ABSTRACT

As we saw in Chapter 2, the Queen Caroline Affair was a major event in British politics. In 1820, when her husband, the Prince of Wales (whom she loathed nearly as much as he loathed her), was to be crowned King George IV, Princess Caroline returned to England to claim her title as his queen. When he tried to stop her by accusing her of adultery, the House of Lords acquitted her of all wrongdoing. Among all the remarkable things that happened in the Queen Caroline Affair, one was the outpouring of support she received from women all over Britain. An address from the “Females of Bristol” was signed by 11,047 women; one from “the married ladies” of London was signed by 17,652 women. The “Ladies of Edinburgh” declared in their address that “your Majesty’s case becomes a common cause with all the females in this kingdom.” Why did thousands of women of all classes see themselves in common cause with a German princess who was fabulously wealthy and who had not even lived in Britain since 1814? The answer lies in the power of gender in Victorian Britain.