“I have in my hands a letter from his Royal Highness to the Queen,
which I am commanded to give or transmit to your Lordship; and as I am
afraid it might be improper for me to wait upon you at Hampton Court,
I must beg you will be so good as to let me know how and in what
manner I may deliver or send it to you.
“If I may presume to judge of my Royal Master’s sentiments, he does
not conceive himself precluded by the King’s message from taking this,
the only means of endeavouring as far as he is able to remove his
Majesty’s displeasure.
“I am,
“Your Lordship’s very humble Servant,
“BALTIMORE.”
This letter caused a considerable flutter at Hampton Court, and a
consultation was held as to what was to be done. It was said the Queen
was anxious to refuse her son’s letter, but Sir Robert Walpole finished
the matter by forbidding her to receive it, or to become mediatrix
between the Prince and his father, in which there is no doubt he was
simply doing the Queen’s will and taking the blame on his own shoulders.
The following letter was sent in reply to Lord Baltimore’s, and was
dictated to Lord Grantham by Sir Robert Walpole. The Queen was on this
occasion most anxious that Lord Grantham, who was a notoriously bad
writer, should be carefully watched lest he made mistakes, and she was
most desirous that the Prince should quite understand her intentions.
This is the letter:
“Lord Grantham to Lord Baltimore.
“Hampton Court.
“Sept. 15th, 1737.
“My Lord,
“I have laid your Lordship’s letter before the Queen, who has
commanded me to return your Lordship the following answer:--
“‘The Queen is very sorry that the Prince’s behaviour has given the
King such just cause of offence, but thinks herself restrained by the
King’s last message to the Prince from receiving any application from
the Prince on that subject.’
“I am, my Lord,
“Your Lordship’s, etc.,
“GRANTHAM.”
So thus ended the Prince’s further attempt at reconciliation by means
of his mother.
He was, however, soon busy in finding a town house for himself and his
family, whilst Carlton House--which stood near where the Duke of York’s
Column now is--was being decorated and altered.
Carlton House had been purchased by him in 1732, through Lord
Chesterfield, from the Countess of Burlington.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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