Princesses

by Flora Fraser

  Minto, Emma, Countess of, ed, Life and Letters of Sir Gilbert Elliot, 1st Earl of Minto, 1751-1806, 3 vols (1874)

  Montbrison, Count de, ed, Memoirs of Baroness d’Oberkirch, written by herself, 3 vols (1852)

  Moore, Thomas, Memoirs of the Life of the Rt Hon R. B. Sheridan, 2 vols (1825)

  Moremen, Grace E., Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge – Steadfast Son of King George III, 1774-1850 (New York, 2002)

  Munk, William, The life of Sir Henry Halford (1895)

  Murray, Hon Amelia, Recollections from 1803-1837, with a conclusion in 1868 (1868)

  O’Meara, Barry Edward, Napoleon in Exile: or A Voice from St Helena: The Opinions and Reflections of Napoleon … (1822)

  Parissien, Steven, George IV: The Grand Entertainment (2001)

  Parliamentary Debates from the year 1803 to the present time, ed. T. C. Hansard, 41 vols (1812–20)

  Parliamentary History of England from the earliest period to the year 1803, ed. William Cobbett, 36 vols (1806–20)

  Philobiblon Society, ‘Mrs Harcourt’s Diary of the Court of George III’ Miscellanies of the Philobiblon Society, 13 (1871–2)

  Phipps, Hon Edmund, ed, Memoirs of the Political and Literary Life of Robert Plumer Ward, 2 vols (1850)

  Pointon, Marcia, Hanging the Head: Portraiture and Social Function in Eighteenth Century England (1993)

  Pointon, Marcia, Strategies for Showing: Women, Possession, and Representation in English Visual Culture, 1665-1800 (Oxford, 1997)

  Pope Hennessy, James, Queen Mary (1959)

  Prochaska, Frank, Royal Bounty: The Making of a Welfare Monarchy (1995)

  Pückler-Muskau, Prince Hermann von, Tour of Germany, Holland and England in 1826, 1827 and 1828 in a series of letters by a German prince, 4 vols (1832)

  Ribeiro, Aileen, The Art of Dress: Fashion in England and France, 1750 to 1820 (1995)

  Roberts, Jane, Royal Artists, from Mary Queen of Scots to the Present Day (1987)

  Roberts, Jane, Royal Landscape: The Gardens and Parks of Windsor (1997)

  Robertson, Emily, ed, Letters and Papers of Andrew Robertson (1895)

  Rohl, John, Purple Secret: Genes, ‘Madness’ and the Royal Houses of Europe (1998)

  Royal Children [Queen’s Gallery exhibition catalogue] (1963)

  Russell, Lord John, ed, Journal and Correspondence of Thomas Moore, 8 vols (1853–6)

  St Aubyn, Giles, The Royal George: The Life of HRH Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (1963)

  Scrase, David, Flower Drawings (Cambridge, 1997)

  Shefrin, Jill, Such Constant Affectionate Care: Lady Charlotte Finch – Royal Governess and the Children of George III (Los Angeles, 2003)

  Sheppard, Edgar, Memorials of St James’s Palace, 2 vols (1894)

  Sloan, Kim, ‘A Noble Art’: Amateur Artists and Drawing Masters, c. 1600-1800 (2000)

  Smythies, Raymond, Historical Records of the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment … (Devonport, 1894)

  Strachey, Lytton, and Roger Fulford, The Greville Memoirs, 8 vols (1938)

  Stuart, D. M., Daughters of George III (1939)

  Taylor, Ernest, ed, The Taylor Papers, Being a Record of… the Life of Lieut. General Sir Herbert Taylor (1913)

  Thackeray, William, The Four Georges (1861)

  Tomkins, Peltro, The Birth and Triumph of Cupid, from papers cut by Lady Dashwood [24 plates] (1795)

  Tomkins, Peltro, The Birthday Gift or The New Doll, from papers cut by a lady (1796)

  Trollope, Frances E., Memoir of Frances Trollope (1895)

  Twiss, Horace, ed, Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon, 3 vols (1844)

  United Service Journal (1829–72)

  Vallone, Lynne, Becoming Victoria (2001)

  van Thal, Herbert, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover (1936)

  Walker, Richard, Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen: The Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (Cambridge, 1992)

  Walsh, Gerta, et al, eds, ‘Ich schreibe, lese und male ohne Unterlass’: Elizabeth, englische Prinzessin und Landgräfin von Hessen-Homburg (1770–1840) als Künstlerin und Sammlerin (Bad Homburg, 1995)

  Wardroper, John, Wicked Ernest (2002)

  Watkin, David, Royal Interiors of Regency England (1984)

  Watkins, John, Memoirs of Her Majesty Sophia Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain, (1819)

  Withers, Philip, History of the Royal Malady, with a variety of entertaining anecdotes (1789)

  Wraxall, Sir Nathaniel, The Historical and Posthumous Memoirs of his Own Time, 1772-1784, 5 vols (1884)

  Wyndham, Hon Mrs Hugh, ed, Correspondence of Sarah Spencer, Lady Lyttelton, 1787-1870 (1912)

  Yorke, Philip, ed, Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England, Landgravine of Hesse Homburg (1898)

  Notes

  FAMILY ABBREVIATIONS

  George III, Queen Charlotte and their children are shown in bold

  Adolphus: Prince Adolphus, seventh son of George III, later Duke of Cambridge

  Amelia: Princess Amelia, sixth daughter of George III

  Augusta: Princess Augusta, second daughter of George III

  Augustus: Prince Augustus, sixth son of George III, later Duke of Sussex, husband of Lady Augusta Murray and of Lady Cecilia Buggin, Duchess of Inverness

  Bertie: Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

  Dowager Princess of Leiningen: Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, widow of Prince Charles of Leiningen, later wife of Edward, Duke of Kent and mother of Queen Victoria

  Dowager Princess of Wales: Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Dowager Princess of Wales, widow of Frederick, Prince of Wales and mother of George III

  Duchess of Brunswick: Augusta, formerly Hereditary Princess, wife of Charles, Duke of Brunswick, sister of George III and mother of Caroline, Princess of Wales

  Duchess of Cambridge: Princess Augusta of Hesse, wife of Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge

  Duchess of Kent: Victoria of Saxe-Coburg, widow of Prince Charles of Leiningen, wife of Edward, Duke of Kent and mother of Queen Victoria

  Duke Charles: Prince/Duke Charles, later Grand Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Charlotte’s brother

  Duke Frederick: Frederick, Duke, formerly Hereditary Prince, later Elector and King of Württemberg, and husband of Royal

  Duke of Gloucester: William Henry, first Duke of Gloucester and brother of George III, father of William Frederick, second Duke, and of Sophia Matilda

  Edward: Prince Edward, fourth son of George III, later Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria

  Elizabeth: Princess Elizabeth, third daughter of George III, later Hereditary Princess and Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg, wife of Fritz

  Ernest: Prince Ernest, fifth son of George III, later Duke of Cumberland, and first King of Hanover

  Frederick: Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, second son of George III

  Fritz: Friedrich/Friedrich VI, Hereditary Prince, later Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, husband of Elizabeth

  GIII: King George III, Elector of Hanover, husband of Queen Charlotte

  GIV: King George IV, eldest son of George III, formerly George, Prince of Wales and Prince Regent

  George: Prince George, later second Duke of Cambridge, only son of Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge

  GP: George, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George III, later Prince Regent and George IV

  Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz: see Gussy

  Grand Duke Charles: Grand Duke, formerly Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Charlotte’s brother

  Gussy: Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Hereditary Princess, later Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, elder daughter of Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and wife of Friedrich Wilhelm, Hereditary Prince, later Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

  Hereditary Prince: Frederick, Hereditary Prince, later Duke, Elector and King of Württemberg, husband of Royal

  Hereditary Princess: Augusta, later Duchess of Brunswick, wife o
f Charles, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, sister of George III and mother of Caroline, Princess of Wales

  King Frederick: Frederick, King, formerly Hereditary Prince, Duke and Elector of Württemberg, husband of Royal

  Leopold: Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, later King Leopold I of the Belgians, husband of Princess Charlotte, uncle of Queen Victoria

  Mary: Princess Mary, fourth daughter of George III, later Duchess of Gloucester, wife of William Frederick

  Mary Adelaide: Princess Mary Adelaide, younger daughter of Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, later Duchess of Teck and mother of Queen Mary

  PR: Prince Regent, eldest son of George III, formerly George, Prince of Wales and later King George IV, father of Princess Charlotte

  Prince Albert: Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, nephew of Leopold and Prince Consort of Queen Victoria

  Princess Charlotte: Princess Charlotte of Wales, only child of George IV and Queen Caroline, when Prince and Princess of Wales, and first wife of Leopold

  Princess of Wales: Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales, wife of George, Prince of Wales and later Queen Caroline, mother of Princess Charlotte

  Queen Charlotte: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Consort of King George III

  Queen Mary: Mary of Teck, daughter of Mary Adelaide and of the Duke of Teck, wife of King George V

  Queen Victoria: Queen Victoria, formerly Princess Victoria of Kent, daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent and wife of Prince Albert

  Royal: Princess Charlotte Augusta Matilda, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of George III, and later, as second wife of Frederick, first King of Württemberg, Hereditary Princess, Duchess, Electress and Queen of Württemberg

  Sophia: Princess Sophia, fifth daughter of George III

  Sophia Matilda: Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester, daughter of William Henry, first Duke of Gloucester, sister-in-law of Mary

  Victoria: Princess Victoria, only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, later Queen Victoria

  WIV: William IV, third son of George III, formerly Prince William and Duke of Clarence

  William: Prince William, third son of George III, later Duke of Clarence, then William IV, husband of Adelaide

  William Frederick: Prince William Frederick of Gloucester, son of William Henry, first Duke of Gloucester, later second Duke of Gloucester, husband of Mary

  OTHER ABBREVIATIONS

  Add

  Additional

  BL

  British Library

  Col

  Collection

  Corr

  Correspondence

  Eg

  Egerton

  (Fr)

  translated from French

  GEO

  Georgian Papers

  (Ger)

  translated from German

  HMC

  Historical Manuscripts Commission

  LB

  Letter Book

  LC

  Lord Chamberlain’s Papers

  LRO

  Leicestershire Record Office

  LWL

  Lewis Walpole Library

  (M)

  Microfilm

  Ms(s)

  Manuscript(s)

  NYPL

  New York Public Library

  PML

  Pierpont Morgan Library

  PRO

  Public Record Office

  QYJ

  Queen Victoria’s Journal

  RA

  Royal Archives

  RC

  Royal Collection

  RCP

  Royal College of Physicians

  RL

  Royal Library

  RPC

  Royal Photographic Collection

  VIC

  Victorian Papers

  YCBA

  Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

  CHAPTER 1: EARLY DAYS

  ‘princess’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 1, 59

  ‘understanding’. Greig, Diaries of a Duchess, 63

  ‘sons’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 1, 59

  ‘House’. LRO/DG7, Lady Charlotte Finch’s Journal, 29 September 1766

  ‘goose’. Cf Dobson, d’Arblay Diary, 4, 107

  ‘figure’. LRO/DG7/B0X 4953, Bundle 31, Henrietta Finch to Charlotte Finch, 11 August 1766

  ‘petticoats’. LRO/DG7/B0X 4953, Bundle 31, Lady Charlotte Finch to Lord Winchilsea, 26 September 1765

  ‘sometimes’. Finch, Burley-on-the-Hill, 1, 294

  ‘reflections’. Huish, George III, 1, 13

  ‘comical’, ‘her?’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 1, 30–1

  ‘jewels’. Climenson, Passages, 116–17

  ‘evening’. LRO/DG7/Box 4953, Bundle 31, Sophia Finch to Lord Winchilsea, 19 September 1766

  ‘away’. Greig, Diaries of a Duchess, 63

  ‘worse’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 1, 35

  ‘lodgings’. Ibid, 1, 67

  ‘lesson’. LRO/DG7, Lady Charlotte Finch’s Journal, 24 November 1766

  ‘covers’. PRO, LC 9/293

  ‘sea’. RA GEO/Add 21/101, Royal to Lady Charlotte Finch, 14 March 1805

  ‘noise’. Buckingham and Normanby, Works, 2, 223

  ‘coat’. LRO/DG7, Lady Charlotte Finch’s Journal, 19 January 1767

  ‘bed’. Ibid, 1766-7 passim; LRO/DG7, Box 4953, Bundle 50, Henrietta to Frances Finch, 5 June [1766]

  ‘abandoned’. Lewis, Walpole Correspondence, 38, 434

  ‘disconcerted’. Ibid, 116–17

  ‘Ranelagh …’. Ibid, 127–8

  ‘parrots’. RA GEO(M)/Add 21/91/1 (Fr), Queen Charlotte to Duke Charles, 9 January 1778

  ‘timidity’. Harcourt, Papers, 4, 80

  ‘dead’. Finch, Burley-on-the-Hill, 286

  ‘Princes’. BL Add Ms 35839, £250, ‘Character of the Queen’, 1761

  ‘to her’. Ibid

  ‘see this’. Harcourt, Papers, 4, 79

  ‘nothing’. Greig, Diaries of a Duchess, 51

  ‘Guido’. Millar, Later Georgian, 22

  ‘Tuscan’. Lewis, Walpole Correspondence, 37, 69

  ‘daughter’. LRO/DG7, Lady Charlotte Finch’s Diary, 1766-7 passim

  ‘pretty’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 2, 44

  ‘to her’. Ibid, 401

  ‘family’. RA VIC/Y 67/8, Leopold to Queen Victoria, 1 October 1840

  ‘served up’. Huish, George III, 1, 326

  ‘health’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 2, 434

  ‘please them’. Ibid, 247

  ‘accent’. RA GEO/50177, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 31 January 1799

  ‘return’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 2, 326

  ‘forget them…’. RA GEO/50173, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 20 February 1798

  superintendents. RA GEO/50171-2, RA GEO/50181, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 23 December 1797-20 February 1798, 9 November 1799

  ‘character’. RA GEO/15884-5, ‘Description of an entertainment … September 1769’

  ‘head’. Greig, Diaries of a Duchess, 93–5

  ‘thing’. RA GEO/50177, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 31 January 1799

  ‘sylph’. Greig, Diaries of a Duchess, 93–5

  ‘herself’. RA GEO/50181, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 9 November 1799

  ‘plain’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 2, 429

  ‘boughs’. Ibid, 387

  ‘unattended’. Ibid, 3, 114

  ‘access’. Watkins, Her Majesty, 591

  ‘prospect’. Lewis, Walpole Correspondence, 23, 66

  courtyard. Doran, Lives of the Queens, 2, 67

  ‘tired’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 3, 153

  ‘wall’, try her. Greig, Diaries of a Duchess, 145

  ‘unreasonably’, ‘ever was’. Home, Lady Mary Coke 3, 258

  ‘yours’. RA GEO/Add 15/8152, Queen Charlotte to Lady Charlotte Finch, 6 November 1771

  ‘people’. RA GEO/Add 15/8154, Queen Charlotte to Lady Charlotte Finch, [before 31 October] 1774

  twins. HMC, Dartmouth, 443, GIII to Lord Dartmouth, 14 May 1804

  ‘Bruns
wick family’. RA GEO/50286, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 14 May 1801

  CHAPTER 2: GROWING UP

  ‘infant’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 3, 439

  ‘hitherto’. RA GEO/36346, Queen Charlotte to GP, 12 August 1770

  ‘yourself. LRO/DG7, Box 4953, Bundle 31, Lord Winchilsea to Lady Charlotte Finch, July 1771

  ‘on them’. LRO/DG7, Box 4953, Bundle 31, Lady Juliana Penn to Lady Charlotte Finch, 5 August 1771

  ‘showy’. Dobson, d’Arblay Diary, 2, 409

  ‘men’, ‘turn’. RA VIC/Y 171/81, Mary Campbell to Rebecca Fraser, Philadelphia, 1774

  ‘hour’. RA GEO/50195-6, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 16 March 1802

  ‘employment’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 4, 424

  ‘my sister’. RA GEO/Planta/6 (Fr), Elizabeth Planta to Lady Strathmore 14 July 1771

  Christian. RA VIC/Y 171/81, Mary Campbell to Rebecca Fraser, Philadelphia, 1774

  ‘about them’. RA GEO/Add 15/8154, Queen Charlotte to Lady Charlotte Finch, [before 31 October] 1774

  ‘price’. Greig, Diaries of a Duchess, 28–9

  ‘pounds’. Lewis, Walpole Correspondence, 22, 540

  ‘crust’. Fitzgerald, Queen Charlotte, 97

  ‘followed them’. Dyce, Rogers’ Table Talk, 116

  ‘whip’. Murray, Recollections, 69

  ‘children’. RA GEO/50181, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 9 November 1799

  ‘better’. RA GEO/50178, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 4 February 1799

  ‘alone’. RA GEO/50181, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 9 November 1799

  ‘idle’. RA GEO/50196, Royal to Martha, Lady Elgin, 16 March 1802

  ‘separation’. RA GEO(M)/Add 21/91/1 (Fr), Queen Charlotte to Duke Charles, 3 September 1771

  ‘likewise’. Annual Register (1765), 25

  ‘fool’. Lady Louisa Stuart’s Memoir in Home, Lady Mary Coke, 1, lxxxvi

  ‘help her’. Lewis, Walpole Correspondence, 21, 530

  ‘untruth’. RA GEO/15948, GIII’s Memorandum, after 1 December 1771

  ‘family’. RA GEO/15934, GIII to Dowager Princess of Wales, 3 November 1771

  ‘example’. RA GEO/15938, GIII to Duke of Gloucester, draft 9 November 1771

  ‘thought’. RA GEO/15939-40, GIII to Duke of Gloucester, 9 November 1771

  ‘hopes … door’. Home, Lady Mary Coke, 4, 15ff

  ‘pardon him’. RA GEO/54250, Dowager Princess of Wales to GIII (Fr), [?November 1771]

  ‘to see’. RA GEO/15942, GIII to Duke of Gloucester, 19 November 1771