If you were looking for a woman with a contrasting style to her
predecessors, then this lady was certainly that
and considered her own worst enemy.
To comprehend her fate, we must understand the hopeless situation
she would find herself embroiled.
She would be married to one of England's least popular monarchs,
but his character and attitude also left so much to be desired.
Yet the Hanoverian kings were all of a similar disposition, doing what
they wanted with little regret in life and no care for the harm it may produce.
This would become a match certainly not made in heaven.
And, so a tumultuous life lay ahead for Caroline of Brunswick
George III was anxious to make changes,
he knew the previous mistakes and catastrophic marriages
his brothers had gone through, and he didn't want the same for his sons.
The royal marriage act was passed in 1772, and this gave no royal member
permission to marry and must first obtain the king's permission.
George, the son of George III, was no different to any of his forebearers.
Mistresses came and went, as was the norm.
However, his infidelity was proving to be a tiresome subject.
Although strangely, he then fell in love with a woman who, from a royal viewpoint,
was quite possibly the worst choice he could have made.
Not only was she a commoner, twice widowed but also catholic.
But Maria Fitzherbert was what you would call a charming lady
and virtuous who lived out her life in the seaside town of Brighton.
However, unlike other women, George had preyed on Maria,
yet she resisted all of George's approaches.
It's said he also faked a suicide attempt to gain her favour.
The only way George could get this woman into his life was to marry her.
Which the couple did in secret in December of 1758.
Maria felt secure she had taken the correct path,
her conscience was clear and her faith intact.
Ten years the couple would spend together, yet to the outside world,
Maria was nothing more than a further notch in George's bedpost.
As with all things, George eventually got bored in 1794
when he discovered a new woman.
Frances Villiers, who was the countess of Jersey.
To this point, Maria, had tolerated his infidelity,
but this woman was one step too far, and it led to the break
up of the couple.
George was somewhat relieved by this
and could now concentrate on his new lusty partner,
but he was also becoming a little short of money; this didn't bode well.
But his mind was on, as always, other more stimulating subjects.
George was single, and being the heir to the throne, something had to change.
He applied himself to his countess while in the background would begin
to look for a suitable royal wife to provide a necessary heir
and hopefully bring some money to his ever falling cash flow.
He continued to look at the list of potential suitors.
His choice would eventually fall upon his first cousin, Caroline of Brunswick.
She was the daughter of George III's elder sister
Augusta, who was still unmarried and now 28 years old.
Caroline was not what you'd call appropriate in many ways;
she was described as careless and disorderly, a well-known
fact to her relations, but they withheld this behaviour from George.
Caroline was unclean, and her personal hygiene
left a lot to be desired; she was a messy dresser
and had little intelligence and even less common sense.
She was prone to exhale outrageous remarks
and tell the tallest of stories when talking with others.
Yet all these would come back to haunt her later in life.
But with all that said,
the marriage was approved, and Caroline set off for England.
She arrived at Greenwich palace for the wedding.
Waiting there was a collection of ladies; amongst them was the countess of Jersey,
quite possibly pretending to become friends
while causing a minor disruption here and there.
And her efforts almost worked as the countess approached the task at hand.
She applied makeup to Caroline to look more like a clown than a princess.
Her dressing was also completely unsuitable
and one that showed a more flabby looking appearance.
Caroline just went along with the whole thing and possibly thought
she looked glamorous in preparation for her introduction to George.
George almost fainted upon seeing her.
She looked terrible, smelled awful, and came across
as a neurotic fool due to her nervous approach.
But the marriage was set in stone and too late to call off.
The service took place on 8 April 1795.
The wedding night was not what you might call a happy time.
Up to her old tricks, the countess slipped laxatives into Caroline's food;
as for George, he just got completely drunk.
George was sick most of that night,
and Caroline sat on her commode.
This was already the beginning of the end
of any further relations between the two.
Nine months later, Caroline gave birth to her one and only daughter
when Princess Charlotte was born.
The realisation of what had happened and continued
began to stir in Caroline's mind.
She knew the countess was at the centre of her ongoing tricks and planned to cause
unrest, so Caroline started a campaign to remove her once and for all.
It would take months for Caroline to achieve her objectives.
But George,
although on the surface, seemed to relent and send the countess away from court.
He actually moved her into a new residence,
coincidentally at the side of his private dwelling,
which would give him access 24/7, which he duly obliged.
George was not happy the cash he had been promised from his wedding was not granted
by parliament, but George being George, blamed his wife for the lack of funds.
It seemed that
Caroline was coping better under the new arrangements.
The countess had been removed from sight but not mind yet any reconciliation
the royal family may have for a return to a happy marriage
between George and Caroline would gradually wane away.
George hated Caroline, and there was no other way of putting it.
Eventually, the couple declared a formal separation.
It was absolutely for the best, and no one argued over the matter.
Caroline moved to Blackheath, where she would now lay the foundations
for a reputation that would follow her for the rest of her life.
Not content to play out a quiet existence,
Caroline would throw parties, flirt with gentlemen
and cause her ladies to run for cover while attempting to coerce men
who were far more accomodating to chase them down.
Her daughter
was hardly ever seen now by Caroline, and when she was in her presence,
she would have to listen to an onslaught about how bad her father was.
By 1798 George had become weary
of the countess and discarded any further attention to towards her.
Although this didn't mean he was contemplating a return to Caroline.
Instead, he checked with the Pope to see if Maria could be allowed to return to him.
In the spring of 1800, she did, and the couple spent
a further nine years in each other's company.
But you all know by now what's coming next?
In 1809 the marchioness of Hertford
entered George's highly complex life,
it was the final straw for Maria, and this time the separation was lasting.
Caroline, by now,
had lost the plot; her strange ways were becoming dangerous.
Yet she had befriended another lady, one who had a very dubious background.
Lady Charlotte Douglas was a typical show-off;
she was bold and didn't hold back.
But Caroline warmed to her, and Charlotte became one of her ladies.
Caroline's tall tales and fabrications again caused problems.
She had told Charlotte she was expecting a child,
and when Charlotte reappeared at her house after a trip away,
there was, in fact, a tiny baby.
It's unsure what happened next, but the two fell out,
and Charlotte was expelled from the house.
The following year Charlotte, now looking for revenge
after her dismissal, relayed the story about the child.
If proven to be fact, Caroline could have been accused of treason.
But of course, it wasn't true; however, a case known
as the 'delicate investigation' was launched to get some answers.
It appears as if Caroline had adopted the child from a poor dock labourer.
Still, the news also brought other statements about her
flirting and worse to the table.
So bad were the accusations that she was actually barred
from the king's court for a period of time.
Caroline knew she had done wrong, and although everyone knew about her ways
this time around, it seemed indefensible.
Although this shook Caroline to the point,
she attempted to make amends for her actions.
But even though it did eventually fade from public gossip,
Caroline returned to her old ways.
She continued to roll out the outrageous tales
while shocking most who came into contact with her.
England had been battling on with the Napoleonic wars, George III was increasingly becoming
more ill, and now Caroline's husband was sniffing around
looking for the ultimate power and the money that came with the position.
Eventually, in 1811, parliament recognised
the situation needed change, and George would become regent.
He quickly tried to resolve many situations;
one was to remove Caroline as his wife.
He banished her from the court and even reopened the 'delicate investigation'
Anything seemed possible now to finally remove Caroline.
But he overstepped the mark and certainly underestimated the power of the country.
Parliament revoked any suggestion from George of removing Caroline,
and she was exonerated from any blame.
Although distressed at the situation, it backfired completely for George.
The public persona he hoped to gain bled away to nothing.
Instead, Caroline, the so-called injured party, gained all their recognition.
By 1814 Caroline set off travelling.
Before leaving, though, she went to Windsor Castle,
a rare visit to her daughter.
Another astonishing moment occurred when Caroline locked her daughter
in her room all night with one of the illegitimate sons of the duke of York.
Luckily for all concerned,
the boy stood his ground and never laid a hand on the princess.
As for her daughter, Charlotte managed to emerge the following day,
possibly quite shocked at her uncompromising night.
Now underway around Europe, Caroline again miscalculated her
needs to the detriment of her ladies, who she cast aside in favour
of lowly people who were favoured and enamoured by her adventures.
Caroline settled in Italy for a few years, never returning
even for her own daughter's marriage to Prince Leopold of Saxe
Coburg in 1816. Nor did she return for her daughter's
funeral the following year after she had died in childbirth.
At the time, Charlotte's death was said to be one of the most horrifying
cases of malpractice throughout history
and one which had massive repercussions on the history of England.
As for Caroline, she was simply happy to continue her travels
and wandering lifestyle.
When George III died in 1820,
her husband George finally became king after a nine-year regency.
Caroline decided to return to England to become queen.
George IV tried to bribe her to stay away,
but Caroline wanted what was due, and nothing would stop her.
George wasn't going to sit back and take this.
He applied to have a divorce and thought he had enough grounds
to pursue this, including adultery;
his aim was not to allow this woman to hold the title of queen.
The case lingered on; it began on 17 August and would run until November.
Caroline had a great defence council, something George
probably didn't think was possible.
But George struggled in proving his case; all of Caroline's ladies who could have
given evidence were long gone, making most of his evidence inadmissible.
Parliament abandoned the divorce.
Although Caroline thought she had won, George wasn't finished just yet.
On 19 July 1821, Caroline turned up at Westminster for her crowning.
But she was thrown out; as George proceeded
alone, he was seen winking at his latest mistress.
Caroline never recovered; just 19 days later,
she was dead, the cause being an inflammation of the bowel.
Her last request was to be buried in Brunswick
and that her coffin has the inscription the injured Queen of England.
George outlived Caroline by nine years, he never remarried, and with his daughter
and her baby both dead, it left no direct heir to the throne.
When George died in 1830, he requested he be buried with a miniature of his wife
around his neck; it wasn't Caroline, but Maria Fitzherbert.