'One of her great friends and advisers, Lady Claremont, supported her on this trying occasion, and counselled her to rise above her own feelings, and to open her house to the town of London. She adopted the advice, much as it cost her to do so; and all the fashionable world, including all the Royal Dukes, attended her parties. Upon this, as upon all other occasions, she was principally supported by the Duke of York, with whom, through life, she was always united in the most friendly and confidential relations. Indeed, she frequently assured me, that there was not one of the Royal family who had not acted with kindness to her. She particularly instanced the Queen; and, as for George the Third, from the time she set foot in England, till he ceased to reign, had he been her own father, he could not have acted towards her with greater tenderness and affection. She had made it her constant rule to have no secrets of which the Royal Family were not informed by frequent messages, of which, the Duke of York was, generally, the organ of communication, and, to that rule, she attributed, at all periods, much of her own contentment and ease in extricating herself from embarrassments which would, otherwise, have been insurmountable.'
Compare this paragraph with the ideas of the pictorial satirist on her abandonment. Take, for instance, 'The Rage,' published November 21, 1794. Here we see Mrs. Fitzherbert, having thrown off her Princess of Wales's coronet, with clenched fists and dishevelled hair, sparring at the new Princess of Wales.
Another, which is of the same date, and is called 'Penance for past Folly,' shows Mrs. Fitzherbert weeping, and on her knees, before a Roman Catholic priest, who holds a birch rod in his hand.
The newspapers had an early inkling of the state of affairs between Mrs. Fitzherbert and the Prince, and the following cuttings from the Times of 1794 do not redound much to the paper's credit, or knowledge:
July 21.—'A certain lady has not been so improvident as the beauteous harlot in the days of Edward. She has, wisely, laid up ample provision for a rainy day; and, therefore, her approach, unlike to that of Shore, is still as likely as ever to make "a little holiday!"'
July 23.—'We have, hitherto, forborne to mention the report in circulation for many days past, of the final separation between a Gentleman of the most distinguished rank, and a Lady who resides in Pall Mall, until we had an opportunity to ascertain the fact beyond all doubt.
'We are now enabled to state from the most undoubted authority, that a final separation between the parties in question has actually taken place; that the agreements formerly entered into, have been given up by mutual consent; that a new contract has been signed, by which the lady is secured in the possession of £4,000 per annum, for her life, besides retaining her house in Pall Mall, plate, jewels, etc.
'Mrs. Fitzherbert has no intention of retiring into Switzerland, as has been reported. She is looking out for a house at, or near, Margate, where she means to reside for six months, in the society of the Duchess of Cumberland, Lady E. Luttrell, Mrs. Concannon,[73] and others of her old acquaintance.'