Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821 as the estranged wife of King George IV. She was Princess of Wales from 1795 to 1820.
The daughter of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, and Princess Augusta of Great Britain, Caroline was engaged in 1794 to her first cousin George, Prince of Wales, whom she had never met. He was already illegally married to Maria Fitzherbert. George and Caroline married the following year but separated shortly after the birth of their only child, Princess Charlotte, in 1796. By 1806, rumours that Caroline had taken multiple lovers and had an illegitimate child led to an investigation into her private life. The dignitaries who led the investigation concluded that there was "no foundation" to the rumours, but Caroline's access to her daughter was still restricted. In 1814, Caroline moved to Italy, where she employed Bartolomeo Pergami as a servant. Pergami soon became Caroline's closest companion, and it was widely assumed that they were lovers. In 1817, Caroline was devastated when Charlotte died in childbirth. She heard the news from a passing courier as George had refused to write and tell her. He was determined to divorce Caroline and set up a second investigation to collect evidence of her adultery.
In January 1820, George became King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and Caroline became nominal queen consort. George insisted on a divorce from Caroline, which she refused. A legal divorce was possible but difficult to obtain. Caroline returned to Britain to assert her position as queen. She was wildly popular with the British people, who sympathised with her and despised the new king for his immoral behaviour. On the basis of the loose evidence collected against her, George attempted to divorce Caroline by introducing the Pains and Penalties Bill 1820 to Parliament, but he and the bill were so unpopular and Caroline so popular with the masses that it was withdrawn by the Liverpool ministry. The King barred Caroline from his coronation in July 1821. She fell ill in London and died three weeks later. Her funeral procession passed through London on its way to her native Brunswick, where she was buried in Brunswick Cathedral.
Early life
Caroline was born a princess of Braunschweig, known in English as Brunswick, with the courtesy title of Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, on 17 May 1768 at Braunschweig in Germany. She was the daughter of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and his wife Princess Augusta of Great Britain, eldest sister of King George III. Caroline was brought up in a difficult family situation. Her mother resented her father's open adultery with Baroness Luise von Hertefeld, whom he had installed as his official mistress in 1777, and Caroline was later to confide to Lady Charlotte Campbell that she was often tired of being a "shuttlecock" between her parents, as whenever she was civil to one of them, she was scolded by the other.She was educated by governesses, but the only subject in which she was given a higher education was music. From 1783 until 1791, Countess Eleonore von Münster was her governess, and won her affection, but never managed to teach her to spell correctly, as Caroline preferred to dictate to a secretary. Caroline could understand English and French, but her father admitted that she was lacking in education. According to Caroline's mother, all German princesses learned English in the hope that they would be chosen to marry George, Prince of Wales, George III's eldest son and heir apparent and Caroline's first cousin.
John Stanley, later 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley, saw her in 1781, and noted that she was an attractive girl with curly, fair hair. In 1784, she was described as a beauty, and two years later, Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau described her as "most amiable, lively, playful, witty and handsome". Caroline was brought up with extremely limited contact with the opposite sex even by the standards of her own time. She was reportedly constantly supervised by her governess and elder ladies, restricted to her room when the family was entertaining and ordered to keep away from the windows. She was normally refused permission to attend balls and court functions, and when allowed, she was forbidden to dance. Abbé Baron commented during the winter of 1789–90: "She is supervised with the greatest severity, as they claim she is already aware of what she is missing. I doubt if the torches of Hymen will illuminate for her . Although always attired with style and elegance, she is never allowed to dance", and that as soon as the first dance began, she was forced to sit down at the whist table with three old ladies.
A rare occasion was the wedding of her elder brother Charles, when she was finally allowed to dance, though only with the groom and his new brother-in-law, the Prince of Orange – she was, however, still forbidden to dine alone with her brother. Her secluded isolation tormented her, which was demonstrated when she was later again banned from attending a ball. She simulated an illness so severe that her parents left the ball to see her. When they arrived, she claimed to be in labour and forced them to send for a midwife. When the midwife arrived, she stopped her simulation and asked her mother: "Now, Madam, will you keep me another time from a ball?"
Her mother early favoured a match between one of her children and a member of her English family, and when her nephew Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany visited Brunswick in June 1781, she lamented the fact that Caroline, because of her age, could not be present very often. Caroline was given a number of proposals from 1782 onward. Marriage with the Prince of Orange, Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, Charles, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and the second son of the Margrave of Baden were all suggested, while her mother and father supported an English and a Prussian Prince, respectively, but none came to fruition. Caroline was later to state that her father had forbidden her to marry a man she had fallen in love with because of his low status. The identity of this man is not clear, but contemporaries point out an officer who was referred to at the time as the "Handsome Irishman" who lived in Brunswick, and with whom Caroline was said to have been in love. There was also a rumour that Caroline had given birth at the age of fifteen.
Though she was not allowed to socialise with men, she was allowed to ride, and during riding, she visited the cottages of the peasantry. She had done this already as a child, during which she had met children to play with, and as an adult, one of these visits allegedly led to a pregnancy. There is no confirmation of this rumour, but it was well known during her life, and referred to as a reason why she married at an older age than was usual, despite being regarded as good-looking and having been given so many proposals.
Engagement
In 1794, Caroline and the Prince of Wales were engaged. They had never met—George had agreed to marry her because he was heavily in debt, and if he contracted a marriage with an eligible princess, Parliament would increase his allowance. Caroline seemed eminently suitable: she was a Protestant of royal birth, and the marriage would ally Brunswick and Britain. Although Brunswick was only a small country, Britain was at war with revolutionary France and so was eager to obtain allies on the European mainland. Brunswick was ruled by Caroline's father, the esteemed soldier Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, who himself had married Princess Augusta, the sister of George III. On 20 November 1794, Lord Malmesbury arrived at Brunswick to escort Caroline to her new life in Britain. In his diary, Malmesbury recorded his reservations about Caroline's suitability as a bride for the prince: she lacked judgement, decorum and tact, spoke her mind too readily, acted indiscreetly, and often neglected to wash, or change her dirty clothes. He went on to say that she had "some natural but no acquired morality, and no strong innate notions of its value and necessity". However, Malmesbury was impressed by her bravery; on the journey to England, the party heard cannon fire, as they were not far from the French lines. While Caroline's mother, who was accompanying them to the coast as chaperone, was concerned for their safety, Caroline was unfazed.On 28 March 1795, Caroline and Malmesbury left Cuxhaven on the Jupiter. Delayed by poor weather, they landed a week later, on Easter Sunday, 5 April, at Greenwich. There, she met Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey, George's mistress, who had been appointed Caroline's Lady of the Bedchamber. Smith concludes that:
On meeting his future wife for the first time, George called for a glass of brandy. He was evidently disappointed. Similarly, Caroline told Malmesbury, " very fat and he's nothing like as handsome as his portrait." At dinner that evening, the Prince was appalled by Caroline's garrulous nature and her gibes at the expense of Lady Jersey. She was upset and disappointed by George's obvious partiality for Lady Jersey over her.
Troubled marriage
Caroline and George were married on 8 April 1795 at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London. At the ceremony, George was drunk. He regarded Caroline as unattractive and unhygienic, and told Malmesbury that he suspected that she was not a virgin when they married. He had already undergone a form of marriage with Maria Fitzherbert, but as this violated the Royal Marriages Act 1772, both George and Maria knew it was not legally valid.In a letter to a friend, the prince claimed that the couple only had sexual intercourse three times: twice the first night of the marriage, and once the second night. He wrote, "it required no small to conquer my aversion and overcome the disgust of her person." Caroline claimed George was so drunk that he "passed the greatest part of his bridal night under the grate, where he fell, and where I left him".
Nine months after the wedding, Caroline gave birth to Princess Charlotte, George's only legitimate child, and at that point the king's only legitimate grandchild, at Carlton House on 7 January 1796. Charlotte was second in the line of succession to the British throne after her father. Just three days after Charlotte's birth, George made out a new will. He left all his property to "Maria Fitzherbert, my wife", while to Caroline he left one shilling.
Gossip about Caroline and George's troubled marriage was already circulating. The newspapers claimed that Lady Jersey opened, read and distributed the contents of Caroline's private letters. She despised Lady Jersey and could not visit or travel anywhere without George's permission. The press vilified George for his extravagance and luxury at a time of war and portrayed Caroline as a wronged wife. She was cheered in public and gained plaudits for her "winning familiarity" and easy, open nature. George was dismayed at her popularity and his own unpopularity, and felt trapped in a loveless marriage with a woman he loathed. He wanted a separation.
In April 1796, George wrote to Caroline, "We have unfortunately been oblig'd to acknowledge to each other that we cannot find happiness in our union. ... Let me therefore beg you to make the best of a situation unfortunate for us both." In June, Lady Jersey resigned as Caroline's Lady of the Bedchamber. George and Caroline were already living separately, and in August 1797 Caroline moved to a private residence: The Vicarage or Old Rectory in Charlton, London. Later, she moved to Montagu House in Blackheath. No longer constrained by her husband, or, according to rumour, her marital vows, she entertained whomever she pleased. She flirted with Admiral Sir Sidney Smith and Captain Thomas Manby, and may have had a brief relationship with the politician George Canning.