"Sir," said he, "God only knows, but I think not. The inhabitants of Zell are all as firmly persuaded of her having been poisoned, as if they had seen her swallow it. They accuse an Italian of it, though the man had not been near the queen's person for near or quite a year before. He had been in the service of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and being recommended as an Intendant, was brought here from Vienna. He was a profligate, unprincipled man. He brought with him a very pretty young woman whom he called his daughter, but was in reality his mistress. While he stayed here, he contracted a number of debts, and being unable to discharge them, went off with his mistress to Brunswick and Berlin. He has not been heard of since. The prejudiced people accuse him of having been gained by the Danish court, and of having administered a slow poison to the queen before his departure, but I am really not inclined to believe this suspicion." To this statement Mr. Wraxall adds: "Among the many princes and crowned heads whom the ignorant and misjudging multitude have supposed to be dispatched by poison, none seems to have less foundation for such an apprehension than the Queen of Denmark. She was exactly a subject for an inflammatory or malignant distemper. She had already had repeated attacks of the same nature, though not so violent as the last. It was in the beginning of May, and the weather remarkably hot. The queen was accustomed to use great exercise, and probably overheated herself. She was young, large, and of a plethoric habit of body. When all these circumstances are considered, who can wonder at the nature of her disorder and death? Nothing so likely or natural." Owing to the mortification that at once set in, it was found absolutely necessary to deposit the body in the vault of the Dukes of Celle until the King of England had arranged the funeral ceremonies. This was done at midnight, on May 13, with great order and decorum by Grand Maréchal von Lichtenstein. At the sermons in the church, the whole congregation, from the highest to the lowest, burst into tears. The queen's affability and gentleness had gained her the hearts of even the lowest people, who offered up heart-felt prayers for their _lieben und guten Königinn_. Her Majesty's remains, accompanied by sixteen captains, were carried in a hearse, drawn by six horses, and attended by a double guard of soldiers, to the royal vault. The burial expenses, amounting to £3,000, though the funeral was quite private, were defrayed, by order, out of George III.'s privy purse.[58]