Carlton House, at the period to which I refer, was a centre for all the
great politicians and wits who were the favorites of the Regent. The
principal entrance of this palace in Pall Mall, with its screen of
columns, will be remembered by many. In the rear of the mansion was an
extensive garden that reached from Warwick Street to Marlborough House;
green sward, stately trees, (probably two hundred years old), and beds
of the choicest flowers, gave to the grounds a picturesque attraction
perhaps unequalled. It was here that the heir to the throne of England
gave, in 1813, an open-air fete, in honour of the battle of Vittoria.
About three o'clock P.M. the elite of London society, who had been
honoured with an invitation, began to arrive--all in full dress; the
ladies particularly displaying their diamonds and pearls, as if they
were going to a drawing-room. The men were, of course, in full dress,
wearing knee-buckles. The regal circle was composed of the Queen, the
Regent, the Princess Sophia and Mary, the Princess Charlotte, the Dukes
of York, Clarence, Cumberland, and Cambridge.
This was the first day that her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte
appeared in public. She was a young lady of more than ordinary
personal attractions; her features were regular, and her complexion
fair, with the rich bloom of youthful beauty; her eyes were blue and
very expressive, and her hair was abundant, and of that peculiar light
brown which merges into the golden: in fact, such hair as the
Middle-Age Italian painters associate with their conceptions of the
Madonna. In figure her Royal Highness was somewhat over the ordinary
height of women, but finely proportioned and well developed. Her
manners were remarkable for a simplicity and good-nature which would
have won admiration and invited affection in the most humble walks of
life. She created universal admiration, and I may say a feeling of
national pride, amongst all who attended the ball. The Prince Regent
entered the gardens giving his arm to the Queen, the rest of the royal
family following. Tents had been erected in various parts of the
grounds, where the bands of the Guards were stationed. The weather was
magnificent, a circumstance which contributed to show off the admirable
arrangements of Sir Benjamin Bloomfield, to whom had been deputed the
organization of the fete, which commenced by dancing on the lawn.
The Princess Charlotte honoured with her presence two dances. In the
first she accepted the hand of the late Duke of Devonshire, and in the
second that of the Earl of Aboyne, who had danced with Marie
Antoinette, and who, as Lord Huntley, lived long enough to dance with
Queen Victoria. The Princess entered so much into the spirit of the
fete as to ask for the then fashionable Scotch dances. The Prince was
dressed in the Windsor uniform, and wore the garter and star. He made
himself very amiable, and conversed much with the Ladies Hertford,
Cholmondeley, and Montford. Altogether, the fete was a memorable event.
A year afterwards, the Duke of York said to his royal niece, "Tell me,
my dear, have you seen anyone among the foreign princes whom you would
like to have for a husband?" The Princess naively replied, "No one so
much prepossesses me as Prince Leopold of Coburg. I have heard much of
his bravery in the field, and I must say he is personally agreeable to
me. I have particularly heard of his famous cavalry charge at the
battle of Leipsic, where he took several thousand prisoners, for which
he was rewarded with the Order of Maria Therese." In a few months
afterwards she became the wife of the man whom she so much admired, and
from whom she was torn away not long after by the cruel hand of death.
It will be remembered that she died in childbirth, and her offspring
expired at the same time. The accoucheur who attended her was so much
affected by the calamity, that he committed suicide some short time
afterwards.