So they were pleased with the Prince of Wales if they did feel resentful towards the King.
On the Prince's birthday there was a ball and at this both Prince and Princess increased their popularity. The Princess with her magnificent bust decorously veiled but not enough to disguise its charms, a fair curl over her shoulder, danced very charmingly with the Prince in her low heeled shoes to make him look less short than he actually was. Her gown sparkled with gems and she was a gay and glittering figure.
The King was present, dour as usual, but even he brightened a little when in the company of women. He was making it clear that although he had brought Mesdames Schulemburg and Kielmansegge to England with him and they were secure in his affection and his habits—which he did not care to change—he could appreciate the charms of other ladies and he implied that although he was not exactly enamoured of the country' of which he had found himself king, he certainly was of the women of that country.
He had already shown interest in Lady Cowper even though that lady had made it clear that she had no intention of sullying her virtuous reputation and he was roused from his lethargy by the sparkling conversation of the Duchess of Shrewsbury who had no such reputation to protect, having been Shrewsbury's mistress before he married her. Being Italian she could speak French much better than most of the English women and as the King used that language, which he spoke fluently and which was understood in England better than German, she had an advantage and she did not let this slip. The King was constantly at her house where he went, he said, to play sixpenny ombre; but both Schulemburg and Kielmansegge were a little uneasy.
After one of these visits the King asked the Princess of Wales to come to his apartments and when Caroline arrived, he said: "I want you to offer the Duchess of Shrewsbury a place in your household."
Caroline taken aback replied that there was no vacant place in her household.
"That is not true," replied the King. "You have not yet filled all posts, have you?"
"They are not in fact filled but I have so many applicants for them that I cannot consider any more."
"This is one you will now consider and appoint."
Anger was in Caroline's heart. She wanted to cry out: It is my household. I shall decide.
But she knew the folly of that. The dislike they felt for each other was turning to hatred and she must not forget that he held the power.
She bowed her head.
"You will send for the Duchess," said the King.
In his longing for Hanover the King grew critical of everything English—except the women. The language he dismissed as gibberish; the food he could not stomach. These islanders turned up their noses at sausages and sauerkraut, while relishing oysters. He declared they were stale when they were served to him, although he had never tasted them in his life before. The climate was terrible, he said. "The climate is the most beautiful in the vorld!" said the Prince of Wales. In truth the climate was very little different from that of Hanover. "The people are noisy and undisciplined," said the King. "The people are full of a natural charm and gaiety," retorted the Prince of Wales.
It was small wonder that the people took the Prince and Princess to their hearts and disliked the King.
George was in no mood to admit he liked anything in his new country, but he could not disguise his love of music. This love was deep in his family and his fellow Hanoverians, and the musicians of his household were treated with greater respect than any other of his servants. Opera he had always delighted in and he often spoke lovingly of the opera house at Hanover, yet he would not admit that the entertainment London had to offer excelled that of his native town.
The play began to fascinate him. In London it had been an important feature of town life since the days of Charles II, who had loved the playhouse and most of all its actresses. There were excellent players and playwrights to please the enormous public who thronged each night to Drury Lane and Lincoln's Inn Fields and the King would have lilied to be among them. He was not however going to show these people that the playhouses of London were a novelty to him and admit that they had nothing like them in Hanover. All the same he could not resist attending and the only way he could do this was to go incognito.
Even so, his heavy features might be sufficiently known for him to be recognized, so he would take a private box, remain hidden at the back of it and watch the players on the stage. He could not understand the words they spoke, but he enjoyed watching their antics and some of the women were very attractive.
But after a while this habit became known and the King could no longer hide his interest in the play. From thence he was often seen in the royal box and because of this he found some favour with actors, actresses and all those connected with the theatre, for many people would come to the theatre to see German George, as much as the play.
The King's lack of English was a drawback, so managers began to look for plays with the minimum of dialogue.
Caroline pointed out to her husband that the King had become less unpopular with the people by this playgoing habit.
"Perhaps," she said, "we should go more to the theatre."
George Augustus saw the point at once and the whole royal family took to visiting the theatre frequently.
There were more cheers, Caroline noticed with satisfaction, for the Prince of Wales than for the King.
He and Caroline would be bowing and smiling from their box and the King would be scowling from his and they could laugh at the jokes of the players while the King could not begin to understand them.
This rivalry was becoming a matter of great delight to the Prince and more and more irritating to the King.
It was noticed that at Betterton's The Wanton Wife the King ignored the Prince and Princess, never once looking their way while the Prince threw many a scornful look at the King's box. The audience was delighted. A feud in the royal family aroused interest, enabled them to take sides; and sentimental feeling was, of course, with the Prince and Princess who smiled on them so affectionately and loved all things English, rather than on sour-faced George who clearly would have preferred to go back to Hanover.
James Stuart could not have provided more entertainment; he would have had French mistresses instead of German ones and they may have been more attractive—in fact how could they have been less?—but there was a lot of fun to be had from the Elephant and the Maypole.
"Long live King George I" cried the theatre crowds. "Long live the Prince and Princess of Wales."
The King was thoughtful; he was fully aware of what was going on in the coffee houses. The Jacobite writers were sending out their lampoons and the supporters of the Stuart were drinking to the King across the water.
At a ball given in the Haymarket at which the royal family were present and to which, since it was a masked ball, all sorts of people could find a way in, the King in his mask, was approached by a woman. She was young and seemed attractive and George was never one to forego an adventure. He had to admit, of course, that he could not speak English and found to his pleasure that she could speak tolerable French.
She said: "It is sad for England since we have had Germans among us."
"You do not like them?" asked the King.
"Who could? They are so crude. They are not like us. I should be glad to see them turned away."
"You think they will be?"
"Without a doubt. We don't want German George here and many say he doesn't want to be here. Let him go back to Hanover and no harm done."
"It mightn't be a bad idea."
"Let us drink a health," said the woman; and taking his hand she led him to a buffet where she filled two glasses.