George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820; Great Britain -- History -- George III, 1760-1820
The reconciliation of the Duke of Cumberland with the King was hollow
indeed, for these brothers had nothing in common, and the monarch hated
his sister-in-law. "The King held her [the Duchess] in great alienation,
because he believed she lent herself to facilitate or to gratify the
Prince of Wales's inclinations on some points beyond the limits of
propriety--Carlton House and Cumberland House communicating behind by
the gardens."[145] The reasons for George III's dislike were
well-founded, and, in addition, the Duke committed the unpardonable sin
in allying himself with the Opposition, and was further the prime factor
in inducing his nephew, the Prince of Wales, to set himself against the
Court. During the American troubles in 1775, ministerial Earl told the
Duke that his Majesty hoped his brother would support the measures of
the Government. "God forbid," said his Royal Highness, "that a prince
of the House of Hanover should violate those rights in America, which
they were raised to the throne of England for asserting," and he voted
in favour of Chatham's plan of conciliation. That fine speech stands
alone in the records of his libertine career.
[145] Wraxall: _Historical Memoirs of My Own Times_.
The King's eldest sister, Princess Augusta, was, according to Horace
Walpole, "not handsome, but tall enough and not ill-made, with the
German whiteness of hair and complexion, so remarkable in the royal
family, and with their precipitate yet thick Westphalian accent."[146]
At an early age she interested herself in politics, and soon showed a
desire to meddle in matters of state, which desire was particularly
annoying to her mother, for, unlike the Princess Dowager, she was
attached to Pitt and with the Duke of York "inveighed openly and boldly
against the policy of the Court." Such a firebrand was an active danger
in the royal family, and it was feared lest she might infect her
brothers and sisters and even the young Queen with her obnoxious
opinions. It was, therefore, thought advisable to remove her from
England, and this was achieved by marrying her in 1764 to Charles
William Ferdinand, Hereditary-Prince of Brunswick Wolfenbüttel.
[146] _Memoirs of George III._
[Illustration: _From a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds_
AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OF BRUNSWICK]
[Illustration: _Portrait by Cotes_
CAROLINA MATILDA, QUEEN OF DENMARK
_To face p. 120, Vol. II_]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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