SECRET HISTORY
OF THE
Court of England,
FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE THE THIRD TO THE
DEATH OF GEORGE THE FOURTH;
INCLUDING, AMONG OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS,
FULL PARTICULARS OF THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH
OF THE
PRINCESS CHARLOTTE.

By the Right Honorable LADY ANNE HAMILTON,
Sister of His Grace the present Duke of Hamilton and Brandon; and of the
Countess of Dunmore.

"Of meaner vice and villains, sing no more,
But monsters crown'd, and Crime enrobed with Power!
At Vice's high imperial throne begin,
And boldly brand such prodigies of sin;
With pregnant phrase, and strong impartial verse,
The crimes of lords and crimes of kings rehearse!"

VOL I.

LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM HENRY STEVENSON,
13, WELLINGTON STREET, STRAND.
1832.

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"TO THE READER."

The source from whence this Work proceeds will be a sufficient guarantee for the facts it contains. A high sense of duty and honor has prompted these details which have for many years been on the eve of publication. It will be worthy of the perusal of The Great because it will serve as a mirror, and they who do not see themselves, or their actions reflected, will not take offence at the unvarnished Picture—it may afford real benefit to the Statesman and Politician, by the ample testimony it gives, that when Justice is perverted, the most lamentable consequences ensue; and to that class of Society whose station is more humble, it may unfold the designing characters by whom they have so frequently been deceived. They only are competent to detail the scenes and intrigues of a Court, who have been most intimately acquainted with it, and it must at all times be acknowledged, that it is a climate not very conducive to the growth of Virtue, not very frequently the abode of Truth—yet although its atmosphere is so tainted, its giddy crowd is thought enviably happy. The fallacy of such opinions is here set forth to public view, by one who has spent much of her time in the interior of a Court, and whose immediate knowledge of the then passing events, give