Anyone who knows anything about Regency England probably knows that the marriage of George, Prince of Wales, to Princess Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in April 1795 was an unmitigated disaster. Forced by the king into a legal marriage so that Parliament would clear his debts, when he had already contracted an illegal marriage to the Catholic widow Maria Fitzherbert, the prince married his first cousin without ever having laid eyes on her until three days before the wedding.
Princess Caroline’s arrival in England, the cousins’ first meeting and the wedding ceremony are as I have described them, and Lord Malmesbury was a real person and where possible I have used his own words, or a close approximation. Frances, Lady Jersey, was the prince’s mistress at the time and she was appointed as lady-in-waiting. Everything else is fiction, although as historically accurate as I can make it.
Readers who would like to know more about the marriage and Caroline of Brunswick may like to consult Flora Fraser’s excellent biography, The Unruly Queen, as I have done. The Disastrous Marriage, by Joanna Richardson, also has useful information, if taking perhaps a rather romanticised view of the Prince of Wales’s frequent to-ings and fro-ings between mistresses! My story covers only the three days between the first meeting of the cousins and their marriage. More than enough time for Kester, Duke of Severn, to sort out his own marital difficulties and convince his bride that he wants more than just her money.
Elizabeth Rolls