This goes to show that George III., who had been reproached with indifference to his sister, now took a particular interest in her welfare, and was anxious to do everything to make her situation as comfortable and happy as circumstances admitted. This is further borne out in the letter which Keith wrote to Lord Suffolk, which gives so authentic and particular account of the Queen at Celle that it is worth quoting in full:—
“Celle, November 2, 1772.
“My Lord,
“I arrived here on October 31, late in the evening, and next day had the honour of delivering the King’s letter to her Danish Majesty, whom I found in perfect health, and without any remains of pain from her late accident. In two very long audiences, which her Majesty was pleased to grant me, I endeavoured to execute with the utmost punctuality his Majesty’s command, and shall now lay before your Lordship all the lights those audiences afforded me, relative to the Queen’s wishes and intentions. I cannot enter upon that subject without previously assuring your Lordship that the Queen received those repeated proofs of his Majesty’s fraternal affection and friendship, which my order contained, with the warmest expressions of gratitude and sensibility, and that nothing could be more frank and explicit than her answers to a great number of questions, which she permitted me to ask upon any subject that arose.
“In regard to Denmark, the Queen declares that, in the present situation of that court, she has not a wish for any correspondence or connection there, beyond what immediately concerns the welfare and education of her children. That she never has written a single letter to Denmark since she left it, or received one from thence. That the only person belonging to that kingdom from whom she hears lives in Holstein, and is not connected with the court.[78]
[78] A letter of Queen Matilda’s which she wrote from Celle to a member of the Struensee family in Holstein has recently come to light. Unfortunately, I cannot quote it, but it is only of interest as showing that she maintained friendly relations with the family of Struensee after his death.
“The Queen having expressed great anxiety with respect to the false impressions which may be instilled into the minds of her children, particularly regarding herself, I thought it my duty to say that such impressions, however cruelly intended, could not, at the tender age of her Majesty’s children, nor for some years to come, take so deep a root as not to be entirely effaced by more candid instructors, and the dictates of filial duty, when reason and reflection shall break in upon their minds. The Queen seemed willing to lay hold of that hope, yet could not help bursting into tears when she mentioned the danger of losing the affections of her children.
“Her Majesty appears very desirous to communicate directly to her royal brother all her views and wishes in the most confidential manner; hoping to obtain in return his Majesty’s advice and directions, which she intends implicitly to follow. She said that in matters of so private and domestic a nature, it would give her much greater pleasure to learn his Majesty’s intentions upon every point from his own pen, than through the channel of any of his electoral servants.
“It gave me great satisfaction to find her Majesty in very good spirits, and so much pleased with the palace at Zell, the apartments of which are very spacious and handsomely furnished. She wishes to have an apartment fitted up in the palace for her sister, the Princess of Brunswick, as she thinks that the etiquette of this country does not permit that Princess, in her visits to Zell, to be lodged out of the palace, without great impropriety. Her Majesty said that she intended to write herself to the King on this head.
“The Queen told me that the very enterprising and dangerous part which Queen Juliana has acted in Denmark had created greater astonishment in Brunswick (where the abilities and character of that Princess are known) than, perhaps, in any other city of Europe.
“Her Majesty talked to me of several late incidents at the court of Denmark, but without appearing to take much concern in them. She mentioned, with a smile, some of the paltry things which had been sent as a part of her baggage from Denmark, adding, that this new instance of their meanness had not surprised her. But the Princess of Brunswick, who happened to be present when the baggage was opened, expressed her indignation at that treatment in such strong terms, that she (the Queen) could not help taking notice of it in her letters to the King.
“She made me understand that a small collection of English books would be very agreeable to her; leaving the choice of them entirely to the King.
“Her Majesty more than once expressed how much she considered herself obliged to the King’s ministers for the zeal they had shown in the whole of the late unhappy transactions relating to Denmark and to herself. She is particularly sensible of the great share your Lordship had in all those affairs; and has commanded me to convey to your Lordship her acknowledgments for that constant attention to her honour and interests, which she is persuaded the King will look upon as an additional mark of your Lordship’s dutiful attachment to his royal person and family.
“It only remains that I should beg your forgiveness for the great length to which I have swelled this letter. The only excuse I can offer arises from my ardent desire to execute the King’s orders with the utmost possible precision.
“I am, etc., etc.,
“R. M. Keith.”[79]
[79] Memoirs and Correspondence of Sir R. Murray Keith, vol. i.
Keith remained at Celle only a few days. Then he took leave of the Queen whose cause he had championed so doughtily, and proceeded to Vienna. He never saw her again.[80]
[80] Keith remained at Vienna for many years, and retired from the diplomatic service in 1789. He became a Privy Councillor and Member of Parliament. He died at Hammersmith in 1795, aged sixty-four.
George III. tried in every way to shield his sister’s reputation, and to prevent any details of the scandal reaching England. “The King of England,” wrote Suffolk some months after the Queen’s arrival at Celle, “has repeatedly received assurances that no part of those proceedings which affected the Queen of Denmark should ever be made public.”[81] Woodford, who had succeeded Keith at Copenhagen as Minister-Resident, received strict orders to do all in his power to prevent the dissemination of scandalous publications. There were a great many. The year of the Queen’s arrival at Celle, Woodford writes to England of “a most injurious libel,” in manuscript, being circulated against the Queen, and suspects it is a piece of malice on the part of Count Rantzau.[82] Again, he writes of the circulation of a paper containing the “most detestable part of Struensee’s deposition”.[83] A whole case of these papers was seized at the Custom House, and owing to the protests of the English minister, Count Osten ordered all copies to be suppressed and the sale forbidden under heavy penalties. Woodford later had a conversation with Count Andreas Bernstorff[84] (who had succeeded Osten at the Foreign Office) on the subject, and reported: “The Danish Minister said it could never be forgotten that the Queen of Denmark was mother of the Prince Royal, the King’s sister, and a daughter of England, which were too important considerations not to engage him to be vigilant and active against everything that could in the most distant manner reflect upon the late melancholy and unfortunate transaction.”[85]