‘That’s strange. They like me better than they like him. And what he wants more than anything is to be loved. That’s what we all wish, I suppose. But he more than most.’
And she thought : I might have loved him. He might have loved me. Why was it we never had a chance? And now it can never be. We have come to a sad pass when he so wishes to be rid of me that he will take up the fight against me in public. Brougham had arrived in St. Omer. It now seemed to him imperative that the Queen should not return to England— yet. They were unprepared. He wanted time. Moreover the King’s Ministers had now made an offer of £50,000 a year and for this there were conditions.
He could no longer hide them from Caroline and set them before her.
‘The conditions,’ he told the Queen, ‘are that you are no longer named Queen of England and that you have no title which belongs to the royal family. You shall not live in any part of England. You shall not even visit England.’
There was a note in this letter which was ominous: ‘If the Queen sets foot in England, proceedings will immediately be taken against her.’
When Caroline heard this she was furious. How dared they! They had always treated her unfairly but this was insulting. Did they think to frighten her?
Brougham who now wished her not to hurry back to England yet, tried to persuade her not to be rash.
But her anger was aroused. She was going to return to England. She was going to claim her rights.
She sat down and wrote a somewhat peremptory note to Lord Liverpool.
I now take the opportunity of communicating to Lord Liverpool my intention of arriving in London next Saturday the 3rd June. And I desire that Lord Liverpool will give proper orders that one of the royal yachts should be in readiness at Calais to convey me to Dover; and likewise he would be pleased to signify to me His Majesty’s intentions as to what residence is to be allotted to me either for a temporary or a permanent habitation.
Caroline the Queene
On the sunny noon of June 6th, Caroline arrived at Dover.
She had said goodbye to Pergami who had returned to Pesaro where he bought a house and busied himself with clearing up Caroline’s affairs there.
Sir Matthew Wood had taken over Pergami’s duties and she was now as affectionate towards him as she had been to Pergami.
No one at Dover had been advised of her arrival and when the Commander of the garrison came down to the shore to discover who this important personage was and found her to be the Queen, he ordered a royal salute to be fired. The people came running out of their houses and when the rumour went round that the Queen had come, they cheered her and were determined to give her a good welcome.
She had not come to stay, she told them in her friendly manner; she was on her way to London. And after a brief stay in the town she set out for Canterbury.
News had reached Canterbury that the Queen was on her way and as it was dark by the time she and her suite arrived the townsfolk had lined the streets and stood with flambeaux to light her way and cheer her as she came. The landlord at the Fountain Inn had prepared a feast for the travellers and there they stayed the night. As they ate Caroline heard the shouts: ‘Long live the Queen.’
‘Ah,’ she cried, ‘at least the people are glad to see me.’ The next day there was waving of flags and more loyal greetings as she set out for London.
All along the route she was vociferously welcomed. At Gravesend and Deptford eager helpers were waiting to change the horses. The people of Blackheath were particularly determined to show her how glad they were to have her back. Many remembered her kindness to them when she had lived among them.
Some of them joined the party and rode with her into the Capital.
She had received no reply from Lord Liverpool and no place had been put at her disposal. Sir Matthew however had suggested that she make use of his house in South Audley Street until some suitable residence was offered her.
Into London she rode, triumphant and acclaimed. Next to her in her open carriage was Sir Matthew Wood and opposite her Lady Anne Hamilton. In the first of the carriages which followed sat Willikin, and other members of her entourage followed, some of them Italians, who looked on the scene with wonder.
Flags were waved and the people shouted long life to her. This was indeed an affectionate welcome home.
There was one spectator who looked on in horror. The King had gone to one of the small windows on the top floor of Carlton House where he would be able to watch unseen. He had asked his sister Mary to accompany him so that he would have a member of the family at his side.
‘Oh, God,’ he whispered, ‘how vulgar she is— even more so than I remembered! I cannot accept her as the Queen. The thought that she is considered to be my wife nauseates me.’
Mary whispered comfort and the magic word: Divorce.
‘We’ll get the evidence,’ he said. ‘There can’t be a doubt of it. Soon I shall be free.’
On Trial
THE King was determined that no time should be wasted. On the very day Caroline had set foot on English soil Liverpool in the House of Lords and Castlereagh in the Commons read a message from the King.
This stated that His Majesty thought it necessary to give to the House of Lords certain documents concerning the conduct of the Queen. This was a painful thing to do but the conduct of the Queen gave him no alternative.
Brougham who was present in the Commons when the message was read lost no time in seeing Caroline and compiling an answer in which she stated that she had been induced to return to England to clear her name for she was aware of the calumnies which had been invented against her. Her name had been omitted from the Liturgy; she had been denied a royal residence; she had been insulted at home and abroad. Efforts had been made to prejudice the world against her and she had been judged without trial. Only trial and conviction could justify what had been done to her.
Liverpool and members of the Government were disturbed by her attitude.
They could see that a trial could bring the Monarchy into disrepute. The King’s private life had been far from moral and it was not so long ago that across the Channel the people had risen in their wrath and annihilated the Monarchy.
Liverpool suggested a compromise. The £50,000 a year, a royal ship for travelling abroad and the honours due to the Queen of England should be accorded her.
This Caroline scornfully refused: There was nothing to be done but go ahead and on the 5th July— only some few weeks after Caroline had set foot on English soil— Lord Liverpool introduced a Bill to be read. This was known as the Bill of Pains and Penalties. Its object was: To deprive Her Majesty Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of the Title, Prerogatives, Rights, Privileges and Exemptions of Queen-Consort of the Realm and to dissolve the marriage between His Majesty and the said Caroline Amelia Elizabeth The Bill set out that Caroline had engaged Bartolomeo Pergami to serve in her household and that a disgraceful intimacy had sprung up between the Queen and Pergami. This licentious relationship had brought disgrace on the King and the royal family. Therefore it seemed right and proper that the Queen should be robbed of her privileges and the King granted an annulment of his marriage.
Under the guidance of Brougham, Caroline likened herself to Catharine of Aragon and demanded a fair trial.
The people of London were intensely interested. In the streets they talked of nothing else. The King’s great unpopularity meant that they were all on the side of the Queen. Caroline only had to appear for the crowd to sing her praises and cheer her.