Pains and Penalties Bill 1820
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox UK legislation The Pains and Penalties Bill 1820 was a bill introduced to the British Parliament in 1820, at the request of King George IV, which aimed to dissolve his marriage to Caroline of Brunswick, and deprive her of the title of queen.
George and Caroline had married in 1795, when George was still Prince of Wales. After the birth of their only child, Princess Charlotte of Wales, they separated. Caroline eventually went to live abroad, where she appointed Bartolomeo Pergami to her household as a courier. He eventually rose to become the head servant of her household, and it was widely rumoured that they were lovers.
In 1820, George ascended the throne and Caroline travelled to London to assert her rights as queen of Great Britain and Ireland. George despised her and was adamant that he wanted a divorce. Under English law, however, divorce was not then possible unless one of the parties was guilty of adultery. As neither he nor Caroline would admit to adultery, George had a bill introduced to Parliament, which if passed would declare Caroline to have committed adultery and grant the King a divorce. In essence, the reading of the bill was a public trial of the Queen, with the members of the House of Lords acting as judge and jury.
After a sensational debate in the Lords, which was heavily reported in the press in salacious detail, the bill was narrowly passed by the upper house. However, because the margin was so slim and public unrest over the bill was significant, the government withdrew the bill before it was debated by the House of Commons, as the likelihood of it ever passing there was remote. The incident became known as the Trial of Queen Caroline.
Background
In 1795, George, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King George III, married Duchess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. The marriage, however, was disastrous; each party was unsuited to the other. They separated after the birth of their only child, Princess Charlotte of Wales, the following year. Caroline eventually departed England for the European mainland. On the death of George III on 29 January 1820, George became king as George IV, and Caroline became queen consort. However, George IV refused to recognise Caroline as queen, and commanded British ambassadors to ensure that monarchs in foreign courts did the same. Her name was omitted from the liturgy of the Church of England, and George acted to exclude her at every opportunity. In June, Caroline returned to London to assert her rights as queen consort of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
George despised her, and over the preceding few years had collected evidence to support his contention that Caroline had committed adultery while abroad with Bartolomeo Pergami, the head servant of her household. The day after her return to England, George submitted the evidence to the Houses of Parliament in two green bags. The contents of the bags were identical; one copy was presented to the House of Lords by the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, and the other was presented to the House of Commons by the Foreign Secretary, Lord Castlereagh. Each requested that the Houses set up a confidential enquiry to examine the contents of the bags.Template:Sfn Replying to Castlereagh in the Commons, Caroline's chief attorney, Henry Brougham, demanded that the papers be publicly disclosed. Brougham was in the opposition Whig party and knew that public sympathy rested with Caroline, rather than her husband or the government, which was weak and unpopular. Disclosure of George's own adulterous affairs, or even his scandalous and unlawful previous marriage to Maria Fitzherbert, could destabilise the Tory government led by Lord Liverpool.Template:Sfn
In an attempt to construct a compromise, Castlereagh and the Duke of Wellington met Brougham and Caroline's solicitor Thomas Denman. William Wilberforce secured time for negotiation by persuading the Commons to adjourn the debate on the bags. However, the negotiations were fruitless; the government offered Caroline £50,000 a year to live abroad as a Duchess, but Caroline insisted on her right to be Queen and dismissed the money as a bribe.Template:Sfn Wilberforce moved a motion in the House of Commons requesting that Caroline not insist on all her claims, which was passed by a wide margin of 394 votes to 124. However, the public was still solidly behind Caroline, and she rejected Wilberforce's request.Template:Sfn George Canning, who may have been a former lover of Caroline, threatened to resign from the government in protest at the proceedings against her. If Canning resigned, the government would almost certainly fall. In the end, either he was persuaded not to resign or his resignation was refused. His eldest son had recently died and, rather than be involved in the debate, Canning left Britain on a tour of Europe to recover from his grief.Template:Sfn
On 27 June, the Lords rejected a motion made by the Whig leader Lord Grey to abandon the investigation, and the bags were opened and examined by a committee of fifteen peers.Template:Sfn A week later, the chair of the committee, Lord Harrowby, reported back to the Lords. The committee decided that the evidence was of such a grave and serious nature that it should be the subject of a "legislative proceeding".Template:Sfn In reply, Lord Liverpool announced that a bill would be introduced the following day.
Bill
On 5 July, a bill was introduced into Parliament "to deprive Her Majesty Queen Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of the Title, Prerogatives, Rights, Privileges, and Exemptions of Queen Consort of this Realm; and to dissolve the Marriage between His Majesty and the said Caroline Amelia Elizabeth". The bill charged that Caroline had committed adultery with Bartolomeo Pergami, "a foreigner of low station", and that consequently she had forfeited her rights to be queen consort.Template:Sfn
The debate on the bill was effectively a public trial of the Queen, during which the government could call witnesses against her who could be cross-examined by her own legal advisors. By voting on the bill, members of the Houses of Parliament would be both jury and judges. Caroline would not receive basic rights accorded to other defendants; for example, she would not be informed of who the witnesses were before they were called. It was, said The Times newspaper, "a violation of the law of God".<ref>Quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> The British people seemed to be on Caroline's side and gave her strong support.
George lived a hugely extravagant life on the taxes collected by Parliament, whereas Caroline appeared to live modestly.Template:Sfn Satirists and cartoonists published prints in support of Caroline and depicted George as debauched and licentious.Template:Sfn She received messages of support from all over the country. Caroline was a figurehead for the growing radical movement that demanded political reform and opposed the unpopular George.Template:Sfn By August, Caroline had allied with radical campaigners such as William Cobbett, and it was probably Cobbett who wrote these words of Caroline's:Template:Sfn
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If the highest subject in the realm can be deprived of her rank and title—can be divorced, dethroned and debased by an act of arbitrary power, in the form of a Bill of Pains and Penalties—the constitutional liberty of the Kingdom will be shaken to its very base; the rights of the nation will be only a scattered wreck; and this once free people, like the meanest of slaves, must submit to the lash of an insolent domination.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>{{#if:|
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The day before the trial was due to start, an open letter from Caroline to George, again probably written by Cobbett, was published widely. In it, she decried the injustices against her, claimed she was the victim of conspiracy and intrigue, accused George of heartlessness and cruelty, and demanded a fair trial.Template:Sfn The letter was seen as a challenge, not only to George but to the government and the forces resisting reform.Template:Sfn
Trial
On 17 August 1820, the trial opened. Amid a large military presence, crowds gathered to watch the peers and the Queen attend Parliament.Template:Sfn Once in their chamber, the Lords began the bill's second reading (the first reading was a formality). Lord Chancellor Lord Eldon, acting as the Speaker of the House, noted the absence of several peers, notably Lords Byron and Erskine, because they were either abroad or too elderly to attend. Caroline's brother-in-law, Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex, asked to be excused from participating on the grounds of consanguinity. His request was granted, though his brother, Prince Frederick, Duke of York, announced that he would continue to attend.Template:Sfn
The first motion was moved by the Duke of Leinster, to the effect that the bill be dismissed. It was an initial test of the government's strength that would gauge support for the King. The motion was lost by 206–41.Template:Sfn During the first day and the next, opening speeches by Caroline's defence team, Henry Brougham and Thomas Denman, were well received.Template:Sfn In their speeches, Brougham and Denman hinted but did not state explicitly, referring only to "recrimination", that George could come off worse because of the bill if his own infidelities (such as his secret marriage to Maria Fitzherbert) were revealed in the course of the debate.Template:Sfn In private, the Queen also turned the tables on the King by saying she "never committed adultery but once, and that was with Mrs Fitzherbert's husband".<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref>
The prosecution case, led by the Attorney General for England and Wales Sir Robert Gifford, began on Saturday 19 August. The Queen did not attend. Gifford claimed that Caroline and Pergami had lived as lovers for five years from November 1814. He asserted that they shared a bedroom, were seen in each other's presence arm-in-arm, and were heard kissing. The Queen, he stated, changed clothes in front of Pergami and ate her meals with him. He said that Pergami was a married man, but although his child, sister, mother and brother lived in the Queen's household, his wife did not.Template:Sfn The Sunday newspapers the following morning were filled with the salacious details of Gifford's speech.Template:Sfn Gifford resumed his attack on Monday 21 August by recounting further outrageous revelations: Pergami and Caroline had been seen together on a bed in a state of undress; she had sat on Pergami's knee in public; she had taken baths accompanied only by Pergami.<ref>Gifford's speech quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> High society did not receive the speech well. They were appalled at Caroline's behaviour, but they were more appalled at George's. By forcing the details of Caroline's life into the public arena, George had damaged the monarchy and endangered the political status quo.Template:Sfn Leigh Hunt wrote to Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The whole thing will be one of the greatest pushes given to the declining royalty that the age has seen."<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref>
The first witness for the prosecution was an Italian servant, Theodore Majocchi. The prosecution's reliance on Italian witnesses of low birth led to anti-Italian sentiment in Britain. The witnesses had to be protected from angry mobs,Template:Sfn and were depicted in popular prints and pamphlets as venal, corrupt and criminal.Template:Sfn Street-sellers sold prints alleging that the Italians had accepted bribes to commit perjury.Template:Sfn After Gifford's speech on 21 August, Caroline entered the chamber of the House of Lords. Shortly afterwards, Majocchi was called. As he was led in, Caroline rose and advanced towards him, flinging back her veil. She apparently recognised him, exclaimed "Theodore!", and rushed out of the House.<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> Her sudden sensational departure was seen as a "burst of agony" by The Times,<ref name="times23Aug">The Times, 23 August 1820</ref> but others thought it the mark of a guilty conscience.<ref>Template:Harvnb, Template:Harvnb, and public placards quoted in The Times newspaper, all quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> It led her defence team to advise her against attending in future, unless specifically requested.<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> Indeed, the evidence was so demeaning that the Queen did usually absent herself from the chamber, though she went to the House of Lords.Template:Sfn According to Princess Lieven, Caroline passed the time by playing backgammon in a side-room.<ref>Template:Harvnb Template:Bracket quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref>
Prosecution case
Under examination by the Solicitor General for England and Wales, John Singleton Copley, Majocchi testified that Caroline and Pergami ate breakfast together, had adjoining bedrooms, and had kissed each other on the lips. He said Pergami's bed was not always slept in, and he had seen Pergami visit the Queen wearing only underwear and a dressing gown.<ref>Majocchi's testimony quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> He said that they had slept in the same tent during a trip around the Mediterranean, and that Pergami had attended the Queen, alone, while she was having a bath.<ref>Majocchi's testimony quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> The following day, his astonishing testimony continued with the revelation that when Caroline and Pergami were travelling together in a carriage, Pergami kept a bottle with him so he could relieve himself without having to step down from the coach.<ref>Majocchi's testimony quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> The situation in the House became more absurd, as the Solicitor General asked Majocchi about a male exotic dancer employed by Caroline, after which Majocchi demonstrated a dance by pulling up his trousers, extending his arms, clicking his fingers, and shouting "vima dima!", while moving his body up and down in a suggestive fashion.Template:Sfn The Times newspaper was disgusted and informed its readers that it regretted being "obliged" to report "filth of this kind".<ref name="times23Aug"/> During Brougham's cross-examination, Majocchi replied "Non mi ricordo" ("I don't recall") more than two hundred times. The phrase was repeated so often, it became a national joke, and featured in cartoons and parodies.Template:Sfn Majocchi's credibility as a witness was destroyed.Template:Sfn
The next witness was ship's mate Gaetano Paturzo, who claimed that he had seen Caroline sitting on Pergami's lap, but nothing more, while on a Mediterranean cruise. Ship's master Vincenzo Garguilo testified that Caroline and Pergami had shared a tent on deck and had kissed. Under cross-examination, he admitted that he had been paid to give evidence, but said that the payment was lower in value than the business he had lost through coming to England.Template:Sfn Captain Thomas Briggs of HMS Leviathan, another vessel used by Caroline and Pergami during their journey, was also called as a prosecution witness. He said that the two had adjoining cabins on board and he had seen them arm-in-arm. Unlike the Italian witnesses, as an Englishman of some substance, the Lords considered Captain Briggs to be a more credible witness.<ref>RA Geo/Add/10/1, bundle 5, quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> After the conclusion of the cross-examination, however, Lord Ellenborough rose and asked Briggs directly, "Did the witness see any improper familiarity between the Princess and Pergami? Had you any reason to suspect any improper freedom or familiarity between them?" "No", replied Briggs.Template:Sfn
A further witness, Pietro Cuchi, an innkeeper in Trieste, told the Lords that he had spied on the couple through a keyhole, during which he thought he saw Pergami leave the Queen's bedroom wearing stockings, pantaloons and a dressing gown. However, he could not be sure because his view, through the keyhole, was restricted. He did say that Pergami's bed was not slept in, and that both chamber pots in Caroline's room were used.Template:Sfn
As Princess Lieven observed, the trial was a "solemn farce".<ref>Template:Harvnb Template:Bracket quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> On 25 August, a German chambermaid from Karlsruhe, Barbara Kress, was sworn in. She was asked about the sheets on the Queen's bed: "Did you at any time see anything on the sheets?", asked Gifford. Kress's response was spoken quietly. Two interpreters, one for the King and one for the Queen, formed a huddle around her. The Queen's interpreter claimed the word wuste was not translatable; the King's interpreter was asked to press Kress for a further explanation. She broke down, and the proceedings were paused to allow her to regain composure. An eventual translation of "stains" was agreed.Template:Sfn Tory Harriet Arbuthnot wrote in her journal "if the Whig Lords do not consider the disgusting details they have heard proof, the Whig ladies may in future consider themselves very secure against divorces."<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref>
Caroline's former maid, Louise Demont, testified she had seen Caroline leave Pergami's bedroom wearing only a nightdress, and corroborated previous evidence that Caroline and Pergami had shared a tent and a bath during the cruise.Template:Sfn She was also asked about stains on the bed-sheets, but refused to be drawn into details because it was "not decent".Template:Sfn Under cross-examination, she was accused of living in England for more than a year under the assumed name of "Countess Colombier". Demont's flustered reply mimicked those of Majocchi, as she claimed she could not recall being called by that name.Template:Sfn The defence said she had been sacked for lying, and produced a letter written by Demont in which she admitted coming to England on a "false pretence".Template:Sfn Demont's sister, Mariette Brun, had remained in Caroline's service as a maid, and had passed information on her sister to Caroline's defence team.Template:Sfn
The procession of witnesses continued; a mason, Luigi Galdini, claimed he had stumbled across Pergami holding Caroline's bare breast in their Italian villa.Template:Sfn Coachman Giuseppe Sacchi, who was Demont's lover,Template:Sfn claimed that he had found the couple asleep in a carriage in each other's arms, with Caroline's hand on Pergami's undone breeches.Template:Sfn Sacchi's testimony was ridiculed in the British press, as "the parties being asleep, such a position in a carriage, where the bodies are themselves upright, or nearly so, is beyond all question absolutely and physically impossible".<ref>The Times, 6 September 1820</ref>
Defence case
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In a letter to the King, the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool summarised the progress of the trial. He said the evidence had made an impression in the House, but the bill was by no means secure.<ref name="Aspinall361">Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> The Queen was still immensely popular. Over 800 petitions totalling nearly a million signatures were received in her favour.Template:Sfn Liverpool warned the King that Majocchi and Demont were discredited as witnesses, and the evidence produced by the defence could damage George severely. The divorce clause was especially unpopular, he wrote, though it might pass the Lords, it would not pass the Commons. He suggested that it be dropped. George would not decide to do so.<ref name="Aspinall361"/>
After the presentation of the prosecution case, the trial was adjourned for three weeks, and the Queen's solicitor, Denman, visited Cheltenham Spa for a break.<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> Once his identity was discovered, a supportive crowd gathered outside his lodgings.<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> Meanwhile, Caroline's defence team assembled their evidence. Letters exchanged between them and Italian correspondents show that Colonel Carlo Vassalli, Caroline's equerry, said there was nothing improper between Caroline and Pergami. Caroline shared a room with Victorine, Pergami's daughter, and Caroline's behaviour with Pergami was no different than with other men.<ref>RA Geo/Box/11/3, bundle 36, quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> Interviewed in Pesaro, Pergami himself was prepared to swear that his bed was not slept in because he was sleeping with Demont, and that he had never had "an intercourse with the Queen".<ref>RA Geo/Add/11/1, bundle 32C, quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref>
The defence opened on 3 October, with a speech from Brougham. His speech was considered the "most magnificent display of argument and oratory that has been heard in years",<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> "one of the most powerful orations that ever proceeded from human lips",<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> and "one of the most magnificent speeches ever made in this or any other country".<ref>Letter from William Vizard, Queen Caroline's solicitor, to James Brougham, (RA Geo/11/3, bundle 37) quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> According to Thomas Creevey, it astonished and shook the aristocracy.<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> In it, Brougham threatened to reveal facts about George's own life, even if they damaged the country, if it was the only way to ensure justice for his client.Template:Sfn He attacked the character of the prosecution witnesses, and claimed that Italian witnesses could be purchased like a commodity. He read from a letter from an Italian correspondent, "There is nothing at Naples so notorious as the free and public sale of false evidence. Their ordinary tariff is three or four ducats."Template:Sfn He reminded the Lords that Majocchi was forgetful, that Demont was a liar, and that Cuchi was a lecherous wretch who spied on his female guests through a keyhole.Template:Sfn He produced a letter from George to Caroline written in 1796, which became known as the "letter of licence". It appeared to forgive any transgressions on either Caroline or his part, and allow them to lead separate lives. "Our inclinations are not in our power," George had written, "nor should either of us be held accountable to the other."Template:Sfn
The defence witnesses included Lord Guilford, Lord Glenbervie, Lady Charlotte Lindsay, Lord Landaff, The Hon. Keppel Craven, Sir William Gell, Henry Holland, Colonel Alessandro Olivieri, and Carlo Vassalli, all of whom swore that there was nothing unusual about Caroline's behaviour.Template:Sfn The King was incensed; "I never thought that I should have lived to witness so much prevarication, so much lying, and so much wilful and convenient forgetfulness", he wrote.<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> Under cross-examination, Lord Guilford was unable to recall leaving a handsome Greek servant alone with Caroline for three-quarters of an hour,Template:Sfn and Lady Charlotte had on occasion said "I do not recollect", but without the same disdain that had met Majocchi's constant refrain of non mi ricordo.<ref>Courier (London) 7 October 1820, quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> British servants who had been in Caroline's household, including Keppel's valet John Whitcomb, also testified in Caroline's favour. Whitcomb admitted that he had slept with Demont, who was already known to have slept with the coachman Sacchi, thus further ruining Demont's tarnished reputation.Template:Sfn A French milliner, Fanchette Martigner, further testified that Demont had told her that Caroline was innocent, and the charges against her "were nothing but calumnies invented by her enemies in order to ruin her".<ref>Martigner's testimony quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref>
The trial seemed to be going Caroline's way, especially after Sacchi's testimony was refuted by the nephew of the Duchess of Torlonia, Carlo Forti. Forti claimed that the Countess Oldi (Pergami's sister) sat between Caroline and Pergami in the carriage, which was also shared with Victorine (Pergami's daughter), and so there could have been no intimacy between them.Template:Sfn However, the cross-examination of two of the witnesses damaged Caroline's case. Lieutenant John Flynn and Joseph Hownam had both been on the same Mediterranean cruise with Caroline and Pergami. Flynn said nothing incriminating but during the course of the cross-examination, he fainted, which left a bad impression.<ref>Template:Harvnb and Template:Harvnb separately quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> Pressed by Gifford, Hownam admitted that Caroline and Pergami had both slept in the same tent on deck because, he claimed, Caroline was afraid of pirates, and wanted a guard in the tent with her.Template:Sfn In an attempt to regain ground, Brougham produced two Italian witnesses, Giuseppe Giroline and Filippo Pomi, who revealed that the prosecution witnesses had been paid 40 francs each, and given free food and board.Template:Sfn The Whigs now claimed that the trial was tainted as there was prima facie evidence of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by paying witnesses for their testimony.Template:Sfn Lord Liverpool countered Whig demands to abandon the bill by saying that there was other evidence, from non-Italian witnesses, that could be relied upon.Template:Sfn
Brougham attempted to investigate the claim of conspiracy further in the hope that it would discover the man behind the conspiracy, who paid for the witnesses and hired the prosecution team. Disingenuously referring to "this mysterious being, this retiring phantom, this uncertain shape" (quoting Milton's Paradise Lost), Brougham knew full well that "this uncertain shape" was the King. The King knew it too, and took Brougham's words to be a direct reference to his massive size, as the King was vastly overweight.Template:Sfn The Tories challenged Brougham's line of questioning, as they claimed it implicated persons who could not be called as witnesses, and widened the investigation beyond the relevance of the bill.Template:Sfn
Passed but withdrawn
For ten hours over two days, Thomas Denman summed up for the defence. He cited the dishonesty of the principal prosecution witnesses, the evidence of the defence witnesses that contradicted that of the prosecution, and drew parallels between George and the Roman emperor Nero. He said Nero had banished his wife, Claudia Octavia, and taken a mistress in her place. He had then concocted a conspiracy to dethrone, degrade and divorce her, before she was ultimately condemned and killed.Template:Sfn A second member of the defence team, Stephen Lushington, then spoke for a shorter time to highlight the main points of the defence case.Template:Sfn In concluding the prosecution, Gifford reiterated the claims of Demont and Majocchi, and claimed that they were "undeniable proof of her Majesty's guilt".Template:Sfn
The Lords proceeded to debate the bill. The Whig leader Lord Grey complained that the bill was far removed from ordinary legal practice, and pointed out that, if the Lords passed the bill, the entire process would have to be repeated in the Commons, leading to more public strife. Furthermore, the evidence was insufficient, tainted or contradicted. Even if Caroline had shown Pergami favour, it was within the power of royalty to elevate anyone from a low rank to a high one, and it was a strength of society that any person could rise from the lowest of births to the highest of offices. Indeed, Caroline and Pergami had lived at Naples, where the King himself (Joachim Murat) had risen from humble origins. They had travelled through countries that through the influence of the French Revolution had seen the reversal of traditional power structures, with the once-wealthy laid low, and the obscure propelled to distinction.Template:Sfn
The vote was held on 6 November 1820, three years to the day since Caroline's only daughter, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, had died. Each peer rose and said either "content", indicating support for the bill, or "not content", to oppose it. The vote was 123–95 in favour.Template:Sfn Though the majority was 28, it was considered a narrow victory. Eleven "content" votes were from the bishops who sat in the House of Lords, while many "not content" votes were from the richest and most powerful peers.<ref>Template:Harvnb Template:Bracket quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> As seats in the House of Commons were often controlled by rich and powerful landowners, it meant that the Commons were almost certain to reject the bill. Consequently, over the next few days the Lords debated dropping the divorce clause, but the Whigs had spotted a tactical opportunity. Lord Grey now spoke in favour of retaining the divorce clause, since by doing so it made the bill more likely to fail in the Commons. On 10 November, a final reading of the bill took place, and a further vote was held. The bill passed by 108–99, with a majority of 9.Template:Sfn
In a highly emotional state,<ref>Template:Harvnb quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool rose to address the House. He declared that since the vote was so close, and public tensions so high, the government was withdrawing the bill.Template:Sfn
Aftermath
The Queen considered it a victory.Template:Sfn Crowds of Londoners celebrated exuberantly in the streets; the windows of government supporters were smashed, and the offices of newspapers that had supported the King were set alight.Template:Sfn Similar scenes occurred throughout the United Kingdom.Template:Sfn On 29 November, Caroline attended a service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral with the Lord Mayor of London, much to the dismay of the Dean of St Paul's. Vast crowds turned out to see her; estimates of the number in the crowd vary between 50,000 and 500,000.Template:Sfn Nevertheless, she was still barred from George's coronation at Westminster Abbey on 19 July 1821. She fell ill and died three weeks later. Her husband did not attend her funeral, and her body was returned to Brunswick for burial.Template:Sfn
With the failure of the bill, the radicals largely lost Caroline as a figurehead of the reform movement, since they were stripped of a cause and Caroline had no further need of them as allies.Template:Sfn Once the scandal had died down, the loyalist pro-King party had a resurgence, and became more vocal.Template:Sfn It took over a decade and the death of King George IV, for the reform movement to gain sufficient ground to force through Parliament the Reform Act 1832, which regulated the franchise throughout the United Kingdom.
References
Citations
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Sources
- Primary
- Template:Cite journal
- Hansard for the year 1820
- Royal Archives, Georgian Papers [RA Geo]
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- Template:Cite book Vol.I: The Charges; Vol.II: The Defence, Part I; Vol.III: The Defence, Part II
- Secondary
Further reading
External links
- The Queen Caroline Affair, a series of Parliamentary Archives blogposts marking the 200th anniversary