Alison Plowden has a whole list of enjoyable books that she has written about major figures in English history. With this telling of the story of Caroline and Charlotte, she has brought us into the world of Regency England and all the drama that surrounded George IV before and during his reign.
George was the eldest son of King George III of England and his wife Queen Charlotte. George has by all accounts married a commoner Mrs. Fitzherbert, who was a Catholic in a clandestine ceremony. He at this point in his life had Lady Jersey as his official mistress. He was, however, in desperate need of funds which was a constant theme with him. In 1794 he was feeling particularly pinched and with the lack of heirs to the throne, was being pressured to find a wife in exchange for settling his debt.
Where he had balked before, he now declared himself prepared to marry. He chose his first cousin, Caroline Princess from Brunswick. Caroline’s mother was the sister of King George III. There were red flags all over the place that this was going to be a marriage from Hell. Queen Charlotte disapproved of the match and even the King who was quite mad had his doubts.
Nonetheless, plans went ahead for the marriage and in April 1795 Caroline was fetched from Brunswick to marry her Prince. That the Prince had absolutely no idea what he was headed for is quite evident; he didn’t appear to give a great deal of thought to who he was marrying.
By all accounts, Caroline was not displeased with her part of the bargain. She is described as having no tact and as blurting out pretty much anything that came into her head. She was also good-natured and happy by nature. Her mother was a silly woman who had given her no direction but was also prejudiced against her sister-in-law, the Queen of England so her daughter was not inclined to try to gain Queen Charlotte's favor which might have made her situation better.
The meeting of the two parties to this marriage did not go well. George took a dislike to her at first sight and she was heard to remark that he was very fat and not nearly as good looking as his portrait. Not an auspicious start and frankly it only got worse from there. The marriage had to take place, the contracts were all signed, and take place it did.
The Prince was drunk as a skunk and sulking as only he could but the ceremony was performed and by all accounts, over the next few weeks did his duty as well because within two months Caroline was pregnant. She was stunned by the fact since she wasn't aware he had actually performed up to that standard. Since she was vocal about his lack of prowess, it may have been this that precipitated their final break.
In January 1796, Caroline was brought to bed with an immense girl and thus Princess Charlotte Augusta came into the world. Within days of this birth a huge break happened between her parents and from here on in, the gloves were off so to speak.
Charlotte was to be for the rest of her short life a pawn in the war between her parents. Where the blame lies matters little at this point in history. Plowden weaves an interesting story that if you aren’t aware of, will keep you pretty much hoping for a happy ending for at least one of these women.
This is a great piece of historical literature that is interesting from beginning to end.
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