George III.’s neglect of the King of Denmark occasioned so much comment that he at last reluctantly gave a ball in Christian’s honour at the Queen’s House, at which the Princess-Dowager of Wales, the Duke of Gloucester, and a great number of the nobility were present. The Princess Amelia was not asked; the King owed her a grudge for the way in which she had forced his hand in giving an entertainment to her nephew—an example he was bound to follow. The King of Denmark opened the ball with Queen Charlotte, and King George danced a minuet with the Duchess of Ancaster, who seems to have been the greatest lady of the day outside the royal family.
Christian VII. showed no hurry to quit a country where he was so well received, and in September, when London was empty, he made several tours in the provinces. It was a very wet summer, and the rains were heavier than had been known in the memory of man. “The Serpentine river in Hyde Park rose so high that it forced down a part of the wall, and poured with such violence upon Knightsbridge, that the inhabitants expected the whole town to be overflowed; the canal in St. James’s Park rose higher than ever was known; in short, no man living remembered so much rain-fall in so short a time.”[101] Several parts of the country were flooded, and the high roads rendered impassable; travelling by coach always slow, became slower still, and in some places was attended with difficulty and even danger. But these things did not daunt Christian, who rushed about the country, from one end to another, stopping nowhere for any time, and apparently taking no interest in anything he saw. Even the polite writer in the Annual Register, who devoted pages to Christian’s doings, was constrained to say: “His journeyings are so rapid, and his stay at places so short, that, if he is not a youth of more than common talents, he must have a very confused idea of what he sees”.
[101] The Annual Register, September 1, 1768.
Horace Walpole, who now pursued the King of Denmark with strange malignity, writes: “You know already about the King of Denmark, hurrying from one corner of England to the other, without seeing anything distinctly, fatiguing himself, breaking his chaise, going tired to bed in inns, and getting up to show himself to the mob at the window. I believe that he is a very silly lad, but the mob adore him, though he has neither done nor said anything worth repeating; but he gives them an opportunity of getting together, of staring and of making foolish observations.”[102] Bernstorff excused the King’s indifference on the ground that he was short-sighted. This also served to explain many apparent discourtesies, for Christian often ignored people to whom he had been most gracious a few days before. It is probable that Horace Walpole was one of the victims of this little peculiarity, and that accounts for the venom with which he writes of the King. Christian may also have ignored Walpole’s niece, Lady Waldegrave, who had secretly married the Duke of Gloucester, and who, though the marriage was not declared, already gave herself the airs of a princess of the blood.
[102] Walpole’s Letters, vol. v., edition 1857.
Christian’s first excursion was to York. Attended by a retinue of a hundred and twenty persons he set out from London, and, in passing, visited Cambridge. The Vice-Chancellor, the heads of houses, the doctors, professors, proctors and other officials of the university, clad in their scarlet robes, received the King at the entrance of the senate house, and conducted him to a chair of state, where an address was presented to him. The King was invited to a public luncheon, but he excused himself, and asked the Vice-Chancellor to supper with him at his inn. Christian shirked all ceremony, and saw the sights of Cambridge in his riding coat and boots. At York the Corporation made every preparation to entertain him in a splendid manner, but the King declined all formalities, saw the races, visited the Minster and other public buildings, and the next day set out on his return journey to London, going round by way of Liverpool and Manchester, “where he was particularly gratified by viewing the stupendous works of the Duke of Bridgewater, at which he expressed both astonishment and pleasure”.
A few days after the Danish King’s return to London he again set forth on a visit to Oxford. He was received in state by the Vice-Chancellor and officials of the university, and in full convocation had the degree of Doctor of Civil Law conferred upon him. Bernstorff, Holck and other members of the Danish suite also received honorary degrees, and Struensee had conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After Oxford the King visited several places, and was perpetually on the road. When he was at Newmarket for the races the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge waited on him, and in the name of the university presented an address, and graces for conferring the same degree upon the King and his nobles as they had received at Oxford.
The grandest entertainment provided for Christian was his state visit to the City of London. The Lord Mayor with the aldermen and sheriffs, all in their robes, set out in coaches from the Guildhall for the Three Cranes, where they embarked at eleven o’clock in the morning on board the city state barge, “the streamers flying, a select band of water-music playing, and the principal livery companies attending in their respective barges,” to Westminster, where they awaited the arrival of Christian from St. James’s Palace. The King came punctually, and as he set foot on the city barge a royal salute was fired, and loud cheers rent the air from the vast crowds of people who lined the banks on either side, thronged the bridges, and crowded the river on innumerable craft. The procession glided down the Thames to the Temple Stairs. “During the course of this grand passage on the water his Majesty frequently expressed himself highly pleased, and his admiration of the several great and beautiful objects round him; and sometimes condescended to come forward in order to gratify the curiosity of the people, who eagerly fought to get a sight of his royal person, though at the hazard of their lives.”[103] Arrived at the Temple Stairs the King landed, took his seat in the Lord Mayor’s coach, and proceeded to the Mansion House. The streets through which he passed were gaily decorated, and crowded “with an innumerable populace, while the windows and tops of houses were equally crowded with spectators of both sexes, whose acclamations, together with the ringing of bells, and the shouts of the multitude, loudly expressed their joy at his Majesty’s presence; his Majesty expressed his surprise at the populousness of this city, and his satisfaction at the kindness of the citizens”.[104]
[103] The Annual Register.
[104] Ibid.