LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| Queen Matilda (Photogravure). From the Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1766 | [Frontispiece] |
| Leicester House, where Queen Matilda was Born | Facing page [4] |
| Frederick, Prince of Wales, Father of Queen Matilda. From the Painting by J. B. Vanloo at Warwick Castle, by permission of the Earl of Warwick | " " [14] |
| Madame de Walmoden, Countess of Yarmouth. From the Painting at Gülzow by permission of Count Kielmansegg | " " [24] |
| John, Earl of Bute. From the Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds at Wortley Hall, by permission of the Earl of Wharncliffe | " " [36] |
| The Elder Children of Frederick and Augusta, Prince and Princess of Wales, Playing in Kew Gardens. From a Painting, temp. 1750 | " " [50] |
| Queen Louise, Consort of Frederick V. of Denmark and Daughter of George II. of England. From a Painting by Pilo in the Frederiksborg Palace | " " [62] |
| King Christian VII. From the Painting by P. Wichman, 1766 | " " [76] |
| Kew Palace, where Queen Matilda passed much of her Girlhood. From an Engraving, temp. 1751 | " " [90] |
| The Marriage Ball of Christian VII. and Queen Matilda in the Christiansborg Palace. From a Contemporary Print | " " [104] |
| The Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen. From an Old Print, temp. 1768 | " " [120] |
| Edward, Duke of York, Brother of Queen Matilda. From the Painting by G. H. Every | " " [132] |
| Queen Matilda Receiving the Congratulations of the Court on the Birth of the Crown Prince Frederick. From a Contemporary Print | " " [142] |
| Carlton House, Pall Mall, the Residence of the Princess-Dowager of Wales. From a Print, temp. 1765 | " " [156] |
| The Masked Ball given by Christian VII. at the Opera House, Haymarket. From the “Gentleman’s Magazine,” 1768 | " " [172] |
| The Palace of Frederiksborg, from the Garden Terrace. From an Engraving, temp. 1768 | " " [180] |
| William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Brother of Queen Matilda. From the Painting by H. W. Hamilton, 1771 | " " [190] |
| Struensee. From an Engraving, 1771 | " " [206] |
| Queen Sophia Magdalena, Grandmother of Christian VII. | " " [226] |
| Augusta, Princess of Wales, Mother of Queen Matilda. After a Painting by F. B. Vanloo | " " [244] |
| George III., Brother of Queen Matilda. From a Painting by Allan Ramsay (1767) in the National Portrait Gallery | " " [264] |
| The Frederiksberg Palace, near Copenhagen. From a Print, temp. 1770 | " " [282] |
| The Palace of Hirschholm. Temp. 1770 | " " [304] |
| Two Relics of Queen Matilda in the Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen. (1) The Insignia of the Order of Matilda; (2) The Wedding Goblet | " " [330] |
| Queen Matilda and her Son, the Crown Prince of Denmark. From the Painting at the Rosenborg, Copenhagen | " " [348] |
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.
1751.
Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Norway, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland (a sister of George III.), was born at Leicester House, London, on Thursday, July 22, 1751. She was the ninth and youngest child of Frederick Prince of Wales and of his wife Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, and came into the world a little more than four months after her father’s death. There is a Scandinavian superstition to the effect that children born fatherless are heirs to misfortune. The life of this “Queen of Tears” would seem to illustrate its truth.
Caroline Matilda inherited many of her father’s qualities, notably his warm, emotional temperament, his desire to please and his open-handed liberality. Both in appearance and disposition she resembled her father much more than her mother. Some account of this Prince is therefore necessary for a right understanding of his daughter’s character, for, though she was born after his death, the silent forces of heredity influenced her life.
Frederick Prince of Wales was the elder son of George II. and of his consort Caroline of Ansbach. He was born in Hanover during the reign of Queen Anne, when the prospects of his family to succeed to the crown of England were doubtful, and he did not come to England until he was in his twenty-second year and his father had reigned two years. He came against the will of the King and Queen, whose cherished wish was that their younger son William Duke of Cumberland should succeed to the English throne, and the elder remain in Hanover. The unkindness with which Frederick was treated by his father had the effect of driving him into opposition to the court and the government. He had inherited from his mother many of the graces that go to captivate the multitude, and he soon became popular. Every cast-off minister, every discontented politician, sought the Prince of Wales, and found in him a ready weapon to harass the government and wound the King. The Prince had undoubted grievances, such as his restricted allowance and the postponement of his marriage to a suitable princess. For some years after Frederick’s arrival in England the King managed to evade the question of the marriage, but at last, owing chiefly to the clamour of the opposition, he reluctantly arranged a match between the Prince of Wales and Augusta, daughter of the reigning Duke of Saxe-Gotha.