Doomed Queens (40 page)

CAUTIONARY MORAL

An emperor’s loyalty is to his heirs, not his empress.

1821

cross the channel in England, Queen Caroline died of an illness that overtook her the evening of the coronation she should have had—but didn’t. Her estranged husband, King George IV, made certain of that. He instructed guards to block Caroline’s entrance into Westminster Abbey as he was anointed king. Though George had no intention of crowning her as his queen, her presence at the coronation would have granted Caroline a claim he adamantly refused to acknowledge.

Was Caroline poisoned by George’s loyalists? No one really knows. But one fact remains certain: George hated Caroline beyond reason. He never would have married her except that he needed money. Plain and simple, Caroline was George’s ticket out of bankruptcy.

Caroline’s sudden death at the age of fifty-three was just another episode in a bizarre life bejeweled with scandals and eccentricities.

Caroline on a good day.

Caroline Amalie Elizabeth was born Duchess of Brunswick, in Germany, in 1768. From an early age, she was noted for her free-and-easy manner—a coarse but friendly informality that would have been appropriate for a fishwife but not for a royal. By the age of twenty-six, when George chose Caroline as his bride, she had already acquired a reputation for loose morals and vulgar manners. Reservations were swept under the rug for the engagement, since it was all in the family: Caroline’s mother, Augusta, was George’s father’s sister. Though Caroline and George had never met, it didn’t matter. First cousins got first dibs at thrones—Caroline was no different.

George was no prize either. The Prince of Wales was thirty-two when he agreed to marry Caroline, and he had already plowed his way through numerous mistresses and spawned illegitimate children. He was obsessed with Maria Fitzherbert, a devout Catholic widow. To win entry to her bed, he secretly wed her. Because his father did not consent to the marriage, lawyers considered it illegal though priests considered it valid. However, George’s passion for Mrs. Fitzherbert could not compete with his true loves: gambling, gluttony, drink, and fashion. Such a lifestyle was expensive. The prince’s many debts pressed on him, as did the responsibility of siring an heir. If he married, his allowance would be increased and his debts paid.

The first meeting of Caroline and George did not go well. As soon as the princess greeted her future husband, he disentangled himself from her embrace and called for a stiff brandy. He considered her odious and crude; she thought him fat and ugly. The wedding was no better: The Prince of Wales stumbled through it falling-down drunk. Some thought he’d bolt.

Miraculously, the unhappy couple consummated the marriage. Afterward, George vowed “never to touch her again.” From this encounter, Caroline became pregnant with their daughter, Charlotte. Fatherhood did not increase the prince’s regard for his wife. One day after Charlotte’s birth, George revised his will to leave Caroline one shilling. The couple separated.

Much to George’s vexation, the public loved Caroline as much as they despised him. Her down-to-earth warmth made her seem one of the people, while the Prince of Wales was judged a dissolute playing dress up in his father’s oversize crown; George’s father, George III, had lost the colonies and his mind, causing his son to rule in his stead. The prince also won no fans when he refused Caroline access to her daughter, a sordid story bandied about by the press. Even Jane Austen wrote a letter in favor of Caroline.

Caroline at the height of popularity. George was not amused.

Caroline chose to live abroad, where she indulged in scandal upon scandal. She simply had no sense of propriety, though some were charmed by her openhearted generosity. She took lovers and adopted children as others did kittens, ignoring the gossip generated. Dinner parties often culminated with Caroline dancing seminude for her guests.

Upon the tragic death of Charlotte in childbirth, Caroline lost whatever leverage she had—she was no longer mother to England’s future ruler. George took action to divorce her before his father died, so she could never become queen of England. There was one problem: Caroline refused his payout of fifty thousand pounds. She wanted to be the people’s queen—a politically dangerous move that could lead to revolution against George’s unpopular regime.

When George’s father finally died, Caroline returned to England to claim her crown. George decided to force her hand by taking her to trial for adultery, a charge that could result in her execution.

or

Marriage à la Mode

Caroline was asked at her trial if she’d ever committed adultery. She answered yes, but only with the Prince of Wales—he had married her after saying “I do” to a Catholic widow without his father’s blessing. So who was George’s true wife? You decide.

King George digesting a good meal. Alone.

The result was like tossing a lit match to gasoline. Political opportunists jumped onto Caroline’s bandwagon, hoping to overthrow the government. The press raged against the crown and reported every sensational detail. Women were especially offended by the king’s behavior. Though Caroline emerged victorious, George still refused to acknowledge her as queen of England.

On the night of Caroline’s unsuccessful coronation, the uncrowned queen became violently ill with stomach pains. She died less than a month later. Was it poison or illness that killed Caroline? One doctor believed it was a heavy dose of magnesium laced with laudanum Caroline had ingested to help her sleep; it solidified into a deadly obstruction in her bowels. Nonetheless, the convenient timing encouraged rumors of poisoning—all pointed at George. Despite this, George did not contain his joy at her demise. He sang and drank copious quantities of whiskey.

Caroline requested burial in her native Brunswick, far from the king who hated her. Her tomb is simply inscribed, “Caroline of Brunswick, the injured Queen of England.” Even in death, she couldn’t forget the snub.

CAUTIONARY MORAL