George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820; Great Britain -- History -- George III, 1760-1820
[16] The boy was christened Cornwell Fitz-Frederick, and was buried in
Westminster Abbey, February 26, 1736.
Realising the advisability to be off with the old love before he was on
with the new, Frederick sent Lord Baltimore to Miss Vane, commanding her
to live abroad for a period, on pain of forfeiting the allowance of
£1,600 that he had made her since her dismissal from court--"if she
would not live abroad, she might starve for him in England." Miss Vane
sent for Hervey, who recommended her to refuse obedience--a step that
infuriated the Prince with the adviser; but eventually she reminded her
erstwhile lover of all she had sacrificed for the love she bore him, and
this so tickled his vanity that not only did he permit her to retain her
son and the income, and to remain in England, but gave her a house in
Grosvenor Street wherein to live.
Following the example of George II, who had appointed his mistress, Mrs.
Howard, to be woman of the bedchamber to his wife, Frederick made Lady
Archibald Hamilton a lady-in-waiting to the Princess of Wales. Lady
Archibald, however, was soon replaced in his favour by Lady Middlesex,
who, although not good-looking, was the possessor of many
accomplishments; but she had to be content to share his affections with
Miss Granville and various opera dancers and singers.
The Prince, being unable to secure an increased income from his father,
resorted to the usual princely device of borrowing money wherever he
could get it. "They have found a way in the city to borrow £30,000 for
the Prince at ten per cent. interest, to pay his crying debts to
tradespeople; but I doubt that sum will not go very far," wrote the
Duchess of Marlborough. "The salaries in the Prince's family are £25,000
a year, besides a good deal of expense at Cliefden in building and
furniture; and the Prince and Princess's allowance for their clothes is
£6,000 a year each. I am sorry there is such an increase in expense more
than in former times, when there was more money a great deal: and I
really think it would have been more for the Prince's interest if his
counsellors had advised him to live only as a great man, and to give the
reasons for it; and in doing so he would have made a better figure, and
been safer, for nobody that does not get by it themselves can possibly
think the contrary method a right one." The debts accumulated so
rapidly, that there was really some show of reason for Lord Hervey
(always on the look-out to revenge himself for the defection of his
mistress) saying to the Queen that there actually "was danger of the
King's days being shortened by the profligate usurers who lent the
Prince of Wales money on condition of being paid at his Majesty's
death, and who, he thought, would want nothing but a fair opportunity to
hasten the day of payment; and the King's manner of exposing himself
would make it easy for the usurers to accomplish such a design."[17]
[17] Hervey: _Memoirs of the Court of George II_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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