Walpole speaks very highly (in 1783) of the Prince’s brother, William Henry, whom he met at Gunnersbury, the suburban seat of the old Princess Amelia. ‘He had been with the Princess in the morning,’ writes Walpole, ‘and returned of his own accord to dinner. She presented me to him, and I attempted, at the risk of tumbling on my nose, to kiss his hand, but he would not let me. You may trust me, madam, who am not apt to be intoxicated with royalty, that he is charming. Lively, cheerful, talkative, manly, well-bred, sensible, and exceedingly proper in all his replies. You may judge how good-humoured he is, when I tell you that he was in great spirits all day, though with us old women; perhaps he thought it preferable to Windsor.’ The Prince of Wales was already overwhelmed with debt. The domestic comfort of the Queen was even more disturbed than that of her consort by the solicitations made by the so-called friends of the Prince of Wales to induce the King to pay the debts of his eldest son. Her Majesty’s confidence is said to have been fully placed at this time upon Mr Pitt. A conversation is spoken of as having passed between the Queen and the minister, in which he is reported as having said, ‘I much fear, your Majesty, that the Prince, in his wild moments, may allow expressions to escape him that may be injurious to the crown.’ ‘There is little fear of that,’ was the alleged reply of the Queen; ‘he is too well aware of the consequences of such a course of conduct to himself. As regards that point, therefore, I can rely upon him.’ Mr. Pitt inquired if her Majesty was aware of the intimacy which then existed between Mrs. Fitzherbert and the heir-apparent, and that reports of an intended marriage were current? ‘He is now so much embarrassed,’ added the minister, ‘that at the suggestion of his friend Sheridan he borrows large amounts from a Jew who resides in town, and gives his bonds for much larger amounts than he receives.’ In the family dissensions caused by this unhappy subject neither sire nor son behaved with fairness and candour. In 1784, the Prince had been required to send in an exact account of his debts, with a view to their liquidation. The King had, at least, intimated that he would discharge the Prince’s liabilities if this account was rendered. The account _was_ rendered; but, after having been kept for months, it was returned as not being exact. The inexactness of this statement consisted of an item of 25,000_l._ being entered without any explanation as to whom it was owing. The Prince refused to make such explanation, on the ground that it was a secret of honour between him and his noble creditor, in whom many persons affected to see the famous, or infamous, Duke of Orleans. The King declared that, if the Prince was ashamed to explain the nature of the debt, his father ought not to be expected to pay it; and there the matter rested.