This year Mrs. Fitzherbert moved into a house in Pall Mall, which had a private entrance into the grounds of Carlton House. There was a question put in the Morning Post of October 10 which was never answered. 'A Question, What is the reason that Mrs. Fitzherbert, who is a lady of fortune and fashion, never appears at Court? She is visited by some ladies of high rank—has been in public with them—and, yet, never goes to the Drawing Rooms at St. James's. This question is sent for publication by a person who pays no regard to the idle reports of the day, and wishes to have the mystery cleared up.'
The house which Weltje had taken for His Royal Highness had the Castle Tavern on one side of its grounds, and Grove House on the other, and considerable alterations were made in it since it was leased to Weltje from Mr. Kempe for £150 per annum with the option of purchase (which was exercised) for £3,000, and the house and gardens were leased by Weltje to the Prince for a term of twenty-one years from Christmas, 1787.
When the King was taken ill with his first attack of mental aberration, in November, 1788, the Prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert came up to London, a fact which the pictorial satirist soon got hold of; and a print was published in that month, in which the King was depicted as being in bed, a Bishop reading prayers for his restoration to health. This solemn group is interrupted by the Prince of Wales bursting into the room, calling out, 'Damme, come along, I'll see if the old fellow's —— or not!' Following him are George Hanger, with a bottle, and Sheridan. To point this satire the more, a picture of the Prodigal Son hangs on the wall.
Miss Burney gives us an account of the King's seizure and of the arrival of the Prince, and although his conduct was not as heartless as shown in the etching, it was bad enough. 'Soon after, suddenly arrived the Prince of Wales. He came into the room. He had just quitted Brighthelmstone. Something passing within seemed to render this meeting awfully distant on both sides. She (the Queen) asked him if he should not return to Brighthelmstone. He answered, yes, the next day.'
But this he did not do, as there were already rumours of a Regency, yet his conduct towards his father seems to have been very bad. Grenville, writing to his brother, the Duke of Buckingham, November 23, 1788, says: 'Think of the Prince of Wales introducing Lord Lothian into the King's room when it was darkened, in order that he might hear his ravings at the time that they were at the worst. Do not let this fact come from you; it begins to be pretty well known here, and, no doubt, will find its way to Ireland; but it is important that we should not seem to spread the knowledge of anything which can injure his Royal Highness's character in public opinion.'[52]
There was much intriguing as to a Regency, the Ministry at first suggesting that the Government should be carried on by a Commission; but on December 30, 1788, Pitt wrote a letter to the Prince of Wales, stating that His Majesty's Ministers had come to the conclusion to offer him the Regency of the kingdom, under certain restrictions.
The Prince replied at once, expressing his sorrow at the occasion of his proposed elevation, but accepting the trust. Of course, this suggestion of the Government could not be acted upon without mature deliberation, and it was not until January 30, 1789, that the following resolutions of the Lords and Commons were presented to the Prince of Wales: 'That his Royal Highness be empowered to exercise the Royal authority under the title of Regent.'—'That the power given, should not extend to the granting of any Peerage, except to the Royal issue.'—'Nor to the grant of any office in reversion, or any office, salary, or pension, than during his Majesty's pleasure; or to the granting his Majesty's real, or personal estates.'—'That the care of his Majesty be committed to the Queen, who should nominate all persons to the offices in the household.'
Needless to say, the Prince made no objections, and by February 12 the Regency Bill had gone through all its stages in the House of Commons, and was ordered to be sent to the Lords. But the proverbial 'slip 'twixt cup and lip' occurred. On February 19 the Lord Chancellor informed the House of Lords that, according to the report of his physicians, the King's health was steadily mending, and they therefore abstained from further consideration of the Regency Bill.
The physicians' hopes were fully justified; the King got better rapidly, and on February 27 his perfect recovery was announced, the prayer for the same was discontinued, and a form of prayer of thanksgiving for his restoration to health was ordered to be read in all churches and chapels throughout England and Wales. Rejoicings and illuminations were the order of the day, and on April 23, the day of general thanksgiving, the King, Queen, and Royal Family went in state to St. Paul's Cathedral, to return thanks to God for His mercy in giving the King his health and reason once again.