On April 8, 1795, the future King George IV married a German princess named Caroline Amelia of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel. The 32-year-old prince was anything but festive at his wedding. He was so drunk that he had to be held up by his groomsmen and, in the words of one eye-witness, he "looked like death." He continued to drink after the ceremony and, not surprising, ended up spending his wedding night passed out on the bedroom floor.
Although the Prince of Wales and his new bride were first cousins, they had met just three days before they became man and wife. The prince, who was known for his loose morals and lavish spending, agreed to the marriage at the urging of his current mistress, Lady Jersey, and his father, King George III, who had promised to pay off his debts. The king, of course, just wanted his son to settle down. And what was Lady Jersey's motive? According to one account, she hoped that his new wife would make him forget his old wife.
Yes, at the time of his marriage to Caroline of Brunswick, the Prince of Wales was already married to an older, twice-widowed Roman Catholic commoner called Maria Fitzherbert. Strictly speaking, the marriage was not legal because the prince had not obtained his father's permission to marry. But it was valid in the eyes of the Church of England, and the Prince of Wales would become the head of the church when he succeeded to the throne. Er, except that it was illegal for anyone who was married to a Catholic to inherit the throne.
The prince had gotten himself into quite a predicament. And so, ten years after the fact, he decided to pretend that his marriage to Mrs. Fitzherbert had never happened, and Princess Caroline became his official bride.
George and Caroline were mismatched from the start. He was an immaculate dandy; she rarely bathed, prided herself on dressing quickly, and, in the words of one historian, "smelt like a farmyard." He was interested in art and architecture; she, according to the prince's friend Lord Malmesbury, had "a light and flighty mind."
Malmesbury, who met Caroline before she came to England, thought she was good-natured and well-meaning, but deplored her lack of tact. The princess was flippant, sarcastic, vulgar -- everything the future queen of England was not supposed to be. Malmesbury tried to coach her in "a strict attention to appearances," but Caroline was no malleable young girl. She was 26 at the time of her marriage, and too set in her ways to change. The Prince of Wales would have to take her as she was, and live with her... if he could.
Go To Page: 1 2
