After the dinner was over the king and queen, with other members of the family, arrived, and the princess was presented in due form. The king was kind and affectionate towards his niece, but the queen was so cold and unfriendly that everybody present noticed it. On the eighth of April all the royal family dined together at the Queen's Palace, Buckingham House, and after the meal they retired to their separate apartments to dress for the wedding ceremony, which took place at night. It was performed in the Chapel Royal at St. James's by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The prince handed his hat with its rich diamond buckle to Lord Harcourt to hold, and then made him a present of it. During the procession it was noticed that the Prince and Princess of Wales scarcely addressed a single remark to each other, although they walked side by side. Some chroniclers say that the prince had partaken so freely of wine during the dinner which The Queens of England. {222}preceded the ceremony that he had to be held up in the chapel between two dukes, and scarcely seemed aware of what he was about. This may not be a fact, but he certainly behaved very strangely during the ceremony; for he got up from his knees at the wrong time and interrupted the archbishop, who stood silently wondering what he intended to do. It was the king who stepped forward and whispered to his son, who then resumed his position, and allowed the service to be concluded. With the bridegroom behaving as he did, and taking no pains to conceal his displeasure, the wedding must have been a melancholy affair indeed. After all the legal formalities had been disposed of, there was a grand supper at Buckingham House, and at midnight the newly-wedded pair went to their own home at Carlton House. It is said they had their first quarrel on the way, which is not surprising if it be really true that the prince had been drinking too freely, and he was probably not more abstemious at supper than he had been at dinner. The city was illuminated, and there was great rejoicing in honor of the royal marriage, though perhaps a peep into the hearts of the principal parties concerned would have shown more cause to weep than to rejoice.