George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820; Great Britain -- History -- George III, 1760-1820
As a matter of fact, according to the Register of Marriages at St.
George's Chapel, Mayfair, published in 1889 by the Harleian Society,
Hannah Lightfoot married Isaac Axford, of St. Martin's, Ludgate, at
Keith's Chapel on December 11, 1753. Therefore, her intrigue with George
must have taken place when he was fifteen years of age!
So far as "The Monthly Magazine" is concerned the discussion ceased in
1822, but a new point was raised two years later in "An Historical
Fragment relative to her late Majesty Queen Caroline," for, according to
this work, Hannah Lightfoot had married not Axford, but the Prince of
Wales. "The Queen (Caroline) at this time, laboured under a very curious
and, to me unaccountable, species of delusion. She fancied herself in
reality neither a queen nor a wife. She believed his present Majesty to
have been actually married to Mrs. Fitzherbert; and she as fully
believed that his late Majesty George the Third was married to Miss
Hannah Lightfoot, the beautiful Quakeress, previous to his marriage with
Queen Charlotte; and as that lady did not die until after the birth of
the present King and his Royal Highness the Duke of York, her Majesty
really considered the Duke of Clarence the true heir to the throne."
The marriage of Hannah Lightfoot and the Prince of Wales is insisted
upon in the scurrilous "Authentic Records of the Court of England for
the last Seventy Years" (which includes in its list of contents such
items as "The Bigamy of George the Third" and "The Infamous and
cold-blooded MURDERS of the Princess Charlotte, and of Caroline, Queen
of England") and in "The Secret History of the Court of England." "The
unhappy sovereign while Prince of Wales was in the daily habit of
passing through St. James's Street and its immediate vicinity," so runs
a passage in the "Secret History." "In one of his favourite rides
through that part of the town he saw a very engaging young lady, who
appeared by her dress to be a member of the Society of Friends. The
Prince was much struck by the delicacy and lovely appearance of this
female, and for several succeeding days was observed to walk out alone.
At length the passion of his Royal Highness arrived at such a point that
he felt his happiness depended upon receiving the lady in marriage.
Every individual in his immediate circle or in the list of the Privy
Council was very narrowly questioned by the Prince, though in an
indirect manner, to ascertain who was most to be trusted, that he might
secure, honourably, the possession of the object of his ardent wishes.
His Royal Highness, at last, confided his views to his next brother,
Edward, Duke of York, and another person, who were the only witnesses to
the _legal_ marriage of the Prince of Wales to the before-mentioned
lady, Hannah Lightfoot, which took place at Curzon Street Chapel,
Mayfair, in the year 1759. This marriage was productive of _issue_."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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