Florizel's Folly

by John Ashton

Florizel, commanding his regiment, and playing at soldiers, was in his element, as the following extracts from the St. James's Chronicle show:

August 13-15.—'Monday, being the anniversary of the Prince of Wales' birth, the same was celebrated at Brighton; the morning was ushered in by the ringing of bells; and, at one o'clock, the guns of the salute battery were fired. Several of the nobility, who went down to pay their compliments to the Prince, visited his Royal Highness in the Pavilion, who gave a very superb entertainment to the officers of his regiment, etc., in his Marquee. In the evening there was a grand ball in the Castle, which was numerously attended.'

September 5-7.—'In the high winds of Wednesday night, the Prince of Wales's Marquee, in the Camp at Brighton, was blown down; his Royal Highness, however, suffered nothing; for, except on the nights when he is Colonel of the Camp, his residence is in the Pavilion. Many of the officers and men had their tents blown down on the same night.'

This marquee was a very splendid and spacious affair, with a kitchen and all sorts of conveniences attached. Indeed, Florizel was ever attentive to his own comfort, vide the following account of his new travelling-carriage:

August 22-24.—'The Prince of Wales has just built a long carriage for travelling—it is so constructed, that, in a few moments, it forms a neat chamber, with a handsome bed, and every other convenience for passing the night in it, on the road, or in a camp.'

It is all very nice to have travelling-carriages and marquees, and whatever one's soul desires, but if the income is a fixed one, albeit over £70,000 a year, there must be a limit to expenditure. Poor Florizel was deeply in debt, and one of his best friends, the Earl of Malmesbury, tells us about it:[71]

'Landed at Dover on Saturday, June 2nd, 1792.... Saw Prince of Wales early the 4th—he was very well pleased with what I had done at Berlin, thanked me for it, etc.—Stated his affairs to me as more distressed than ever—Several executions had been in his house—Lord Rawdon had saved him from one—that his debts amounted to £370,000. He said he was trying, through the Chancellor, to prevail on the King to apply to Parliament to increase his income.

'On the Wednesday following, I was with him by appointment. He repeated the same again; said that if the King would raise his revenue to £100,000 a year, he would appropriate £35,000 of it to pay the interest of his debts, and establish a Sinking fund. That, if this could not be done, he must break up his establishment, reduce his income to £10,000 a year, and go abroad. He made a merit of having given up the turf, and blamed the Duke of York for remaining on it. He said (which I well knew before), that his racing stable cost him upwards of £30,000 yearly. He was very anxious, and, as is usual on these occasions, nervous and agitated. He said (on my asking him the question), that he did not stand so well with the King, as he did some months ago, but that he was better than ever with the Queen—that she had advised him to press the King, through the Chancellor, to propose to Mr. Pitt to bring an increase of the Prince's income before Parliament, and that, if this was done, she would use her influence to promote it.

'I strongly recommended his pressing the Queen. He suggested the idea of going to Mr. Pitt directly through the Chancellor, etc. I doubted both the consent of the Chancellor to such a step, at the moment he was going out, and his influence and weight if he did consent to it. I took the liberty of disapproving his going abroad, on any terms, and, particularly, under the circumstances he mentioned; said, that if he should, unfortunately, be reduced to the necessity of lowering his income to the degree he had mentioned, it would be much better to live in England, than out of it. That the showing, in England, that he could reduce his expences, and live economically, would do him credit, prove him in earnest, and if he kept up to such a plan, would, in the event, be much more likely to induce the public to take his situation into consideration, than any attempts through Ministry, Opposition, or even the Queen herself.