent faintings, and to have scarcely
slept at all since the death of her husband.
This sentimentality in a great politician, not to say intrigante,
appeared to me very extraordinary. Her figure was slight and
well-formed, her complexion good, her eyes fine, and her manners
dignified, called graceful, but I think not gracefully feminine, at
least not when she spoke, her nose Calmuck, and, altogether, I thought
her very like what I remembered her father, only I liked his manners
better. She had with her a Prince Gagarin and a Princess Volkonskoi,
apparently a good kind of woman, daughter of the famous Prince
Repnin,[164] and a Mademoiselle Aladensky, who had been her governess—a
sensible woman, who did not appear to me very good natured; both were
elderly, and plain in their dress.[165]
Princess Charlotte was much pleased with the Grand-Duchess, and returned
her visit very soon, stayed a long while, and returned enchanted[166]
with her. The Duchess of Leeds had accompanied her Royal Highness, but
had not been admitted into the private room. She sat with the ladies.
Princess Charlotte told me the Grand-Duchess had complained of the
assiduities of the Duke of Clarence, of his vulgar familiarity, and of
his want of delicacy, had called the Prince Regent “un voluptueux,” and
had talked very confidentially to her.
I was shocked at all this, but at the same time knew not how to prevent
mischief. The Prince sent Sir Henry Halford to me to desire I would keep
Princess Charlotte from going too often to the Grand-Duchess, but I
could not prevent her coming to Warwick House, nor could I well blame
Princess Charlotte for being pleased with the conversation of a sensible
woman of a rank similar to her own. The Grand-Duchess hinted to her that
she thought of marrying the Archduke Charles, and Princess Charlotte
told her that many persons had supposed that she was to marry the Regent
if he could have found cause for a divorce. She answered that she was so
much attached to her brother the Emperor, that for his sake and the
public good she would have done whatever he wished, but that now she had
seen the Regent she could never think of marrying him. She expressed
great esteem and even preference for the Duke of Sussex, and he was so
much pleased with it that he conceived the highest opinion of her.
On the 5th (of April), while she was making a visit to Princess
Charlotte, I received a note from Lord Bathurst, to inform the Princess
that the allies had entered Paris on the 31st of March. This delightful
intelligence was soon followed by that of Bonaparte’s defeat and
abdication, and the restoration of the Bourbons to the throne of their
ancestors. A general illumination took place, and joy and good order
reigned throughout the metropolis.
Poor Princess Charlotte was far from happy. On the 16th of this month
(April) she wrote a letter to her father, humbly requesting to see the
marriage contract, a sketch of which she heard from the Prince of Orange
had been shown to him; she expressed her uneasiness at not hearing of a
house or establishment, and begged that insertion might be made in the
contract of an article to prevent her being taken or kept out of England
against her inclinations. To this the Prince returned no answer, but on
the 18th sent for me, and appeared greatly enraged, but promised
forgiveness if she would withdraw her letter; otherwise, he said he must
bring the matter before his Cabinet, declared that he had no intention
to banish her, but that the duty of a wife was to follow her husband;
that perhaps he might have to build a house for her, and that in the
mean while, when she came to England, she might be at Carlton House. He
said that neither her Royal Highness nor the hereditary Prince had any
business to see the contract; that it had been sent to the sovereign of
the Netherlands because it was a matter to be settled by fathers, but
that the great provision of 50,000_l._ a year which was to be made, and
the clause that her eldest son was, as the future Sovereign of England,
to be sent when between three and four years of age over for education
here, proved that no harm was intended her; that the second would be
Sovereign of Holland, and educated there. He insisted on my repeating
all this, and desired I would come back at twelve next day with her
answer.
The answer which I took next day was not such a one as to procure me a
favourable reception, for Princess Charlotte adhered firmly, though
respectfully and very affectionately, to the purport of her first
letter. However, I found the Prince less violent than the day before,
but very uneasy. He recapitulated all that, he said, had passed with
respect to Princess Charlotte’s engagement with the Prince of Orange,
declared that he had not the slightest idea himself of the Prince of
Orange being arrived, until Sir Henry brought him Princess Charlotte’s
message, desiring to meet him at dinner next day, &c. &c. I was kept a
long while, and at length dismissed, with the arrangement that the Duke
of York would be sent to talk to Princess Charlotte on the subject.
When I returned, her Royal Highness positively denied having given any
such message to Sir Henry Halford. The Duke of York and Mr. Adam came on
the following day, and the Duke wished me to leave the room, though
Princess Charlotte was desirous I should stay. When they were gone she
seemed hurt and agitated, and said the Duke was to come next day for her
answer, but that she would write to prevent it, as it was very painful
to her, from her affection for him, to disagree with him. Mr. Adam soon
after came back, and asked for me. He told me the Prince did not mean I
should leave the room; that, on the contrary, he wished me to be
present, and had now sent him to repeat to me all the arguments they had
used with Princess Charlotte, that I might impress them on the mind of
her Royal Highness, but that he could not stay now, as he was expected
on business, and would return in the evening.
He came, and recapitulated what he had said in the morning with respect
to Princess Mary, daughter of James the Second, and the Prince of
Orange, &c. &c. He remarked, it was supposed Princess Charlotte must
have legal advisers, as her letters were not those of a woman. I said
that he must recollect, she had gone through a course of study on the
laws of England, and by his own observation to me one evening at Carlton
House, was allowed to be mistress of the subject. He smiled, and said
her Royal Highness turned his arms against himself. He was in the midst
of this when Princess Charlotte entered the room with the letter which
she had been writing, as she said she would, to the Duke of York, and
put it into Mr. Adam’s hand that he might read it; after which she
sealed it and left the room. He conjured me to follow her and prevent
its going; but before I arrived at the drawing-room it was gone. Miss
Mercer was with her all the time. Her Royal Highness had been reading
the passage in Burnet, where he mentions the provision made by the Peers
to prevent Queen Mary the First from being taken out of the kingdom by
Philip of Spain, &c. &c.
Next day the Duke of York came and desired to speak with me. He repeated
to me all the arguments before used, and added that Princess Charlotte
laboured under a great mistake, for that she seemed to consider herself
as heir-apparent, whereas she could hardly be considered as presumptive
heiress. He was very anxious to see her; but she refused it in the most
peremptory manner, and was displeased with my pressing it, as she said I
knew the pain it gave her.
After this, several letters passed between her Royal Highness and the
Duke of York on the subject of their conversation, but without producing
any change of sentiments on either side.
During this time the King and Royal Family of France, who had remained
in England (for Monsieur and his two sons were gone) came to town in the
Prince Regent’s carriages, accompanied by himself in state.[167] We saw
the procession from the Grand-Duchess’s apartments at the Pulteney
Hotel, where Princesses Elizabeth and Mary were invited. The Prince and
Royal Family had taken no notice of Princess Charlotte on this occasion.
The Grand-Duchess had called on her that morning, and it was by chance,
or, rather, because we could not get through the crowd, that we stopped
at the Pulteney Hotel, for we were going to see the procession in the
Park. However, the Grand-Duchess was very civil to Princess Charlotte,
and asked her in. We found the Duchess of Leeds and Lady Catherine
there, brought by Mrs. Robinson and Princess Volkonskoi. This neglect
pressed hard on Princess Charlotte’s spirits, and her aunts appeared
cool. After the procession was gone by a breakfast was served, and on
our way home the acclamations and throng of the populace would scarcely
allow us to get on. Whenever Princess Charlotte appeared this was now
the case, though she by no means sought it.
The Duchess d’Angoulême, attended by the old Duchess de Sérent, came the
day before the procession to visit Princess Charlotte, and the day after
it her Royal Highness, attended by the Duchess of Leeds and myself, went
to take leave of this excellent and interesting Princess. I could not
have formed an idea of such self-command and composure as I saw in her
behaviour at both these interviews, and at so trying a moment. The Royal
Family of France left England, and as soon as the Regent returned from
Dover, whither he accompanied them, he sent for me, and expressed
violent displeasure at Princess Charlotte having made the acquaintance
of Madame Tatischeff, a Polish lady, the wife of a Russian, who was
going Ambassador to Madrid. He said that not only she was a woman of
slight character, but, with her husband, was caballing to marry her
Royal Highness to one of the Russian Princes.
In April, the Prince asked if I knew what was the object of Tatischeff’s
mission to Paris (whither he was gone to join the Emperor)? I said I
knew nothing of it, except that he had asked my commands, and I had
given him a letter to an old friend, M. de B., at Carlton House, where
there had been a great party to take leave of the Bourbons. The Prince
said he was gone to settle this marriage with one of the Emperor’s
brothers; that he knew Princess Charlotte had given the commission to
Madame Tatischeff. I said it was impossible, for that I was always
present; that Count Woronzow[168] introduced Madame Tatischeff, who was
married to his nephew, to Princess Charlotte, at Carlton House, and that
when I heard reports against her character, I also heard that Lady
Pembroke, who is remarkably correct herself, had made inquiries and
found them to be false; that I saw no harm in her, and that her intimacy
at Warwick House had been much less than was represented. The Prince
said that it was the morning we were at the Pulteney Hotel to see the
Bourbons pass,[169] that the Princess Charlotte had given the commission
to Madame Tatischeff; that she had also written her letters, which
Madame T. had sent to Russia, and that one of his Ministers had informed
him of all this. He held a letter in his hand, but did not show me the
name. I assured him her Royal Highness had written no letters to Madame
T., that I had written one to that lady while she was at Brighton, and
several notes in town; but that there was one circumstance which might
appear suspicious, and I would tell him fairly what it was. Princess
Charlotte had, as his Royal Highness knew, a wish to obtain the order of
St. Catherine, and he had said that she could not have it till she was
married. On being engaged to the Prince of Orange she had expressed this
wish to Madame Tatischeff, whose principal intercourse was with respect
to bonnets and gowns; but Madame T. had written to me from Brighton,
asking whether the Princess would really like to have this order, and
whether I thought his Royal Highness would permit her to accept it, if
offered by the Emperor. I answered, that I was sure it would please the
Princess, and considering the friendship between his Royal Highness and
the Emperor, I did not think he would disapprove of it. As secrecy was
recommended, I had expressed myself in such and such terms, which I
repeated. I saw that Count Lieven, or rather Madame de Lieven, who hated
Madame Tatischeff, and was hated in return, had a hand in this mischief;
but I took the Prince’s orders, which were to forbid Madame T. the
house; and when I returned home I wrote to Count Woronzow explaining the
circumstance to him, and begging, in the most delicate manner I could,
that he would prevent Madame Tatischeff’s further visits.
Shortly afterwards, I was called down stairs early one morning to a
Captain St. George,[170] who said he was just arrived from Holland, and
sent by Lord Bathurst. I found it was the Hereditary Prince of Orange,
and apologised for having made him wait, and for his having been shown
into the Comptroller’s room. He asked to see Princess Charlotte, who was
not up. She was not well, and greatly annoyed by this arrival. However,
at last she consented to see him, and received him in a very friendly
manner, assured him she had no complaint to make against him, and
promised he should see copies of all her letters on the subject of
residence, which were sent to him the same day at Lord Bathurst’s. He
said he had not seen[171] the Prince Regent, and went from us to Carlton
House. An hour or two afterwards he flew back, said the Prince desired
they should both go over, and that all would be forgiven. To this
Princess Charlotte would not consent, as she was now fearful of being
taken by surprise, and most earnestly entreated to be left quiet for the
rest of the day. I prevailed with the young Prince to settle this with
the Regent, and except a note in the evening to urge her to say what
were her demands, that he might write them to his father, nothing more
was done that day by the Hereditary Prince. A correspondence now took
place between them, and he used to come daily to see me in the library,
and to talk over the letters and answers, as Princess Charlotte did not
think proper to see him till it should be settled whether she should
have security or not for remaining in England, save for temporary
absences at her own choice. As soon, however, as he received an answer
to a letter which he said he had written to his father on the subject,
he asked leave to show it to Princess Charlotte, as it was favourable to
her conditions, and from that time he came every evening. Lord
Liverpool, after several fruitless attempts to persuade her Royal
Highness to give up her demands, at length consented to the insertion of
such an article as she wished,[172] and nothing was now required but the
formal assent of the Prince of the Netherlands. In the mean while, the
Princess of Wales, with whom Princess Charlotte had had very little
communication this year, enclosed to her a note from the Queen, who was
about to hold two Drawing-rooms at Burlington House, excluding her from
coming to them, on the plea that the Prince did not choose to meet her
anywhere.[173] This hurt Princess Charlotte exceedingly; and she at
first doubted whether she would go to the Drawing-room in case it were
intended she should: indeed, the order for her going to it did not
arrive till two days before, and she had scarcely time to have a proper
dress made up. She was not allowed to dress at home, lest it should be
considered that she was going in state, and though she was then lame,
having hurt her knee, it was proposed she should dress in Princess
Elizabeth’s apartments at the top of the Queen’s house. To this the
surgeons Keate and Clive objected; but we had to go at twelve, and a
room on the second floor was given her to dress in.[174] The day before
this Drawing-room arrived the answer of the Prince of the Netherlands,
consenting to her remaining in England. The young Prince showed her his
father’s letter to that effect; but by that letter it plainly appeared
that there had been instructions given him from England.
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