Fitzherbert, Maria Anne, 1756-1837; George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830
The scandal about her being connected with Fox has, I think, no
foundation in fact. He was infatuated with Mrs. Armstead, who
afterwards became his wife; and the foundation for the rumour was,
probably, that Fox was the agent from the Prince to negotiate the
return of the £20,000 bond from Perdita, which he succeeded in
effecting, on condition that she was paid an annuity of £500 for
life. Still, the caricaturist T. Colley gives us (December 17, 1782),
'Perdito and Perdita, or the Man and Woman of the People,' which shows
Mrs. Robinson driving Fox in her chariot. This must have been a very
smart affair, if we may trust a newspaper cutting of 1782.
'_Dec. 4._--Mrs. Robinson now sports a carriage, which is the
admiration of all the _charioteering_ circles in the vicinity of St.
James's; the body Carmelite and silver, ornamented with a French
mantle, and the cypher in a wreath of flowers: the carriage scarlet
and silver, the seat-cloth richly ornamented with silver fringe. Mrs.
Robinson's livery is green, faced with yellow, and richly trimmed with
broad silver lace; the harness ornamented with stars of silver, richly
chased and elegantly finished. The inside of the carriage is lined with
white silk, embellished with scarlet trimmings.'
The _Morning Herald_, June 16, 1783, says: 'The _Perdita's_ new
_vis-a-vis_ is said to be the aggregate of a few stakes laid at
Brooke's, which the competitors were not able to decide. Mr. _Fox_
therefore proposed that as it could not be better applied than to the
above purpose, that the _Perdita_ should be presented with an elegant
carriage. The ill-natured call it _Love's Last Stake_, or The Fools of
Fashion.'
It is not worth while following her career until her death on December
26, 1800; and, indeed, unconnected as she was with the Prince and
Brighton, the episode would not have been introduced were it not to
tell the story of how the Prince got the name of Florizel, which stuck
to him all his life.
The Prince came of age on August 12, 1783, but there were no great
festivities over the event. The Court was quiet, because the Queen had
just been confined, and the account we have of the doings at Windsor
are very meagre. The _Morning Chronicle_ of August 14 tells us that--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account