Plot
Saddled with debt, the Prince of Wales is promised financial support from his father, the reigning King George, only if he marries his coarse and vulgar cousin, Caroline of Brunswick, despite her many faults. The marriage is a disaster from the very start; her efforts to achieve a semblance of grace and majesty fail miserably, and George has no qualms about flaunting his ongoing relationship with Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey in front of his wife. The two formally separate after the birth of their daughter Charlotte, and George reunites with Maria Fitzherbert, whom he had wed years before meeting Caroline. The union was considered invalid because it had not been approved by the king and the Privy Council.
Caroline is banished to a private residence in Blackheath and her contact with her daughter is restricted. She acts as foster mother to several children, and it is rumoured that one of them is her biological son. An investigation fails to prove the allegation, but Caroline is accused of improper conduct. She leaves the country to travel abroad, and reports of her scandalous behaviour reach her husband on a regular basis. While she's away, nineteen-year-old Charlotte dies after giving birth to a stillborn son.
George IV's accession to the throne brings Caroline back to Britain, and she is embraced by the public, much to her husband's distress. He orders his Prime Minister to destroy her reputation. Efforts to strip Caroline of the title of queen consort and dissolve her marriage by accusing her of committing adultery with commoner Bartolomeo Pergami fail, despite a long parade of witnesses. She arrives at Westminster Abbey to attend her husband's coronation on the arm of her loyal supporter, Lord Hood, but is turned away at the door.
That night Caroline falls ill with what is diagnosed as an intestinal obstruction and, certain death is imminent, requests she be buried in Brunswick. When she dies shortly after, her final wish is honoured by her friends. A plaque reading "Caroline of Brunswick The Injured Queen of England[ sic ]" is affixed to her casket.
George IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, having done so since 5 February 1811 during his father's final mental illness.
Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until her death. The estranged wife of George IV, she was Princess of Wales from 1795 to 1820.
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of King George II. She never became queen consort, as Frederick predeceased his father in 1751. Augusta's eldest son succeeded her father-in-law as George III in 1760. After her spouse died, Augusta was the presumptive regent of Great Britain in the event of a regency, until her son reached majority in 1756.
Maria Anne Fitzherbert was a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales. In 1785, they secretly contracted a marriage that was invalid under English civil law because his father, King George III, had not consented to it. Fitzherbert was a Catholic and the law at the time forbade Catholics or spouses of Catholics from becoming monarch, so had the marriage been approved and valid, the Prince of Wales would have lost his place in the line of succession. Before marrying George, Fitzherbert had been twice widowed. Her nephew from her first marriage, Cardinal Weld, persuaded Pope Pius VII to declare the marriage sacramentally valid.
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was the only child of George, Prince of Wales, and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick. She was expected to ascend the British throne after the deaths of her grandfather, George III, and her father, but died in childbirth at the age of 21, predeceasing them both.
Charlotte, Princess Royal, was Queen of Württemberg as the wife of King Frederick I. She was the eldest daughter and fourth child of George III of the United Kingdom and his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
The use of the title of Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is entirely at the will of the sovereign as expressed in letters patent. Individuals holding the title of princess are styled "Her Royal Highness" (HRH). On 18 April 1917, Frederica of Hanover, the newest granddaughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor was styled a British princess from birth, even though Germany and Britain were fighting in World War I. Before the First World War, British princesses also held additional German titles, such as princesses of Hanover by virtue of being male-line descendants of George III; or princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, duchess of Saxony, by virtue of being male-line descendants of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. George V issued letters patent on 30 November 1917, to restrict the automatic assignment of the title "princess" and the use of the style "Royal Highness" to the following persons:
The Pains and Penalties Bill 1820 was a bill introduced to the British Parliament in 1820, at the request of King George IV, which aimed to dissolve his marriage to Caroline of Brunswick, and deprive her of the title of queen.
Caroline Matilda of Great Britain was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1766 to 1772 by marriage to King Christian VII.
George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, PC was an English nobleman, peer, politician and courtier at the court of George III.
Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia was a Prussian princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. She was the eldest daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia and the wife of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, second son of King George III of the United Kingdom.
Augusta of Great Britain was a British princess, granddaughter of George II and the only elder sibling of George III. She was Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by marriage to Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick. Her daughter Caroline was the spouse of George IV.
Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey was a British courtier and Lady of the Bedchamber, one of the more notorious of the many mistresses of King George IV when he was Prince of Wales, "a scintillating society woman, a heady mix of charm, beauty, and sarcasm".
Sarah Sophia Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey, born Lady Sarah Fane, was an English noblewoman and banker, and through her marriage a member of the Villiers family.
John Willett Payne was an officer of the Royal Navy who also served as a close friend, advisor and courtier to Prince George before and during his first regency. Payne was notorious as a rake and scoundrel, but was also a Member of Parliament and noted for his bravery in several military actions during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars. Out of favour in his later years, Payne was reconciled with the Prince in 1799, but died whilst still in the service aged 51, from an illness which developed during blockade operations in the Western Approaches.
Mrs. Fitzherbert, also known as Princess Fitz and A Court Secret, is a 1947 black and white British historical drama film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Peter Graves, Joyce Howard and Leslie Banks. It depicts the relationship between George IV and Maria Fitzherbert. It is an adaptation of the 1945 novel Princess Fitz by Winifred Carter
Prince Regent is a British period television series made and transmitted by the BBC in 1979. It depicts the life of George IV from his youth time as prince regent and his reign as King. It consists of eight episodes of 50 minutes.
Caroline Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, formerly Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers and Caroline Paget, Lady Paget, was the wife of Henry Paget, future Marquess of Anglesey, until their divorce in 1810, and subsequently the wife of George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll, a friend of her first husband.
Edward Weld (1740–1775) was a British recusant landowner.
Lady Sarah Frederica Caroline Child-Villiers was a member of the Villiers family and a member of the House of Esterházy and Princess Esterházy of Galántha from 8 February 1842 to 17 November 1853 through her marriage to Nikolaus III, 9th Prince Esterházy of Galántha.
