3o0 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814.. 



to the King, and to myself, as to 

 surrender my right to appear at 

 any public drawing-room to be 

 held by your Majesty. 



•« That I may not, however, add 

 to the difficulty and uneasiness of 

 y.our Majesty's situation, I yield 

 in the present instance to the will 

 of his Royal Highness the Prince 

 Regent, announced to me by your 

 Majesty, and shall not present 

 myself at the Drawing Rooms of 

 the next month. ' 



" It would be presumptuous in 

 me to attempt to inquire of your 

 Majesty the reasons of his Royal 

 Highness the Prince Regent for 

 this harsh proceeding, of which his 

 Royal Highness can alone be the 

 judge. I am unconscious of of- 

 fence ; and in that reflection, I 

 must endeavour to find consolation 

 for all the mortifications I experi- 

 ence ; even for this, the last, the 

 most unexpected, and the most 

 severe ; the prohibition given to 

 me alone, to appear before J'our 

 Majesty, to offer my congratula- 

 tions upon the happy termination 

 of those calamities with which 

 Europe has been so long afflicted, 

 in the presence of the illustrious 

 personages who will in all proba- 

 bility be assembled at your Majes- 

 ty's court, with whom I am so 

 closely connected by birth and 

 marriage. 



" I beseech your Majesty to do 

 me an act of justice, to which, iu 

 the present circumstances, your 

 Majesty is the only person compe- 

 tent, by acquainting those illus- 

 trious strangers with the motives 

 of personal consideration towards 

 your Majesty which alone induce 

 me to abstain from thj exercise of 

 my - right to appear before your 

 Majesty : and that I do now, as I 

 have done at all tiniies, defy the 



malice of my enemies to fix upon 

 me the shadow of any one impu- 

 tation which could render me un- 

 worthy of their. society or regard. 



" Your Majesty will, I am sure, 

 not be displeased that I should re- 

 lieve myself from a suspicion of 

 disrespect towards your Majesty, 

 by making public the cause of my 

 absence from court at a time when 

 the duties of my station would 

 otherwise peculiarly demand my 

 attendance. 



" I have the honour to be, 

 " Your Majesty's most obedient 

 daughter-in-law and servant, 

 " P. Caroline." 

 " Connaught House, 

 May 24, 1814. 



The Queen to the Princess of Wales. 

 « Windsor Castle, May 25, 1814. 



" The Queen has received, this 

 afternoon, the Princess of Wales's 

 letter of yesterday, in reply to the 

 communication which she was de- 

 sired by the Prince Regent to make 

 to her ; and she is sensible of the 

 disposition expressed by her Royal 

 Highness, not to discuss with her 

 topics which must be painful to 

 both. 



" The Queen considers it %n- 

 cunr. ;ent upon her to send a copy 

 of thi Princess of Wales's letter to 

 the Pj ice Regent ; and her Ma- 

 jesty cou i have felt no hesitation 

 in commui. "ating to the illustrious 

 strangers vvho msy possibly be 

 present at her court, the circum- 

 stances which will prevent the 

 Princess of Wales from appearing 

 there, if her Royal Highness had 

 not rendered a compliatjce with 

 her wish to thiseflect unnecessary, 

 by intiaiating her intention of 

 making public the ciwse pf h«r 

 ^b^ence. 'f Chabu>tte, R." 



