Editing Caroline of Brunswick (section)

==Queen consort==
{{further |Pains and Penalties Bill 1820}}
[[File:Trial of Queen Caroline by Sir George Hayter.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''[[The Trial of Queen Caroline]]'', 1820 by [[Sir George Hayter]]]]
Instead of being treated like a queen, Caroline found that her estranged husband's accession paradoxically made her position worse. On visiting Rome, [[Pope Pius VII]] refused her an audience, and the Pope's minister [[Cardinal Consalvi]] insisted that she be greeted only as a duchess of Brunswick, and not as a queen.<ref>Robins, p. 85</ref> In an attempt to assert her rights, she made plans to return to Britain. The King demanded that his ministers get rid of her. He successfully persuaded them to remove her name from the [[liturgy]] of the [[Church of England]], but they would not agree to a divorce because they feared the effect of a public trial. The government was weak and unpopular, and a trial detailing salacious details of both Caroline's and George's separate love lives was certain to destabilise it further.<ref>Robins, pp. 96–100</ref> Rather than run the risk, the government entered into negotiations with Caroline, and offered her an increased annuity of £50,000 if she stayed abroad.<ref>Robins, p. 100</ref>
[[File:Caroline by Hayter.jpg|thumb|upright|Queen Caroline sitting in a chair in profile at her trial in the House of Lords. She is wearing an elaborate headdress with large feathers, a style with which she became associated.<ref>Robins, p. 123</ref>]]
[[File:QueenCaroline1820.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Caroline is seated, resting her hand on a book|Portrait c. 1820 by [[James Lonsdale (painter)|James Lonsdale]], "Principal Painter in Ordinary to the Queen". Her wedding ring is displayed prominently to emphasise fidelity to [[marriage vows]].]]

By the beginning of June 1820, Caroline had travelled north from Italy, and was at [[Saint-Omer|St Omer]] near [[Calais]]. Acting on the advice of [[Alderman]] [[Sir Matthew Wood, 1st Baronet|Matthew Wood]] and her lady-in-waiting [[Lady Anne Hamilton]], she rejected the government's offer.<ref>Robins, pp. 116–117</ref> She bade farewell to Pergami, and embarked for England. When she arrived on 5 June, riots broke out in support of her.<ref>Plowden, p. 269; Robins, pp. 93–94</ref> Caroline was a figurehead for the growing [[Radicalism (historical)|Radical movement]] that demanded political reform and opposed the unpopular king.<ref>Robins, pp. 93–94</ref> Nevertheless, the King still adamantly desired a divorce and, the following day, he submitted the evidence gathered by the Milan commission to Parliament in two green bags. On 15 June the guards in the [[King's Mews]] mutinied. The mutiny was contained, but the government was fearful of further unrest.<ref>Robins, pp. 126–127</ref> Examination of the bags of evidence was delayed as Parliament debated the form of the investigation, but eventually, on 27 June, they were opened and examined in secret by 15 [[Peer of the realm|peers]]. The peers considered the contents scandalous, and a week later, after their report to the House, the government introduced a bill in Parliament, the [[Pains and Penalties Bill 1820]], to strip Caroline of the title of queen and dissolve her marriage.<ref>Robins, pp. 132–143</ref> It was claimed that Caroline had committed adultery with a low-born man: Bartolomeo Pergami. Various witnesses, such as [[Theodore Majocchi]], were called during the reading of the bill, which was effectively a public trial of the Queen. The trial caused a sensation, as details of Caroline's familiarity with Pergami were revealed. Witnesses said the couple had slept in the same room, kissed, and been seen together in a state of undress.<ref>Robins, pp. 193–202</ref> The bill passed the [[House of Lords]], but was not submitted to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] as there was little prospect that the Commons would pass it. To her friends Caroline joked that she had indeed committed adultery once—with the husband of Mrs. Fitzherbert, the King.<ref name="Shingleton"/><ref>[[Thomas Moore]]'s ''Memoirs'', (London, 1853) vol. III, p. 149 quoted in Robins, p. 176</ref>

Even during the trial, the Queen remained immensely popular, as witnessed by over 800 petitions and nearly a million signatures that favoured her cause.<ref>Robins, p. 237</ref> As a figurehead of the opposition movement demanding reform, many revolutionary pronouncements were made in Caroline's name.<ref>Robins, pp. 159–164, 240–242</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=All classes will ever find in me a sincere friend to their liberties, and a zealous advocate of their rights. |author=Queen Caroline, September 1820, quoted in Robins, p. 240}}
{{Blockquote|text=A government cannot stop the [[march of intellect]] any more than they can arrest the motion of the tides or the course of the planets. |author=Queen Caroline quoted in ''The Times'', 7 October 1820}}
But with the end of the trial, her alliance with the radicals came to an end.<ref>Robins, p. 300</ref> The government again extended the offer of £50,000 a year, this time without preconditions, and Caroline accepted.<ref>Robins, pp. 305–306</ref>

On 5 May 1821, Napoleon died on St Helena. Sir [[Edmund Nagle]] informed George, "Sir, your bitterest enemy is dead". He replied, "Is she, by God!".<ref>''Journal of [[Henry Fox, 4th Baron Holland|Henry Edward Fox]], afterwards 4th and Last Lord Holland 1818–1830'' (25 August 1821); in [https://books.google.com/books?id=FtU4EAAAQBAJ&dq=nagle+your+bitterest+enemy+is+dead&pg=PA318 ''The New Yale Book of Quotations'', p. 318]</ref>

Despite the King's best attempts, Caroline retained a strong popularity among the masses, and pressed ahead with plans to attend [[Coronation of George IV|the coronation service on 19 July 1821]] as queen. Lord Liverpool told Caroline that she should not go to the service, but she turned up anyway.<ref>Plowden, p. 276; Robins, pp. 308–309</ref> George had Caroline turned away from the coronation at the doors of [[Westminster Abbey]]. Refused entry at both the doors to the East Cloister and the doors to the West Cloister, Caroline attempted to enter via [[Westminster Hall]], where many guests were gathered before the service began.<ref>Robins, p. 309</ref> A witness described how the Queen stood at the door fuming as bayonets were held under her chin until the deputy [[lord chamberlain]] had the doors slammed in her face.<ref>Miss Elizabeth Robertson quoted in Robins, pp. 310–311</ref> Caroline then proceeded back to an entrance near [[Poets' Corner]], where she was met by [[Sir Robert Inglis]], who held the office of "Gold Staff". Inglis persuaded her to return to her carriage, and she left. Caroline lost support through her exhibition at the coronation; the crowds jeered her as she rode away,<ref>Robins, p. 311</ref> and even Brougham recorded his distaste at her undignified behaviour.<ref>''[[Creevey Papers]]'' edited by [[Sir Herbert Maxwell, 7th Baronet]] (1903). London: John Murray. pp. 361–362, quoted in Robins, p. 312</ref>