MARLBOROUGH HOUSE 77 



retired, and when it was built was even more so. It was 

 then shut in on the north and east by a grove of chestnut 

 trees, on the west it was open to the gardens in front of 

 St. James's Palace, and on the south it overlooked, as it does 

 now, the Mall and St. James's Park beyond. It must be 

 remembered, too, that in those days the park and its entrance 

 between Marlborough House and the palace were not open 

 to the public ; and so they remained till shortly after the 

 middle of the nineteenth century. 



The great Duke died in 1722, and his widow lived at 

 Marlborough House till her own death twenty-two years 

 afterwards. The Churchill family held it till 18 17, when 

 it was purchased by the Crown as a London residence for 

 Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold. The negotiations 

 were not quite completed when the sad news of the Princess's 

 death at Claremont shocked the nation. Her widower con- 

 tinued to live here until 1831, when he became King of 

 the Belgians. 



Just before the last date a change of great importance, 

 which completely altered the appearance of the east end 

 of the garden at Marlborough House, took place. This 

 was the pulling down of Carlton House, and the erection of 

 the mansions known as Carlton House Terrace on the site 

 of its gardens. The father of George III., Prince Frederick of 

 Wales, had bought the property from the nephew and heir 

 of Lord Carlton, in 1732. He made it his London abode 

 for many years ; and George IV., when Prince of Wales, 

 also lived there. The house used to stand, facing north, 

 where Waterloo Place now is. The gardens as they were 

 in 1 8 1 3 are described in the memoirs of Captain Gronow : 

 " At the period to which I refer, Carlton House was the 

 centre of all the politicians and wits who were the friends 

 of the Prince Regent. The principal entrance of the palace 

 in Pall Mall, with its screen of columns, will be remembered 

 by many. In the rear of the mansion was an extensive 

 garden that reached from Warwick Street to Marlborough 

 House ; greensward, stately trees — probably two hundred 



