Background
In 1794, George, Prince of Wales, sought a suitable bride. He did not do so out of any particular desire to secure the succession, but because the Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, promised him an increased income if he married. George, despite receiving large incomes as Prince of Wales and as Duke of Cornwall, lived well beyond his means, and by 1794, his income was insufficient to cover even the interest on his debt.
George had attempted marriage once, to his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert. The attempted marriage was legally invalid as no attempt had been made to obtain the consent of King George III, the Prince's father, which was required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772. Nevertheless, the Prince kept Mrs. Fitzherbert as his mistress, that is, when other mistresses, such as Lady Jersey, were not in greater favour.
George considered two German princesses as possible brides, both of whom were his first cousins. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the daughter of George's mother's brother, while Caroline of Brunswick was his father's sister's daughter. George's mother, Queen Charlotte, had heard disquieting rumours about Princess Caroline's behavior, and so favoured Princess Louise, whom she considered prettier, and who was her niece by blood, rather than by marriage. Princess Caroline had, it was said, behaved improperly with an Irish officer in her father's army, and earlier negotiations for her hand had broken off for unknown reasons. George, under the influence of Lady Jersey (who considered Caroline a less formidable rival than Louise), selected the Brunswick princess although he had never met her, and despatched the diplomat, James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, to escort her from Brunswick to Britain.
Harris found the Princess dressed in a dishevelled manner, and it was obvious that she had not washed in several days. He found her conversation coarse and overly familiar. Harris spent almost four months with her, doing his best to improve her behaviour and habits, before they reached England, a time lengthened by poor winter weather and delays occasioned by the war against France. The diplomat brought Caroline to St. James's Palace; on first sight of his bride, the Prince stated, "Harris, I am not well, pray get me a glass of brandy." After the Prince had left, Caroline said, "I think he is very fat and nothing like as handsome as his portrait." When the couple dined together that evening, the embittered Princess made coarse allusions to the Prince's relationship with Lady Jersey; according to Harris this served to cement George's dislike of her. Before the wedding on 8 April 1795, George sent his brother William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV), to tell Mrs. Fitzherbert that she was the only woman he would ever love, then went to the ceremony, drunk.
George later stated that the couple had sex only three times, and that the Princess had commented on how large his penis was, leading him to conclude that she must have had a basis for comparison and so was most likely not a virgin. Caroline on the other hand later hinted that the Prince was impotent. The royal couple separated within weeks, though they remained under the same roof. One day short of nine months after the wedding, Caroline gave birth to a daughter.
Read more about this topic: Princess Charlotte Of Wales
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