Assassination: The Royal Family's 1000-Year Curse (45 page)

Napoleon returned to Paris, but he had no support. He surrendered to the British, sending a letter to the Regent asking for asylum. Instead he was taken to St Helena in the middle of the south Atlantic, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest land. He remained there until his death six years later.

The map of Europe had changed: Russia was in ruins, Austria and Prussia were enlarged, the German states were in recovery, France was defeated, Spanish power was gone, and the Holy Roman Empire and Poland no longer existed. Britain (having acquired Cape Colony in South Africa and Ceylon) was the most powerful country in the world.

Now the Regency moved into its richest phase. George had already overseen the rebuilding of Windsor Castle and the building of the Royal Pavilion in his beloved Brighton. He became the patron of John Nash, who rebuilt the Pavilion in Indian style with Oriental onion-shaped turrets. Nash also redesigned part of London, principally Regent’s Park, Regent’s Street and the surrounding areas, building Regency terraces covered in painted plaster with Greek columns and entered through Roman arches. The focal point of Regent’s Park was the Royal Menagerie to which the King’s collection of animals was moved from the Tower of London (other than the ravens because of the traditional belief that if they ever leave the Tower, the kingdom will fall). It later became London Zoo.

Culture also flourished; this was the time of Wordsworth, Scott, Austen, Shelley, de Quincy, Lamb, Sheridan, Keats, Coleridge, Byron, Constable, Turner and Kean.

Next the country’s attention turned to the Regent’s daughter. George’s marriage to Caroline had been a disaster. According to George, he was able to overcome his aversion only three times: twice on his wedding night and once the following night. Princess Charlotte was born nine months later. Then the royal couple separated. Although he had many mistresses, for most of his adult life Mrs Fitzherbert was the Regent’s companion, regarded by him as his wife despite several periods of estrangement.

In 1814, Princess Caroline had left for the Continent, where she lived a merry, not to say scandalous, life. The Regent had written to her saying that he would not have ‘relations’ with her again, and she could do as she liked – she certainly did. Princess Charlotte, the Regent’s daughter, felt deserted by her mother, growing up a lonely woman. Charlotte had been told that she was to marry the Prince of Orange, but she refused. Then she found someone she was prepared to marry. On 2nd May 1816, Charlotte married Prince Leopold of Saxe-CoburgSaalfeld.
³⁶

There were great celebrations at the wedding of the ultimate heir, but George was not allowed to share in Charlotte’s popularity. He had become increasingly disliked because of his opulent lifestyle, spending enormous sums on lavish entertainment at a time when millions faced unemployment and starvation, the situation exacerbated by the Corn Law that

Throughout the world, 1816 was known as ‘The Year without a Summer’. There had been a number of massive volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, and the dust blocked the sunlight for months. Crops failed, there were food shortages, prices rocketed and riots broke out. On the positive side, Turner painted the extraordinary sunsets, and some writers holidaying in Switzerland were forced to remain indoors, so they held a competition to see who could write the most frightening story: Mary Shelley won with
Frankenstein
.

On 16th January 1817, a ball was held for the Tsar’s brother at which 100 dishes were served in nine courses (the new idea of having courses, instead of everything being served at once, had been introduced by the Russian ambassador in Paris, and was therefore known as eating
a la Russe
). Twelve days later, the Regent was travelling in his coach along the Mall towards his home at Carlton House. He soon became aware of protestors in the street shouting abuse at him. George had seen all this before; he no longer appeared in public unless he was surrounded by soldiers. The coach continued at its usual calm pace as the shouts became louder and louder. All of a sudden, a stone hit the coach. More stones were thrown, some hitting the side of the coach with considerable force. Then a shot, as a bullet broke through the window and flew across the chamber. Fortunately, just like his father 22 years earlier, the Regent was sitting well back in his seat, keeping out of sight, so the shot did not find its intended victim.

The driver cracked his whip, and the coach sped away as the protestors dispersed. No one was apprehended. George was outraged at the attempt to kill him. The following Sunday, prayers were offered in churches throughout the country, seeking the Almighty’s protection of ‘the Royal Person’. It worked; there were no further assassination attempts.

All the joys of Charlotte’s pregnancy and the expected birth of an heir were shattered when her child, a boy, was stillborn. Charlotte died a few hours later. Two generations of future monarchs had been lost within a day. The nation shared the Regent’s grief; shops were closed for two weeks. It became known as ‘the triple obstetrical tragedy’, as the obstetrician, Sir Richard Croft, later shot himself. Having lost the chance to be consort in Britain, Charlotte’s husband Leopold refused the crown of Greece, and later became the first King of the Belgians when Belgium gained independence.

Now the situation regarding the succession was disastrous. Certainly the Regent was the heir to the elderly George III, but who would succeed the Regent? His only child had died, and he was 55 years old and estranged from his wife. He would not have any more legitimate children.

The Regent had eight younger brothers. Therefore the succession would go to the oldest of them living at the Regent’s death otherwise to that man’s issue, failing which to the next brother, then his issue, and so on; and then the sisters. However, so far none of them had any legitimate children. Although George III had fifteen children, of whom twelve aged from 40 to 55 were still alive at the end of 1817, following the death of Princess Charlotte he had not one legitimate grandchild.

The Regent’s six surviving brothers suddenly woke up to the realisation that one, perhaps more, of them would inherit the throne, and the oldest to produce a child would provide the line of royal descent. It was not just a matter of personal glory, the heir and the father of the eventual heir could each expect a considerable increase in his annual allowance from Parliament. Of course, all six brothers were hopelessly in debt. Could the married ones produce a child? Could the unmarried ones find a wife?

Certainly the bride would have to be Protestant and of royal birth. Fortunately, there were plenty of German candidates around. Unlike Hanover, most German territories still split the inheritance amongst all the surviving sons, so the daughters of all of them were princesses. The race was on.

The first brother, Frederick Duke of York, had married his cousin Princess Frederica of Prussia, but they had separated before having any children. Anyway, he and his wife were now in their fifties. So Frederick was first in line after the Regent, but would not provide the succession.

The second brother, William Duke of Clarence, quickly married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen in 1818. They had two daughters, but both died in infancy. So William was second in line after the Regent, but would not provide the succession.

The third brother, Edward Duke of Kent, quickly married Princess Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1818. She was the sister of Charlotte’s widower, Prince Leopold. In 1819, Viktoria gave birth to a daughter, Alexandrina. So Edward was third in line after the Regent, and had provided the succession.

The fourth brother, Ernest Augustus Duke of Cumberland, had already married his cousin, Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. They quickly produced a son, George, in 1819. So Ernest had provided a secondary royal line should Alexandrina die.

The fifth brother, Augustus Duke of Sussex, had married without the King’s permission. His marriage was annulled. Nevertheless, he continued to live with his ‘wife’, so there would be no legitimate children.

The sixth brother, Adolphus Duke of Cambridge, quickly married Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel in 1818 (after all, at that time his older brothers had no legitimate children), and they later produced a boy and two girls.

The Regent’s sisters had no realistic prospect of the crown for themselves or for any children they might have. Anyway, Queen Charlotte kept her daughters close to her and would not allow them to marry until they were over thirty. That made it difficult to find husbands for them. Charlotte married at thirty but had died without leaving issue; Elizabeth and Mary married at forty, too late to have children. The other three daughters never married.

So the line of descent after the Regent was his first brother Frederick Duke of York, then his second brother William Duke of Clarence, then his third brother Edward Duke of Kent, and then the first of the next generation, the Duke of Kent’s daughter, Alexandrina. She was acknowledged as the ultimate heir should she survive and should her parents not have a son. The possibility of a son disappeared in 1820, when the Duke of Kent died. There would be no brother to precede Alexandrina, and she moved up to fourth in line behind her three oldest uncles, the Regent, Frederick Duke of York and William Duke of Clarence.
³⁷

Throughout this time, the Regent’s wife, Princess Caroline, continued to break all boundaries of accepted behaviour. She lived with one of her servants, an Italian called Bartolomeo Pergami. Caroline travelled with him and a retinue to Constantinople, Jerusalem and Jericho, posing for portraits ‘much exposed’, later driving through Genoa in a very low-cut top and a short skirt, dancing in Geneva stripped to the waist, and generally behaving outrageously.

However, England had more serious problems as mass demonstrations calling for electoral reform were held across the country. In St Peter’s Fields in Manchester at the ‘Peterloo Massacre’ the cavalry charged 80,000 protesters, and fifteen were killed and over 700 injured. Laws were quickly passed limiting free speech and peaceful demonstration.

37 If none of his brothers had produced legitimate issue, then after the death of the last of George IV’s siblings, the royal line would have descended through George III’s sister Augusta Duchess of Brunswick (the mother of the Regent’s wife, Caroline), so that today Prince Michael Benedikt Georg Jobst Carl Alexander Bernhard Claus Friedrich Prince of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (senior agnate of the House of Wettin) would be king; but he is in fact 558th in line.

Finally, the great wait came to an end; on the evening of 29th January 1820, King George III died, and on 31st January the Regent was proclaimed King George IV. He immediately suffered a serious attack of pleurisy (inflammation of the lining of the cavity surrounding the lungs). On 1st February, his doctors announced that he was on the verge of death. It was expected that the longest reign would be followed by the shortest reign. Despite the doctors draining 5¾ pints (over 3¼ litres) of blood from his body, George recovered.

Different trouble was on the way. Informed that her husband was King, Caroline returned to England. George wanted a divorce, but proceedings in the customary manner before the ecclesiastical court would entitle Caroline to produce evidence about Mrs Fitzherbert and George’s other mistresses. That could not be allowed. The solution was an Act of Parliament ending the marriage, and it would have to pass through both Houses of Parliament by vote. It started in the House of Lords. Caroline could attend, but she had no right to speak or to produce evidence about George. All that was to be debated was whether Caroline had committed adultery with Pergami and whether the Act should be passed. According to Caroline, she committed adultery only once, and that was “with the husband of Mrs Fitzherbert”.

In the House of Lords, Caroline’s sex-life was investigated and discussed for eleven weeks. It was unjust, it was public and the evidence given by Caroline’s servants was sordid. The Lords voted in favour of the Act by a majority of only nine. Clearly it would fail in the Commons, so the whole sorry procedure was dropped. There was rejoicing in all major cities. Caroline was provided with a residence and an annuity, and everything calmed down.

It was time to crown the new king. George was lucky that his father had insisted on the passing of the Royal Marriages Act. George’s failure to obtain the King’s consent to his marriage to Mrs Fitzherbert meant that the marriage was invalid. If the marriage had been valid, then having married a Catholic, George would have been disqualified from the succession and George III’s second son, the Duke of York, would have been crowned King Frederick.