Life and Times of Her Majesty Caroline Matilda, Vol. 3 (of 3): Queen of Denmark and Norway, and Sister of H. M. George III. of EnglandWraxall, Lascelles, Sir
History
Life and Times of Her Majesty Caroline Matilda, Vol. 3 (of 3): Queen of Denmark and Norway, and Sister of H. M. George III. of England
Wraxall, Lascelles, Sir
Caroline Mathilde, Queen, consort of Christian VII, King of Denmark, 1751-1775; Denmark -- History -- Christian VII, 1766-1808
"I went, at half-past one, to the castle of Zell. Monsieur Seckendorf
introduced me to the grand maître of her Highness the Princess of
Brunswick. The princess herself entered in about a quarter of an hour:
she gave me her hand to kiss, and began conversation with me directly;
it was interrupted by the queen's entrance, to whom I was presented,
with the same ceremony. Her Majesty and the princess kept me in constant
talk before and after dinner; we talked of Denmark, of Prince Frederick,
his intended marriage, &c. 'He was a child,' said she (the queen),
'unknown while I was there.' Hirschholm, she said, was her favourite
palace. 'But, tell me,' said the princess, 'about the queen-mother:
she's my aunt, but no matter: say what you will, you may be free--and
for the king, how is he?' I very frankly expressed my sentiments. The
queen asked me a thousand questions about the court of Russia, Sweden,
my travels, &c. The queen asked me, also, about her children, the prince
in particular. I told her how they dressed him now: I assured her I
had been taken for a spy in Copenhagen. Her Majesty related to me Mr.
Morris's affair with Miss Calvert. She was very gay, and seemed in no
way a prey to melancholy. She was very fat, for so young a woman. She
asked me my age. I told her. 'You are, then,' said she, 'exactly as old
as I am; we were born in the same year.' Her features are pretty, and
her teeth very small, even, and white. She resembles his Majesty (George
III.) infinitely in face: but the princess said, not so strongly as she.
I don't think so, and told her royal highness so. Her Majesty appealed
to one of her maids of honour, who agreed in opinion with me. The queen
was dressed in a Barré coloured gown, or at least an orange red, so very
nearly resembling it that I could not distinguish the difference. I asked
her how many languages she spoke. 'Five,' she said, 'Danish, English,
French, German, and Italian.' The princess is much thinner in face, but
not a great deal less in her person: she wants the Queen of Denmark's
teeth, but has a very good complexion. She asked me about the Duchess of
Glo'ster, if I had seen her, if I knew her. 'She is a very fine woman,'
she added, 'even now.' Mrs. C---- was mentioned. 'She was a prodigious
favourite,' I remarked, 'of the Duke of York.' She replied, with a smile,
'For a moment.' She did me the honour to ask me to take Brunswick in my
way next summer, or whenever I visited Germany again. She said she might,
and should, have mistaken me for a Frenchman. 'You don't take that for
a compliment, do you?' the queen observed. 'Indeed, no! I was too proud
of my country.' Macaronies formed a part of our conversation. ''Tis all
over now,' I said, 'the word is quite extinct in England.' 'But, tell
me,' said her Majesty, 'tell me ingenuously, were you not a bit of a one,
while it lasted?' I assured her not. I took my leave soon after dinner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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