The Greville Memoirs, Part 1 (of 3), Volume 3 (of 3): A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IVGreville, Charles
History
The Greville Memoirs, Part 1 (of 3), Volume 3 (of 3): A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV
Greville, Charles
Great Britain -- History -- George IV, 1820-1830; Great Britain -- History -- William IV, 1830-1837
An interval of above six weeks. I went to Newmarket on the 3rd of
October, returned to town for a Council on Wednesday in the first
October week; after the first October meeting I went to
Buckenham, after the second to Euston, and after the third came
to town. At Buckenham I met Adolphus Fitzclarence, who told me
over again the particulars of the scene with the Duchess of Kent,
which did not differ materially from what I have put down. He
added one item, that the day following the Queen was not ready
for dinner, and when dinner was announced and he was waiting he
asked, 'Where's the Queen?' They told him she was waiting for the
Duchess of Kent, when he said, loud enough for everybody to hear,
'That woman is a nuisance.' He was very angry at King Leopold's
coming here, received him very coldly at Windsor, had no
conversation with him on business, and on one occasion exhibited
a rudeness even to brutality. It seems he hates water-drinkers;
God knows why. One day at dinner Leopold called for water, when
the King asked, 'What's that you are drinking, sir?' 'Water,
sir.' 'God damn it!' rejoined the other King; 'why don't you
drink wine? I never allow anybody to drink water at my table.'
Leopold only dined there, and went away in the evening. All this
is very miserable and disgraceful.
Of politics during this period I have heard little or nothing,
except that while the Conservatives are feasting and spouting in
all parts of the country, and rallying their forces, there is a
split among their opponents, an event which was inevitable,
considering the different shades of opinion prevailing amongst
them, though they hope to reconcile all their differences by the
time Parliament meets, which they will probably do, in order to
baffle their common enemy. It is, however, a good thing that
these differences should arise amongst them. I wish I could see a
party formed upon really Conservative principles, determined to
maintain the Constitution and steer clear of Tory nonsense and
bigotry; but this I doubt to be practicable.
November 8th, 1836 {p.370}
[Page Head: PRINCE ESTERHAZY'S CONVERSATION.]
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account