Caroline

Caroline, Amelia Augusta (1768-1821), second daughter of Charles, Duke of Brunswick, and wife of George IV. of England. At this day it is hard to realise the intense excitement which reigned in England seventy years ago over the wrongs of Queen Caroline, and how the whole country ranged itself on one side or other in the question. The Prince of Wales took a dislike to her after the marriage in 1795, and separated from her the next year. When, ten years later, reports of her misconduct led to the appointment of a commission of inquiry, popular feeling was strongly enlisted on her side. From 1814 she resided chiefly in Italy till the accession of the king in 1820, when, with the sympathy of the nation, she refused to abandon her rights, and came to England to demand her acknowledgment as queen. A bill for the dissolution of her marriage on the ground of adultery was brought into the House of Lords, but under pressure of popular indignation, and in the face of the boldness of her counsel, Brougham and Denman, it was abandoned, and her claim to the title of queen was admitted. But she was refused admission to Westminster Hall at the coronation of the king, and a month later she died.