Caroline the Illustrious, vol. 2 (of 2) : $b Queen-Consort of George II. and sometime Queen-Regent; a study of her life and timeWilkins, W. H. (William Henry)
History
Caroline the Illustrious, vol. 2 (of 2) : $b Queen-Consort of George II. and sometime Queen-Regent; a study of her life and time
Wilkins, W. H. (William Henry)
Caroline, Queen, consort of George II, King of Great Britain, 1683-1737
Lady Suffolk stayed her week and then, despite the arguments of the
Queen, she resigned her appointment, and left the court for ever. She
was forty-eight years of age, and had fairly earned her retirement.
She was not of a nature to live long alone, and the following year
she married George Berkeley, fourth son of Charles, second Earl of
Berkeley, a man not distinguished for fortune or good looks, but who,
nevertheless, made her a very good husband. The King was in Hanover
when he heard of Lady Suffolk’s marriage, and had already given her a
successor. He received the news very philosophically, and wrote to the
Queen:--
“J’étois extrêmement surpris de la disposition que vous m’avez mandé
que ma vieille maîtresse a fait de son corps en mariage à ce vieux
goutteux George Berkeley, et je m’en réjouis fort. Je ne voudrois pas
faire de tels présens à mes amis; et quand mes ennemis me volent, plut
à Dieu que ce soit toujours de cette façon.”
The King probably called Berkeley his enemy because he was a member of
the Opposition. Berkeley died a few years after his marriage with Lady
Suffolk, but she survived him for more than twenty years. She lived, in
dignified retirement, at her villa at Marble Hill, and retained, until
the end of her life, the charm of manner and amiability, which had won
her many friends. Horace Walpole used to visit her in her old age, and
gleaned from her much material for his famous _Memoirs_. She died in
1767, in her eightieth year, having survived George the Second seven
years.
FOOTNOTES TO BOOK III, CHAPTER XI:
[104] _Daily Journal_, 8th November, 1733.
[105] The Prince of Orange was hereditary Stadtholder of Friesland, and
Stadtholder by election of Gröningen and Guelderland.
[106] The Duke of Newcastle to Sir Robert Walpole, 13th November, 1734.
[107] This manuscript is preserved in the manuscript department of the
British Museum.
[108] A gap here.
CHAPTER XII.
THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
1734–1735.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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