and the Princess-Dowager did their utmost to break off the affair, the friends of Lady Waldegrave remonstrated, and counselled prudence. But threats, advice and warnings were all in vain, and at last the Duke of Gloucester and Lady Waldegrave were secretly married in September, 1766, in the drawing-room of Lady Waldegrave's town house, by her domestic chaplain. The secret was jealously guarded; some declared that the young couple were married, others, less charitable, that they ought to be, but the Duke and his Duchess let them gossip as they would. The Duke was always with Lady Waldegrave in public, and his manner to her was exactly the manner a man would treat his honoured wife. The livery worn by her servants was a compromise between that of the royal family and her own. But the marriage was not declared, and at the time the Duke of Gloucester came to Copenhagen there seemed no probability that it ever would be.[114] [113] The Dowager-Countess Waldegrave was the illegitimate daughter of Sir Edward Walpole (brother of Horace Walpole), by Mary Clement, a milliner's apprentice. She was the second and the most beautiful of three beautiful daughters, Laura, Maria and Charlotte. It was said that after the birth of her children, Edward Walpole intended to marry Mary Clement, but she died suddenly, and his honourable intentions were too late. He, however, took the children, acknowledged them, and gave them every advantage of wealth and education. When they grew up, though their birth prevented presentation at court, they were successfully launched into the best society. All three made brilliant marriages. Laura married the Rev. the Hon. Frederick Keppel, brother of the Earl of Albemarle, who subsequently became Bishop of Exeter; Charlotte, Lord Huntingtower, afterwards fifth Earl of Dysart, and Maria, Earl Waldegrave. Lord Waldegrave died a few years after the marriage, leaving his widow three daughters and a large fortune. [114] The marriage was not declared until 1772, when, in consequence of a bill having been brought into Parliament to regulate royal marriages, the Duke publicly acknowledged Lady Waldegrave as his wife. The King was highly incensed, and Queen Charlotte even more so. They refused to receive the Duchess at court, though the King had to acknowledge the marriage as legal; consequently the Duke and Duchess went to Italy, where they remained for some time. In 1776 they returned to England with their two children, Prince William Henry and the Princess Sophia. Their conduct was so irreproachable that a reconciliation took place between the Duke and the King, and the Duchess of Gloucester and her children were duly acknowledged. Prince William Henry of Gloucester eventually married his cousin, Princess Mary, daughter of George III.