Assassination: The Royal Family's 1000-Year Curse (44 page)

Despite Nelson appearing as a character witness, Despard and nine of his co-conspirators were convicted, the jury recommending mercy because of Despard’s previous good character and service to the nation. The judge ignored the

recommendation. Despard and his colleagues became the last to be sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. However, the Government feared public dissent, so the condemned men were merely hanged and beheaded.
Then, in June 1803 the French occupied Hanover. Soon

Napoleon had installed himself as Emperor of France, ready to invade England. George decided to lead his troops into battle, but in early 1804 his illness returned. Addington and the doctors tried to take control of the King, but they were unable to do so as two of George’s sons, the Duke of Cumberland and the Duke of Kent, stopped them from entering Buckingham House. As a result, George recovered and Pitt was reappointed Prime Minister.

George now had to contend with the Prince of Wales, who was becoming increasingly impatient for power, showing constant animosity towards his father. Then Queen Charlotte became hostile. After over 40 years of fairly happy marriage, the Queen, who had become old, fat and ugly, decided that she wanted nothing more to do with her husband; she was disgusted by his mental state.

The porphyria now led to blindness in one eye and poor sight in the other. George was ignored by his family other than his daughter Amelia and his granddaughter Princess Charlotte, the only child of the Prince of Wales. Charlotte was George’s favourite, and he took control of her education, expecting the royal line to pass through her.

The chances of invasion were reduced as rule of the seas was secured at Trafalgar off the south-west coast of Spain in Britain’s greatest naval victory, won by Britain’s greatest sailor
– Nelson, a man who suffered throughout his life from chronic seasickness. However, the war in Europe went badly. The Russian and Austrian armies were defeated at Austerlitz, and yet another coalition against France collapsed. Napoleon ruled continental Europe. The setback proved too much for Pitt, who died at the age of 46.

An added problem for the King was that he was bedevilled by problems with his children. The Prince of Wales had always been antagonistic with his persistent support of his father’s enemies; George’s second son, Frederick Duke of York, was found to have allowed his mistress to sell commissions and promotions in the army; George’s third son, William Duke of Clarence, was living with an actress and their ten illegitimate children and spoke out against the war with France; the fourth son, Edward Duke of Kent, was detested throughout the country for his brutal treatment of soldiers; George’s fifth son, Ernest Augustus Duke of Cumberland, had claimed that he was the victimofanassassinationattemptafterwhichhisvaletcommitted suicidebycuttinghisthroat–itlaterseemedmorelikelythatthe valet had found out about the Duke’s homosexual activities and that the Duke had murdered him, inventing the assassination attempt and suicide as a cover-up, and he was also suspected of incest with one of his sisters; the sixth son, Augustus Duke of Sussex, married without permission and had his marriage annulled; the seventh son, Adolphus Duke of Cambridge, surrendered command of the Hanoverian Army and fled when Prussia invaded; the eighth son, Gustavus, had died at the age of four; the ninth son, Alfred, died at the age of one.

As for George’s six daughters, Charlotte had married but produced only a stillborn child. Augusta, Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia and Amelia had not married. At least George had one grandchild, Charlotte, the daughter of the Prince of Wales.

Then George’s favourite daughter, Amelia, died. It seemed to be the last straw for an old man who had reigned for 50 years, only one of which had so far involved madness. Now George became deluded; he believed that Amelia was still alive. He was put in a strait-jacket and bled by having leeches placed on his forehead. May 1811 was the last time the King was seen in public.

George spent most of his remaining time talking nonsense and obscenities. The Prince of Wales was at last appointed Regent, and George was left to the devices of doctors who believed that physical punishment would cure insanity. However, George continued to have lucid intervals when he could understand news of Napoleon’s defeat in Russia followed by abdication and exile in Elba. Most of all George was cheered by news of the recovery of his beloved Hanover.

It got worse. Already blind, George now went deaf. Having grown a long white beard, George spent his days wandering around his rooms in Windsor Castle wearing a dressing gown. So he was never aware of Napoleon’s escape from exile, or his attempt to recover his empire, ended by Wellington’s victory at Waterloo; nor of Hanover’s elevation from an electorate (irrelevant now that the Holy Roman Empire had ceased to exist, and there was no Emperor to elect) to a kingdom.

The Queen no longer visited George, and in 1818 she died. George never knew of his wife’s death. Nor did he know of the death of his fourth son, the Duke of Kent, who died in delirium, said to have been the result of pneumonia caused by not changing his wet socks after a long walk in the rain. Curiously, he had written to George complaining of attacks “the severity of which is, I believe, not unknown to Your Majesty” – so was it porphyria?

Christmas 1819, and George had a final surge of strength. He talked rubbish without stopping for 58 hours and then fell into a coma for a month. He died on 29th January 1820, aged 81.

Remembered for his madness and for losing America, his reign also saw the acquisition of Canada and much of India, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the defeat of Napoleon. As to America, he just could never understand why he should suffer disloyalty or how a nation could exist without a monarch.

People recalled that at the banquet following George’s coronation, one of the largest jewels had fallen out of his crown. In retrospect it was seen as an omen.

Although George IV’s reign began in 1820, he started to act almost as king when he was appointed Regent in February 1811.

It was a time when Britain was isolated. With brilliant victories year after year, Napoleon controlled most of Europe. Fortunately, the navy still ruled the oceans. When the Secretary for War was asked to assure Parliament that there would be no invasion, he responded: “I can give no such assurance, but they will not get here by sea.”

Nevertheless, there was great discontent in the country. On 11th May 1812, John Bellingham, a bankrupt commercial agent who had a grudge against the Government for not coming to his aid when he was imprisoned in Russia and for not compensating him when he was released, shot Prime Minister Spencer Perceval (who as Attorney General had prosecuted Edward Despard) in the lobby of the House of Commons. Far from being appalled by the assassination of a man who left a widow and 12 children, the public rejoiced. There were calls in the streets to do the same to George. Bellinghamwas hanged, and a public appeal raised far more money for Bellingham’s family than the amount of compensation he had been seeking.
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Ignoring the discontent, George pursued his personal interests. Apart from alcohol, food and older women, his loves were new buildings, furniture and silver. However, his taste was ostentatious to the extent of vulgarity, leading to the Regency being remembered as a time of excesses.

A new conflict started in June 1812 when America declared war on Britain. It was for several reasons: Britain restricting trade with France, seizing British-born American sailors for service in the navy, and supporting Indian tribes into whose lands the United States was trying to expand. With British forces busy fighting the French, the Americans were able to take part of Canada and gain victories over Indian tribes.

Still in 1812, the Tsar refused to join the trade boycott of Britain, and then Napoleon received intelligence that the Russians were considering an attempt to recapture Poland. He marched into Russia with 650,000 troops. The French took Moscow, and according to the rules of war the Russians should have formally surrendered and submitted to Napoleon’s terms. They did not, because the Russians had deserted the city, and there was no one of seniority left behind. Critically, there were insufficient buildings to garrison the French troops, and there was no food. In order to survive, the soldiers killed and ate their horses; as a result, the French cavalry ceased to exist. With no shelter, no food and no Russian surrender, the situation was hopeless. In the severe Russian winter, the French Army started the long march home. Thousands froze to death, thousands starved and thousands were killed by the Russians, then the Prussians and then the Austrians. Only about 27,000 fit soldiers made it back.

Undaunted, Napoleon raised a new army, and he won further victories, although at heavy cost. He had not been destroyed by the Russian campaign, but it showed that he was not invincible. The pendulum had swung. Defeated in Spain and outnumbered on all sides, Napoleon retreated as British forces moved through south-west France, and Britain’s allies progressed from the east. By March 1814, the Prussians had reached Paris. Napoleon abdicated and was exiled to Elba.

35 Bellingham’s descendant, Henry Bellingham, was elected a Conservative MP in 1983; but he lost the seat in 1997 as a result of votes won by the Referendum Party candidate Roger Percival who claimed to be a descendant of the murdered PM. Bellingham regained the seat in 2001.

With Napoleon defeated, the British turned to the American War, taking Washington and burning the White House. Further American invasions of Canada ended in defeat, as did further British invasions of the United States. It ended in a stalemate and a treaty under which each side abandoned its gains. The only losers were the Indian tribes who lost land and any hope of securing their own autonomous territory; the only winners were about 3,000 slaves who escaped to Canada. The US protested at Britain’s refusal to return the slaves. The matter went to arbitration, and the arbitrator, the Tsar, ordered Britain to pay the slave-owners compensation of $1.2M.

Then, in February 1815, attention returned to Europe where the victors were meeting in Vienna to carve up the continent. While they were busy talking, Napoleon escaped from Elba where he had been allowed to reign as sovereign, and by May he once again ruled France. He advanced with his army, intending to attack before the coalition forces could combine.

Command of the British-German-Dutch Army was given to Arthur Wellesley, created Duke of Wellington for leading the British Army to a series of victories that had expelled the French from Spain. The victories were gained with the aid of Spanish forces who harassed the French in minor attacks known as ‘little wars’, or in Spanish, ‘
guerrillas’
– the name later given to such fighters.

Napoleon forced Wellington back towards the Channel. Wellington took his position on an escarpment near the village of Waterloo, not far from Brussels. Now Napoleon prepared to attack, eager for victory before Blücher’s Prussian troops could march to Wellington’s side. On the morning of 18th June 1815, Napoleon delayed, waiting for the ground to dry after overnight torrential rain. He was unconcerned, certain of victory with his greater numbers, and holding Wellington in low regard – but Napoleon had never faced him in battle before and critically, Wellington had selected the battlefield. At last the French advanced, but the delay had been too long; as the French attacked, the Prussians arrived and they immediately charged, breaking through the flank of the French Army. At this vital moment, Napoleon was resting at his headquarters, having handed command to Marshal Ney. Wellington directed a minimal withdrawal; Ney thought it was a retreat and ordered his 9,000 strong calvary to take the escarpment without waiting for artillery support. Thirteen British batallions in defensive squares were waiting for them. Wellington knew he had won. After twelve failed French cavalry charges, Wellington counterattacked, and following savage fighting, the remains of the French Army fled. Fatally, Napoleon had underestimated his opponent; it cost him his empire.