Royalty Celebrity Scandal - Marriage of George IV Prince of Wales and Caroline of Brunswick - Part 2

Despite the fact that George and Caroline produced an heir to the throne in the form of Princess Charlotte, the nation realised that the marriage was a failure. The public was quick to take sides and a propaganda war ensued. This spot, with the Prince of Wales' feathers highlighted, shows Caroline's Queen. This was something that George was determined was never going to happen. With the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Caroline agreed to return to mainland Europe with a handsome annual pension of £50,000. Having previously been one of the most controlled women in Britain, she now made up for lost time, footloose and rich, but certainly not officially single. Caroline employed the services of Bartolomeo Bergami, a young impoverished Italian count who became her personal assistant. Caricaturists moved into overdrive. The Prince did nothing to prevent Caroline's increasingly outrageous behaviour, instead employing a strange assortment of spies to collect incriminating evidence against her. Much of it paid for. As part of her tour of Europe, Caroline arrived in Naples, still under the control of Napoleon's family, who, sensing a diplomatic coup, treated her to a grand ball. During the evening, a 46-year-old Caroline had three changes of outfit. Having appeared as a Neapolitan peasant girl, she then returned as the genius of history. George was back in England, waiting to become king. When his moment arrived in 1820, Caroline had to decide whether to continue her life in exile or to claim her rightful place as queen.