The Duke of Cumberland gave the bride away, and the Duke of Grafton and Lord Hervey, lord and vice-chamberlains of the royal household, acted as ushers. All the noble ladies and gentlemen of the court accompanied the bride and groom in procession to the Chapel Royal, where the ceremony was performed by the Lord Bishop of London. At its completion there was a grand flourish of trumpets, and a deafening beating of drums, followed by the music of a brass band, and the thundering of cannon in the park, that announced to Londoners the conclusion of the compact. Then the bridal party proceeded to the king's drawing-room, where his majesty and Queen Caroline were seated on a dais under a richly-draped canopy. The newly-wedded couple walked hand in hand the entire length of the room, and knelt before the royal parents, who solemnly blessed their children. A grand banquet was served at ten o'clock, and was attended by much gaiety and joviality. Speeches were made, healths were drunk, and everybody seemed happy. {101} [Illustration: 0107] {103} CHAPTER III. |In spite of Sir Robert Walpole's persuasions to the contrary, the king went back to Hanover a week after his son's marriage. Previous to his departure from England he appointed Queen Caroline regent, much to the dissatisfaction of the Prince of Wales; but he went further, for he sent word to the prince that wherever the queen resided _there_ would always be apartments for himself and the princess. In other words, Frederick was to be treated as a sort of a prisoner without the privilege of a separate court of his own. This was most humiliating, and a condition of affairs that naturally led to disobedience and deceit; for when Queen Caroline removed from one residence to another her son would pretend to be making preparations to follow, and then contrive some excuse for not doing so. Once he pleaded illness of the princess, although she was perfectly well, then the queen feigned anxiety and went to visit the make-believe invalid, who received her in a darkened room, and said she was suffering from measles, although the doctors could not be induced to back her up in her lie. The queen went to live at Kensington, as she always did during her husband's absence, and every time she held a council meeting there Frederick contrived to arrive just as the business was concluded. This he did on purpose to annoy his mother, and to show his displeasure at her being regent, when he {104}thought that position ought to have been assigned to him.