Here is part of a sample chapter for a book that I have in mind about certain people whose impact on British history might have been much greater but for their early deaths. The sample is about Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, George IV's only legitimate child and, therefore, heir apparent to the throne. I should be most grateful if readers would make comments on whether such a book might interest them.
"The death, in childbirth, of the 20 year old Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, in 1817, plunged the nation into unprecedented grief; not really experienced again until the untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. The parallel is obvious but there is an important distinction: that Princess Charlotte was, after her father, the only direct heir to the throne and had achieved her place in the nation's hopes and affections and then died near the age at which, later, Diana became a Princess.
George, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King George III and Queen Charlotte's fifteen children, was himself born on 12th August 1762. By the time that 'Prinny' was 32 in 1795, a course of riotous and extravagant living had taken him to the point where his debts had increased to the tune of over £600,000 and he had no obvious means of meeting them. To give some idea of just how much this was consider that, at this time, a farm labourer's wage was about three shillings a week - that is three twentieths of one pound, for each week of work, or just under eight pounds a year.
Moreover, although the Prince, as heir to the throne, was forbidden by the Act of Settlement 1701 from marrying a Roman Catholic, nevertheless, he had, on 15th December 1785, at her Mayfair house, secretly entered into a purported marriage with his then mistress, Roman Catholic, Mrs Maria Fitzherbert. In 1795 the King proposed an ill-conceived manipulation: that, in return for paying off the Prince's debts (allowing him to start afresh with a clean slate) and increasing his allowance from £60,000 a year to £125,000 together with various other material blandishments, the Prince should marry the King's choice of Protestant Princess. Princess Caroline of Brunswick was the Prince's 26 year old cousin, being the daughter of HSH the Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel and HRH Princess Augusta, sister of King George.
The 'marriage' to Mrs Fitzherbert was publicly denied but the Prince did not like his bride, from the first. He even turned up to the wedding in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, on 8th April 1795 plainly drunk. However, the ceremony proceeded and, precisely nine months later, on 7th January 1796, his only legitimate child, Princess Charlotte Augusta, was born.
By this time, the Prince and Princess were separated in fact, according to the terms of a letter which the Prince later wrote to Princess Caroline on 30th April 1797, explaining their final separation:
'Madam,
As Lord Cholmondeley informs me, that you wish I would define in writing the terms upon which we are to live, I shall endeavour to explain myself upon that head with as much clearness and with as much propriety as the nature of the subject will admit. Our inclinations are not in our power, nor should either of us be held answerable to the other, because nature has not made us suitable to each other. Tranquil and comfortable society is, however, in our power; let our intercourse therefore be restricted to that and I will distinctly subscribe to the condition which you required through Lady Cholmondeley [i.e. no going back] that, even in the event of any accident happening to my daughter, which I trust Providence in his mercy will avert, I shall not infringe the terms of the restriction, by proposing at any period a connexion of a more particular nature. I shall now close this disagreeable correspondence, trusting that as we have completely explained ourselves to each other, the rest of our lives will be passed in uninterrupted tranquillity.
I am, Madam,
with great truth,
very sincerely, yours,
George P. '
Not least in the reference to any accident befalling Princess Charlotte, this letter held many a hostage to fortune.
The Prince continued to reside in Carlton House and soon provision was made for Princess Caroline to live in Montague House (not The Pagoda - which still stands - as often claimed), on what is now Chesterfield Walk, in the pretty, but then fairly remote, village of Blackheath. Years later, when Queen Caroline left it, the house was demolished, on the orders of the Prince Regent. Here she was rumoured to have engaged in relationships with several men, which laid the foundations for the sensational 'Trial of Queen Caroline', during the passage of the Pains and Penalties Bill in 1820, before the House of Lords, on grounds of adultery. The Bill was aimed at depriving her of her rights and titles as Queen Consort. The Bill was eventually withdrawn, owing to its slight support in the House of Lords and its general unpopularity and, afterwards, Queen Caroline famously declared: 'Carolina Regina, in spite of you all' .
What Princess Charlotte would have made of all this, we can only speculate but King George IV's orders physically to bar Queen Caroline from the doors of Westminster Abbey, when she attempted to enter his coronation; his instruction to British Ambassadors to ensure that the Queen was not recognized by foreign Courts - and the trial itself, would hardly have brought father and daughter closer.
Moreover we might note that the current Prince of Wales is neither the first to harbour affection other than to his wife nor the first to bring his discontentment in his marriage into the public arena. We might, therefore, wonder why it is that there are current rumblings, in revolutionary quarters, that the present Prince of Wales (who has served a long, hard apprenticeship in the craft of kingship) might be, for these reasons alone, unfitted, in due course, to rule as King.
Princess Charlotte was initially left with her mother and it was some seven years before the Prince restricted her mother's access to her and influence over her; these restrictions being brought to bear somewhat to King George's dismay. The King sympathized with Princess Caroline; not least because of his views on the lifestyle of his eldest son (which had hardly improved under the influence of a league of mistresses and those such as the profligate George Bryan 'Beau' Brummell and other men-about-town of the time) and, no doubt, partly because he had engineered the marriage in the first place.
Matters were complicated by the fact that Princess Caroline adopted a common boy, called 'Austin' in November 1802 and when soon after, Princess Caroline declined to receive one of her former acquaintances, Lady Douglas, wife of Sir John Douglas, on account of her bad reputation, Lady Douglas started rumours that the boy was in fact Caroline's by a servant at Blackheath and even (rather ludicrously) cast doubt on the paternity of Princess Charlotte.
In 1804, fearing the influence of the Prince's household and coterie, the King suggested that Princess Charlotte should live with him and that Princess Caroline should resume a real say in the Princess's upbringing. The Prince resolutely refused to permit Princess Caroline to be given any such influence. Eventually, after much negotiation, the King agreed that Princess Charlotte should remain under the care of the Prince, on condition that she split her time between Warwick House, next to Carlton House - and so buffered from the Prince's habits and acquaintances - and Windsor Castle.
As a result of the rumours of Princess Caroline's lifestyle, the Prince of Wales ordered a Commission of Inquiry in 1806, which reported in the Princess's favour in February 1807. This should have meant that Princess Caroline could again be received by the king but the Prince intervened and never again was the Princess of Wales to be on such a favourable footing with the king as she had been before.
From an early age, Princess Charlotte displayed what was termed a strong enthusiasm of character and never qualified her opinion of persons nor things, once saying: 'Reprove me for uttering a falsehood, but never for speaking the truth.'
The position of Princess Caroline and the developing character of Princess Charlotte all led to a situation where Princess Charlotte was placed under close guard by the Prince's trusted retainers.
Lady De Clifford was appointed her governess and the Bishop of Exeter her tutor, under him being Dr Nott, who inculcated in her strong Christian precepts, which led her to discard all sectarian animosities and look upon virtue and good works as the sole rule of our conduct, and the true criterion of the human character.
The Princess was adept at the piano, the harp, the guitar and she sang and was accomplished at drawing from nature. At one time she used to go to Worthing for her seaside holidays and later on Bognor, where she go to Richardson the baker for his hot buns and chat with him in the greatest familiarity about his family and business.
Princess Charlotte was plainly aware of the situation between her parents and tended to take her mother's part. This and her known tendency for just treatment of the ordinary people, brought about her increasing popularity, in contrast to the biting comic satires in cartoons and newspapers and the general cool reception of the Prince Of Wales, by the people. This did not improve when he assumed monarchical duties, as Prince Regent, in 1811, as a result of the worsening of the King's mental state (probably caused by a blood disorder, called porphyria, which was little understood at the time)."