Fitzherbert, Maria Anne, 1756-1837; George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830
'Colonel St. Leger called on me on the 8th June. He said the Prince
was more attached to Mrs. Fitzherbert than ever; that he had been
living with Mrs. Crouch[72]; that she (Mrs. Fitzherbert) piqued him by
treating this with ridicule, and coquetted on her side. This hurt his
vanity, and brought him back; and he is, now, more under her influence
than ever.'
And yet he could sacrifice her, in order to get his debts paid, and
himself have a larger income to squander. There was but one way out of
his mess: that he must commit bigamy, and deliberately repudiate his
wife.
On August 24, 1794, the King wrote thus to Pitt from Weymouth:
'Agreeable to what I mentioned to Mr. Pitt before I came here, I have
this morning seen the Prince of Wales, who has acquainted me with
his having broken off all connection with Mrs. Fitzherbert, and his
desire of entering into a more creditable line of life, by marrying;
expressing, at the same time, that his wish is that my niece, the
Princess of Brunswick, may be the person. Undoubtedly she is the
person who, naturally, must be most agreeable to me. I expressed my
approbation of the idea, provided his plan was to lead a life that
would make him appear respectable, and, consequently, render the
Princess happy. He assured me that he perfectly coincided with me in
opinion. I then said that till Parliament assembled, no arrangement
could be taken, except my sounding my sister, that no idea of any
other marriage may be encouraged.
'G. R.'
At this time Lady Jersey, a lady of mature age, had great influence
over the Prince, and this probably made his rupture with Mrs.
Fitzherbert the easier. The caricaturist (this time J. Cruikshank), who
always seems to have been as well posted up in any Court scandal as one
of our Society papers, has a picture, August 26, 1794, 'MY GRANDMOTHER,
alias the JERSEY JIG, alias the RIVAL WIDOWS.' Old Lady Jersey, who is
taking snuff, sits on the knee of the Prince, who says:
'I've kissed & I've prattled with fifty Grand Dames,
And changed them as oft, do you see;
But of all the Grand Mammys that dance on the Steine,
The Widow of Jersey give me.'
Mrs. Fitzherbert, one hand clasping her forehead, and in the other
holding a bond for £6,000 per annum, cries distractedly: 'Was it for
this Paltry Consideration I sacrificed my--my--my--? for this only I
submitted to--to--? Oh! shame for ever on my ruin'd Greatness!!!'
It came very suddenly. Both Mrs. Fitzherbert and the Prince were to
dine with the Duke of Clarence; the lady was there, but Florizel was
not; instead, a letter from him was handed to his wife repudiating her.
Lord Stourton had the story from her own lips. Let him tell it:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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