I dare say that you barely noticed what, to us, seems
like an inconsequential detail. It was that wee thing about having her name
removed from the Liturgy that tipped the balance for Caroline. In the bidding
prayers included in the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England, said
before the reading of the Collect, specific mention was (and still is) made of
the members of the Royal family, for whose health and well-being prayers were
offered. By removing Caroline’s name from the Liturgy, her position as the
Queen of England was publicly denied, both before God and Man. She had been
tried, found guilty, and sentenced; justice had been served without hearing her
case. A tiny thing mayhap, yet a straw that broke the camel’s back. Caroline
resolved to return to England.
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| Lord Castlereagh |
Letters were written, to the leader of the House
of Commons, Lord Castlereagh, to the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, demanding
to know why her name had been omitted from the Liturgy, detailing insults to
Her Majesty’s dignity suffered in foreign courts, and announcing her intention
to come to England forthwith. Replies were sent, pointing out that if she set
foot on English soil, proceedings against her would be inevitable. Liverpool
offered terms, a satisfactory financial accommodation (£50,000 per year!) could
be made if only she remained abroad and did not assume the title or style of
Queen Consort. Acceptance of which, of course, would be an admission of guilt.
 |
| Lord Liverpool |
Caroline was met by Brougham, who was acting as her representative, and Lord Hutchinson,
representative of the government, at St Omer, and the options were laid before
her. Another slight, in her eyes. She left for Calais in the very highest
dudgeon, very much against the advice of Brougham, and not finding the expected
Royal Navy yacht waiting for her, she boarded the insignificant Prince
Leopold and, on June 5th 1820, she landed at Dover.
 |
| Pergami and Caroline - The Long and the Short |
The populace
turned out to greet her, cannon thundered a royal salute, banners were
unfurled, cries and cheers sounded out, church bells rang continuously in every
town and village. As she progressed to London, labourers stopped work in the
fields and cheered ‘God Save the Queen’ as she passed. One chap, obvious
overcome by the emotion of the moment and not altogether au fait with
the ins and outs of Her Majesty’s private life, even called for cheers for ‘Mr
Austin, Her Majesty’s son.’
 |
| Alderman Wood |
When Caroline arrived in London, she took
lodgings with Alderman Wood, in South Audley Street, and waited for the King to
make a move. She did not have to wait for long; on the next afternoon, an
announcement was read simultaneously before the Lords and the Commons.
“The King, in consequence of the Queen's arrival, feels it necessary to communicate to this House certain documents relating to Her Majesty's conduct after her departure from this country. These documents he entrusts to the serious and immediate consideration of the House.”
These ‘certain documents’
were contained in two green bags, and were identical copies of the evidence
collected by the preposterous Milan Commission. The House of Lords
immediately appointed a secret committee of fifteen members to examine the
evidence. The Commons, on the other hand, allowed their green bag to sit,
unopened, on the table for two weeks.
 |
| The Como-Cal Hobby - Set a Courier on Goat back and he'll ride to the Devil - Caricature of Pergami and Caroline |
A Bill of Pains and Penalties was
then brought before the ministers; these bills were a legal hangover, even in
1820. They were intended to punish offenders who had committed crimes against
the State not covered under ordinary law, and were legally dubious, to say the
very least, as a person could be tried for an act that was not illegal when
that act was committed, and punishment could be enacted in excess of what was
applicable under law. Furthermore, these bills were brought against a specific
individual by name, rather than a class of offenders, all of which runs against
the very heart of English jurisprudence.
 |
| How to Get Un-Married |
The preamble to the 1820 Bill stated
that Caroline, then Princess of Wales, had left Great Britain and travelled
abroad, where she engaged in licentious intimacy with Bartolomeo Pergami, and
by reason of this disgraceful behaviour it was necessary to dissolve her
marriage to the King of England (the enacting part of the bill simply dissolved
the marriage). After two days of legal niceties, the trial proper of the Queen
began on August 19th 1820, with Henry Brougham (a member of the
Commons) given the unusual dispensation to speak before the Lords.
 |
| Henry Brougham |
He,
cleverly, offered speculations rather than recriminations; why had the King not
filed for common divorce, well, because no petition would be heard from a
husband who had driven his wife from the marital home, and had frequently
violated the matrimonial vows. He pointed out that George, in marrying Mrs
Fitzherbert, a Roman Catholic, had forfeited his right of accession to the
Crown. Why was a Bill of Pains and Penalties being enforced when, surely, there
was a case of treason to be heard? Knowing that support and sympathy in the
country lay virtually unanimously with Caroline, he also called for the
evidence to be made public, a move that would almost certainly have led to the
fall of the Tory administration.
In the end, Brougham’s objections were
overruled and the very soiled linen of Caroline began to be scrutinised by the
members of both Houses.
Tomorrow - A Queen on Trial
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