"'I trust in God that my life may be spared for nine months longer, after which period, in the event of my death, no regency would take place. I should then have the satisfaction of leaving the Royal authority to the personal exercise of that young lady (pointing to the Princess), the heiress presumptive of the Crown, and not in the hands of a person now near me, who is surrounded by evil advisers, and who is herself incompetent to act with propriety in the station in which she would be placed. I have no hesitation in saying that I have been insulted--grossly and continuously insulted--by that person, but I am determined to endure no longer a course of behaviour so disrespectful to me. Amongst many other things, I have particularly to complain of the manner in which that young lady has been kept away from my Court; she has been repeatedly kept from my drawing-rooms, at which she ought always to have been present, but I am fully determined that this shall not happen again. I would have her know that I am King, and I am determined to make my authority respected; and, for the future, I shall insist and command that the Princess do, upon all occasions, appear at my Court, as it is her duty to do.' He terminated his speech by an allusion to the Princess and her future reign in a tone of paternal interest and affection, which was excellent in its way. "This awful philippic (with a great deal more which I forget) was uttered with a loud voice and excited manner. The Queen looked in deep distress, the Princess burst into tears, and the whole company were aghast. The Duchess of Kent said not a word. Immediately afterwards, they rose and retired, and a terrible scene ensued: the Duchess announced her immediate departure, and ordered her carriage, but a sort of reconciliation was patched up, and she was prevailed upon to stay till the next day. The following morning, when the King saw Adolphus, he asked him what people said to his speech. He replied that they thought the Duchess merited his rebuke, but that it ought not to have been given there; that he ought to have sent for her into his closet, and have said all he felt and thought there, but not at table before a hundred people. He replied that he did not care where he said it, or before whom, that, 'By God, he had been insulted by her in a manner that was past all endurance, and he would stand it no longer.'"