To the King's Most Excellent Majesty.
_The Protest and Remonstrance of_ CAROLINE, _Queen of Great Britain
and Ireland._
Your Majesty having been pleased to refer to your privy council the
Queen's memorial, claiming as of right to celebrate the ceremony of
her coronation on the 19th day of July, being the day appointed for
the celebration of your Majesty's royal coronation; and Lord
Viscount Sidmouth, one of your Majesty's principal secretaries of
state, having communicated to the Queen the judgment pronounced
against her Majesty's claim; in order to preserve her just rights,
and those of her successors, and to prevent the said minute being in
after-times referred to as deriving validity from her Majesty's
supposed acquiescence in the determination therein expressed, the
Queen feels it to be her bounden duty to enter her most deliberate
and solemn protest against the said determination; and to affirm and
maintain, that by the laws, usages, and customs of this realm, from
time immemorial, the queen-consort ought of right to be crowned at
the same time with the king's majesty.
In support of this claim of right, her Majesty's law officers have
proved before the said council, from the most ancient and authentic
records, that queens-consort of this realm have, from time
immemorial, participated in the ceremony of the coronation with
their royal husbands. The few exceptions that occur demonstrate,
from the peculiar circumstances in which they originated, that the
right itself was never questioned, though the exercise of it was
from necessity suspended, or from motives of policy declined.
Her Majesty has been taught to believe that the most valuable laws
of this country depend upon, and derive their authority from,
custom; that your Majesty's royal prerogatives stand upon the same
basis: the authority of ancient usage cannot therefore be rejected
without shaking that foundation upon which the most important rights
and institutions of the country depend. Your Majesty's council,
however, without controverting any of the facts or reasons upon
which the claim made on the part of her Majesty has been supported,
have expressed a judgment in opposition to the existence of such
right. But the Queen can place no confidence in that judgment, when
she recollects that the principal individuals by whom it has been
pronounced were formerly her successful defenders; that their
opinions have waved with their interest, and that they have since
become the most active and powerful of her persecutors: still less
can she confide in it, when her Majesty calls to mind that the
leading members of that council, when in the service of your
Majesty's royal father, reported in the most solemn form, that
documents reflecting upon her Majesty were satisfactorily disproved
as to the most important parts, and that the remainder was
undeserving of credit. Under this declared conviction, they strongly
recommended to your Majesty's royal father to bestow his favour upon
the Queen, then Princess of Wales, though in opposition to your
Majesty's declared wishes. But when your Majesty had assumed the
kingly power, these same advisers, in another minute of council,
recanted their former judgment, and referred to, and adopted these
very same documents as a justification of one of your Majesty's
harshest measures towards the Queen--the separation of her Majesty
from her affectionate and only child.
The Queen, like your Majesty, descended from a long race of kings,
was the daughter of a sovereign house connected by the ties of blood
with the most illustrious families in Europe; and her not unequal
alliance with your Majesty was formed in full confidence that the
faith of the king and the people was equally pledged to secure to
her all those honours and rights which had been enjoyed by her royal
predecessors.
In that alliance her Majesty believed that she exchanged the
protection of her family for that of a royal husband, and that of a
free and noble-minded nation. From your Majesty, the Queen has
experienced only the bitter disappointment of every hope she had
indulged. In the attachment of the people she has found that
powerful and decided protection which has ever been her steady
support and her unfailing consolation. Submission, from a subject,
to injuries of a private nature, may be matter of expedience--from a
wife it may be matter of necessity--but it never can be the duty of
a queen to acquiesce in the infringement of those rights which
belong to her constitutional character.
The Queen does therefore repeat her must solemn and deliberate
protest against the decision of the said council, considering it
only as the sequel of that course of persecution under which her
Majesty has so long and so severely suffered; and which decision, if
it is to furnish a precedent for future times, can have no other
effect than to fortify oppression with the forms of law, and to give
to injustice the sanction of authority. The protection of the
subject from the highest to the lowest, is not only the true but
the only legitimate object of all power; and no act of power can be
legitimate which is not founded on those principles of eternal
justice, without which law is but the mask of tyranny, and power the
instrument of despotism.
_Queen's House, July 17._
* * * * *
On the day of the coronation a considerable crowd assembled about her
Majesty's house in South Audley Street soon after four o'clock. As soon
as it was ascertained that her Majesty's coach was making ready in the
yard, the crowd, both in South Audley Street and in Hill Street, became
very great. The wall opposite to her Majesty's house in Hill Street was
soon covered with spectators, who announced to the crowd below each
successive step of preparation. "The horses are to;" "every thing is
quite ready;" "the Queen has entered the coach,"--were the gradual
communications, and they were received with the loudest cheers. Lady
Anne Hamilton arrived a few minutes before five, and was most cordially
and respectfully greeted. Soon after five the gate was thrown open, and
a shout was raised--"The Queen! The Queen!" The Queen immediately
appeared in her coach of state, drawn by six bays. Lady Hood and Lady
Anne Hamilton sat opposite to her Majesty. Lord Hood followed in his own
carriage. Her Majesty looked extraordinarily well; and acknowledged,
with great dignity and composure, the gratulations of the people on each
side of her coach. The course taken was, through Great Stanhope Street,
Park Lane, Hyde-Park Corner, the Green Park, St. James's Park, Birdcage
Walk, and by Storey's Gate, along Prince's Street, to Dean's Yard--a
way, it must be observed, the least likely to attract notice or to
gather crowds. The crowd accumulated immensely along this line; the
soldiers every where presented arms with the utmost promptitude and
respect; and a thousand voices kept up a constant cry of "The Queen!"
"The Queen for ever!" The _coup d'oeil_ from the road along the Green
Park, was the most striking which can be imagined; the whole space
presented one mass of well dressed males and females hurrying with
every possible rapidity to accompany the Queen, and shouting their
attachment and admiration. The two torrents that poured along the south
side of the park and the eastern end occasioned the greatest conflux at
Storey's Gate. As soon as the Queen's arrival was known in the scene of
the King's coronation, shouts of "The Queen!" at once arose from all the
booths, and hats and handkerchiefs were every where waved in token of
respect. As soon as her Majesty came in sight of the coronation platform
and Westminster Abbey, she stopped for a few moments, apparently
uncertain what course to take, as she had hitherto met with no
obstruction, and yet had received nothing like an invitation to
approach. At this moment the feelings of the spectators were wound up to
a pitch of the most intense curiosity and most painful anxiety. The
persons who immediately surrounded her carriage knew no bounds in
expressing their enthusiastic attachment, while many of those in the
galleries, apprehensive of the consequences of the experiment which she
was making, could not restrain their fears and alarms. In the meantime
great confusion seemed to prevail among the officers and soldiers on and
near the platform; the former giving orders and retracting them, and the
latter running to their arms, uncertain whether they should salute her
by presenting them or not. Astonishment, hurry, and doubt, seemed to
agitate the whole multitude assembled either to witness or compose the
ensuing pageant. She alighted from her carriage and proceeded on foot,
leaning on the arm of Lord Hood, and accompanied by the faithful
companions of her affliction, Lady Hood and Lady Anne Hamilton, to
demand admission. The approach of the Queen towards the hall-door
produced a considerable sensation within: there was an immediate rush to
the door, which was closed amidst much confusion. The officer on guard
(we believe Colonel M'Kinnon) was immediately summoned to the spot, and
asked her Majesty for her ticket. She replied that she had none, and as
Queen of England needed none. He professed his sorrow, but said he must
obey orders, and that his orders were to see that no person whatever
should be admitted without a ticket. Her Majesty then retired. The party
went to the door of the duchy of Lancaster behind the champion's stable,
and had the door shut in their faces. They then turned round, and
leaving the royal carriage behind, proceeded to demand admission at
another entrance. The same intense sensation of interest and the same
applause, mixed with partial disapprobation, continued to follow her.
When she arrived nearly at the other extremity of the platform--that
which was opposite to the central pavilion--her further progress was
arrested by a file of about a dozen soldiers, who were suddenly ordered
to form across the platform. Her Majesty then quitted it, and went
straight on to the House of Lords on foot, there to repeat the same
request, and with the same success.
In about twenty minutes she returned, and having ordered the top of her
carriage to be taken down, rode off, amid the astonishment and
acclamations of the people.
We subjoin the following account from the _Courier_ of her Majesty's
reception at the door of Westminster Abbey:--
"LORD HOOD having desired admission for her Majesty, the door-keepers
drew across the entrance, and requested to see the tickets.
"LORD HOOD.--I present you your Queen; surely it is not necessary for
her to have a ticket.
"Door-keeper.--Our orders are to admit no person without a peer's
ticket.
"LORD HOOD.--This is your Queen: she is entitled to admission without
such a form.
"The QUEEN, smiling, but still in some agitation--Yes, I am your Queen,
will you admit me?
"Door-keeper.--My orders are specific, and I feel myself bound to obey
them.
"The Queen laughed.
"LORD HOOD.--I have a ticket.
"Door-keeper.--Then, my Lord, we will let you pass upon producing it.
"Lord Hood now drew from his pocket a peer's ticket for one person; the
original name in whose favour it was drawn was erased, and the name of
'Wellington' substituted.
"Door-keeper.--This will let one person pass, but no more.
"LORD HOOD.--Will your Majesty go in alone?
"Her Majesty at first assented, but did not persevere,
"LORD HOOD.--Am I to understand that you refuse her Majesty admission?
"Door-keeper.--We only act in conformity with our orders.
"Her Majesty again laughed.
"LORD HOOD.--Then you refuse the Queen admission?
"A door-keeper of a superior order then came forward, and was asked by
Lord Hood whether any preparations had been made for her Majesty? He was
answered respectfully in the negative.
"LORD HOOD.--Will your Majesty enter the Abbey without your ladies?
"Her Majesty declined.
"Lord Hood then said, that her Majesty had better retire to her
carriage. It was clear no provision had been made for her accommodation.
"Her Majesty assented.
"Some persons within the porch of the Abbey laughed, and uttered some
expressions of disrespect.
"LORD HOOD.--We expected to have met at least with the conduct of
gentlemen. Such conduct is neither manly nor mannerly.
"Her Majesty then retired, leaning on Lord Hood's arm, and followed by
Lady Hood and Lady Hamilton.
"She was preceded by constables back to the platform, over which she
returned, entered her carriage, and was driven off amidst reiterated
shouts of mingled applause and disapprobation."
Her Majesty returned through Pall Mall, St. James's Street, and
Piccadilly, followed all along by a great concourse of people. In St.
James's Street the water had previously created abundance of mud, and
this material the crowd bestowed upon some public offices which were
prepared for an illumination. During the whole course of her Majesty's
progress no accident occurred.