When Royal Grandparents Go Bad: George I

Caroline of Ansbach,
princess of Wales, in 1716

On 14 December 1717, George, prince of Wales and future George II, and his wife Caroline, the future queen, were turned out onto the streets of London without money, guards or coaches. They had been imprisoned for 4 days in St James's palace following an argument with George I at the christening of the prince and princess of Wales' new baby, which almost ended in a duel.

The king had chosen the Lord Chamberlain, the Duke of Newcastle, as one of the godparents, apparently according to the custom that the chamberlain took this role. The Prince of Wales, who disliked Newcastle, then shook his fist at the duke, and said '"You are a rascal, but I shall find you out!" The duke misheard, and thought that the prince had said "I shall fight you", in other words, challenged him to a duel.

The king and the baby's parents disagreed about the name the baby should take, as well as about who should be godparents. The king got his way, of course, with the baby being named 'George William' rather than 'Louis'. Moreover, he took possession of the new baby. The prince and princess were banished from court, Caroline fell sick with worry, and was forced into secret visits to her child.

By January, George I had begun to allow Caroline unrestricted access to her son, but in February the baby fell ill and died. Although a post-mortem showed a congenital heart defect as the cause of death, the prince and princess continued to believe that the forced separation was to blame.

The fallout from the dispute went far beyond just the royal family itself. Royal servants' families, who often had members serving both the king and the prince or princess, had to choose sides and leave their jobs, because it was impossible to have a family member in both households.




[Source: Calendar of the Stuart Papers, volume 5, pp. 277-278 http://tannerritchie.com/books/135/]