THE ORANGE MATCH.
[The following extract from the Duke of Buckingham’s “Court of the Regency” may be read with interest in illustration of the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of the Autobiography:]
“The Grand-Duchess of Oldenburg contrived to obtain considerable influence over the Princess Charlotte, and persuaded her to reject the Prince of Orange. The object of this was not suspected at the time; but it was a Russian intrigue that, shortly afterwards, fully explained itself. Some amusing speculations respecting this Russian Princess are indulged in by the authoress of the ‘Diary of George IV.,’ vol. iii. p. 48. The Prince Regent is stated to have kept her under strict espionage to make her marry one of his brothers—the Grand-Duchess had already (had) one husband—and to prevent her having any communication with the Princess of Wales, which was possible any day during her stay in England through a third party. The real object of the visit of the Duchess of Oldenburg could not have been suspected, or the Prince Regent would not have placed her exactly in that position in which she could succeed with the greatest ease. The writer especially adds in a subsequent page: ‘The Regent evidently wished his daughter to take the Prince of Orange; otherwise, why should he, who was so careful in excluding from Princess Charlotte’s society any one inclined to encourage her in independent principles, have permitted her to be intimate with this cunning Russian lady, whose very eyes betrayed the wily nature of her character?’
“It was said that the Princess Charlotte’s insurmountable objection to the union arose from repugnance to quitting her own country; but Lord Clancarty was commissioned to propose her constant residence in England, should the marriage take place.
“Some amusement may be found in tracing the course of this Russian intrigue. In January, 1814, the Emperor expressed to Lord Castlereagh the strong interest he felt in the proposed marriage of the Princess Charlotte and the Prince of Orange, and was extremely desirous that himself and his sister, the Grand-Duchess Catherine, should be permitted to visit England. A month or two subsequently, Russia exhibits much solicitude to obtain a direct interest in the affairs of Holland. A little later this Grand-Duchess precedes the Emperor as a visitor to England, and immediately endeavours to obtain the confidence of the Princess Charlotte, who thenceforth becomes intractable on the subject of the proposed alliance. Lord Castlereagh wrote to Lord Clancarty on the 26th of June: ‘The circumstances attending the rupture of the marriage are still mysterious;’ but the mystery, shortly afterwards, began to unfold itself. The Emperor returned to his own dominions by way of Holland, and immediately a marriage was rumoured between its hereditary Prince and the Grand-Duchess Helen. ‘Connected with this,’ writes Mr. George Jackson, at Berlin, ‘is the expectation affected to be entertained of Russia procuring East Friedland for the Duke of Oldenburg.’... In September the Czar allowed it to be known at St. Petersburg, as a secret, that a marriage was contemplated between the Prince of Orange, who had been invited to Russia, and the Grand-Duchess Anne. The following summer they were married.
“The Duchess of Oldenburg was also suspected of being a means of communication between the Princess Charlotte and her mother, and was evidently regarded by the latter with more than ordinary admiration.... Encouraged by a such a friend and such a mother, the young Princess proceeded on a course that her warmest friends regarded with deep concern.
“The intrigue that was going on at last became known to the Prince Regent, and his Royal Highness, accompanied by the Bishop of Salisbury, suddenly presented themselves (sic) at the residence of the Princess Charlotte, Warwick House, and announced their intention of taking her with them to Carlton House. The Princess having obtained leave to retire—probably to prepare for her journey—at once hurried down a back-stairs into the street, called a hackney-coach, and drove to her mother’s town residence, Connaught House. Her escape having transpired, her retreat was soon ascertained, and the Duke of York and the Lord Chancellor were sent to bring her back. It so happened that the Princess of Wales was then secretly negotiating with the Government for the means of travelling abroad, and feared that this step of the Princess Charlotte might compromise her, and prevent the fulfilment of her desire to leave the country, she therefore not only did not give her daughter a cordial reception, but absolutely persuaded her to go back before the arrival of the deputation sent for her by the Prince Regent. This advice was very far from agreeable. But we must allow Lord Eldon to relate the curious sequel. ‘When we arrived, I informed her a carriage was at the door, and we would attend her home. But home she would not go. She kicked and bounced, but would not go. Well, to do my office as gently as I could, I told her I was sorry for it; for, until she did go, she would be obliged to entertain us, as we would not leave her; at last she accompanied us.’
“Such an event could not pass without exciting much observation, and exaggerated accounts were circulated. The House of Lords, on the 18th of July, was startled with a violent speech from the Duke of Sussex, which included a variety of questions,[[184]] referring to this transaction, addressed to Lord Liverpool, who did not think proper to answer one of them, but insisted on the Prince Regent’s right to control his own child, and the impropriety of any interference on the part of the House of Lords. The Duke, not being satisfied, gave notice of a motion. The Lord Chancellor followed with some stringent observations to the same purpose as that of his colleague, and there the discussion terminated. On the 25th his Royal Highness made another speech, in which he withdrew his motion, as Lord Grey acknowledged, by his advice.”