Baron Lyndhurst
 
Lyndhurst Tomb
 

'No man was more free from corrupt notions or acted more independently of sordid influences.
A great, free and clear spirit.

Obituary - The Times 1863




The son of the famous American painter of the same name, John Singleton Copley wanted to become an architect but entered the law at his father's insistence. Appointed Solicitor General in 1820, Copley is best remembered for his part in the divorce of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Princess Caroline In 1895, George Augustus Frederick Hanover, Prince of Wales, had secretly married Mrs Maria Fitzherbert, a Catholic widow. Their union was deemed void on constitutional grounds and George, to clear horrendous gambling debts, was forced to marry Princess Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel. George was so drunk for the nuptials that Caroline wrote in a letter home.

"The Prince spent the greatest part of our bridal night in the grate where he fell...

...And where I left him".

Nine months later Caroline gave birth to Princess Charlotte and soon afterwards, she moved out of the royal household without her daughter, who by special instructions from the Prince had to remain, and she and George lived apart for the next twenty years. Caroline left Britain intending to spend the rest of her life on the Continent. Prince RegentWhen on the death of George III in 1820 George succeeded to the throne, Caroline returned to Britain and assumed royal state. George straightaway put an act before Parliament -

'To deprive Her Majesty, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of the Title, Prerogatives, Rights, Privileges and Exemptions of Queen Consort of this Realm; and to dissolve the marriage between His Majesty and the said Caroline'.

The trial commenced 17th August 1820 before the House of Lords with John Singleton-Copley as the proscecuting councillor. The case rumbled on for almost three month with many witnesses testifying descriptions of saucy romps between Caroline and her servants, but in the end public opinion so strongly backed her that the bill was defeated.

Caroline may have had the people on her side, but George still had a royal trick or two up his sleeve. On the 20th July 1821, Coronation Day, Queen Caroline set out from her house in South Audley Street and drove through the parks to Westminster Abbey. When she arrived, the QueenÐtoÐbe found the Abbey doors closed and locked before her, while inside the Coronation was proceeding. She tried in vain to gain entrance through Poet's Corner but found her way barred by the Knights of Windsor. Refused admittance at every door by armed guards, Caroline had no option but to climb back into her carriage and return home - uncrowned.

Three week later, Caroline of Brunswick died of an intestinal obstruction, her funeral giving rise to popular riots on the streets of London.



Episode V of Series II The Sexton's Tales divorces fact from fiction in:

'THE ROYAL DIVORCE'