“Before dinner I went with the Duke to the castle, where we remained till late in the evening. There was a concert of music between dinner and supper, and the Queen seemed in better spirits than could have been expected....
“The apartments are spacious and convenient, and now handsomely furnished. The entourage of the court—the Queen’s maids-of-honour and other attendants—have a very genteel appearance, and retain the most respectful attachment to their ill-fated mistress.
“The few days we remained at Zell were spent entirely at court, where everything seemed to be arranged in the style of the other small German courts, and nothing wanting to render the Queen’s situation as comfortable as circumstances would admit. But by far her greatest consolation is the company and conversation of her sister; some degree of satisfaction appears in her countenance while the Princess remains at Zell, but the moment she goes away, the Queen, as we are informed, becomes a prey to dejection and despondency. The Princess exerts herself to prevent this, and devotes to her sister all the time she can spare from the duties she owes to her own family. Unlike those who take the first pretext of breaking connections which can no longer be of advantage, this humane Princess has displayed even more attachment to her sister since her misfortunes than she ever did while the Queen was in the meridian of her prosperity.
“The youth, the agreeable countenance and obliging manners of the Queen have conciliated the minds of every one in this country. Though she was in perfect health and appeared cheerful, yet, convinced that her gaiety was assumed and the effect of a strong effort, I felt an impression of melancholy which it was not in my power to overcome all the time we remained at Zell.”
So matters remained at Celle for nearly two years, and then there came excitement into Matilda’s quiet life.
In September, 1774, a young Englishman, named Wraxall, of good Somersetshire family, arrived at Celle. Wraxall was an active, ambitious and enterprising youth, and the fact that he was not rich warned him that he must do something. He therefore resolved to win fame and money by authorship, and to this end set out to make a tour in northern Europe, then comparatively little known. He travelled through Denmark, Sweden and a little of Russia, and came back by way of north Germany to Hamburg. The recent events in Copenhagen (for they were then recent) had excited an extraordinary amount of interest in England, and Wraxall resolved to be the first to give a really full and particular account of what had happened there two years before. So he went to Copenhagen on a voyage of inquiry, and when he was there kept his eyes and ears well open, with the result that he gleaned a great many details of the palace revolution. On his return to Hamburg, as he was so near, he thought he would go to Celle, and pay his respects to the unfortunate heroine of the Danish revolution of 1772, and thus make his contemplated book more complete. To this end he travelled to Celle, and presented himself to Baron Seckendorf, the Queen’s chamberlain, and stated his wishes. Seckendorf submitted his name to the Queen, who, always accessible, said that it would give her pleasure to receive Mr. Wraxall, whom she understood to be a young Englishman of birth and education. The Princess of Brunswick, who was staying with her sister at the time, and who was above all things anxious to amuse her, also thought that the company of a travelled and agreeable Englishman would be a welcome diversion. Therefore Baron Seckendorf informed Wraxall that the Queen would receive him. He described the audience in his private journal:—
“Monday, September 19:—
“I went at half-past one to the castle of Zell. Mr Seckendorf introduced me to the Grande Maîtresse of her Highness the Princess of Brunswick. The Princess herself entered in about a quarter of an hour; she gave me her hand to kiss, and began conversation with me directly. It was interrupted by the Queen’s entrance, to whom I was presented with the same ceremony. Her Majesty and the Princess kept me in constant talk before and after dinner. We talked of Denmark, of Prince Frederick, his intended marriage, etc. ‘He was a youth,’ said she [the Queen], ‘unknown while I was there.’ Hirschholm, she said, was her favourite palace. ‘But tell me,’ said the Princess, ‘about the Queen-Mother; she is my aunt, but no matter. Say what you will; you may be free. And for the King, how is he?’ I very frankly expressed my sentiments. The Queen asked me a thousand questions about the court of Russia, Sweden, my travels, etc. The Queen asked me also about her children, the Prince in particular; I told her how they dressed him now. I assured her I had been taken for a spy in Copenhagen.... Her Majesty was very gay, and seemed in no way a prey to melancholy; she was very fat for so young a woman. She asked me my age; I told her. ‘You are then,’ said she, ‘exactly as old as I am; we were born in the same year.’ Her features are pretty, and her teeth very small, even and white. She resembles his Majesty [George III.] infinitely in face, but the Princess said not so strongly as she. I don’t think so, and told her Royal Highness so; her Majesty appealed to one of her maids-of-honour, who agreed in opinion with me. The Queen was dressed in a Barré-coloured gown, or at least an orange-red so very nearly resembling it that I could not distinguish the difference. I asked her how many languages she spoke. ‘Five,’ she said—‘Danish, English, French, German and Italian.’
“The Princess [of Brunswick] is much thinner in face, but not a great deal less in her person; she wants the Queen of Denmark’s teeth, but has a very good complexion. She talked to me about the Duchess of Glo’ster—if I had seen her, if I knew her. ‘She is a very fine woman,’ she added, ‘even now.’ Mrs. C ... was mentioned. ‘She was a prodigious favourite,’ I remarked, ‘of the Duke of York.’ She replied with a smile: ‘For the moment!’ She did me the honour to ask me to take Brunswick in my way next summer, or whenever I visited Germany again. She said she might and should have mistaken me for a Frenchman. ‘You don’t take that for a compliment, do you?’ the Queen observed. Indeed, no; I was too proud of my country. Macaronis formed a part of our conversation. ‘It is all over now,’ I said; ‘the word is quite extinct in England.’ ‘But tell me,’ said her Majesty, ‘tell me ingenuously, were you not a bit of a one while it lasted?’ I assured her not. I took my leave soon after dinner.
“Tuesday, September 20:—
“About ten o’clock I went to the Hôtel de Ville, where at this time the shops of the merchants who come to the fair of Zell are held. Her Majesty the Queen and her sister the Princess were there. I had the honour to talk with them nearly an hour; we conversed in English most familiarly on fifty subjects—the Grand Duke of Russia, the Empress, the peace between Russia and Turkey, my travels, Dantzig, formed the chief articles. I showed her Majesty my medals of the Empress of Russia and some other things. She was dressed quite à l’Anglaise—a white bonnet, a pale-pink night-gown a gauze handkerchief, with a little locket on her bosom. Her face is very handsome; they are his Majesty’s features, but all softened and harmonised. Pity she is so large in her person. The Princess was quite English all over—a black hat over her eyes and a common night-gown with a black apron.”
The next day Wraxall took his leave of Celle, well pleased with his visit, and proceeded to Hamburg, where he intended to take ship for England. But at Hamburg something happened which upset all his plans, and for a short time linked his fortunes closely with those of Queen Matilda.
AUGUSTA, PRINCESS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND DUCHESS OF BRUNSWICK, SISTER OF QUEEN MATILDA.
From the Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds.