Sunday, April 17, 2011

THE WEDDING OF THE PRINCE REGENT -1795

 

PG-139

The Prince Regent, later George IV, was markedly unwilling to make the dynastic marriage expected of the heir to the throne, not least because he was already secretly married to a Roman Catholic commoner, Mrs Fitzherbert.

Pressured by his father, George III, the prince agreed to marry Princess Caroline of Brunswick. Meeting his bride three days before the wedding, he was horrified by the prospect of them becoming man and wife and took refuge in drink.

At the ceremony he was so drunk he could hardly stand up and had to be supported by his groomsmen. He came to life only to make eyes at his current mistress, Lady Jersey, who was one of the wedding guests. George continued to drink after the vows had been exchanged and spent his wedding night collapsed in a drunken stupor in the fireplace of his new wife’s bedroom.

The couple spent only a few nights together — on one of which George’s heir Princess Charlotte was conceived — and separated within the year.

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