e, seventh
son of George III., married on the 7th of May, 1818,
Augusta Wilhelmina Louisa, Princess of Hesse, youngest
daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel. Ernest, Duke
of Cumberland, the King's fourth son, married on the
29th of August, 1815, at Strelitz, the Princess
Frederica, third daughter of the Duke of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz. This lady had been twice married
before, first to Prince Frederic Louis Charles of
Prussia, and secondly to the Prince of Salms-Braunfels.
As the Duchess of Cumberland had been divorced from her
last husband, the Queen received her with great
coldness; and the position in which she was placed
contrasted strongly with that of the Duchess of
Cambridge on her marriage.]

The Regent drives in the Park every day in a tilbury, with his
groom sitting by his side; grave men are shocked at this
undignified practice.

June 21st, 1818 {p.002}

I dined at Holland House last Thursday. The party consisted of
Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Frere, and Mrs. Tierney and her son. After
dinner Mr. Frere repeated to us a great deal of that part of
'Whistlecraft' which is not yet published.[3] I laughed whenever
I could, but as I have never read the first part, and did not
understand the second, I was not so much amused as the rest of
the company.

[3] [The whole poem of 'Whistlecraft' has since been
republished in the collected works of the Right Hon.
Hookham Frere.]

On Friday I went to the Stud-house, where a great party was
assembled to see the stock and buy them. After visiting the
paddocks, Bloomfield[4] gave a magnificent dinner to the company
in a tent near the house; it was the finest feast I ever saw, but
the badness of the weather spoilt the entertainment.

[4] [Sir Benjamin Bloomfield filled the offices of Marshal
and Chief Equerry to the Regent, and in 1817 he became
Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall and Keeper of
the Privy Purse to the Prince. The Stud-house of
Hampton Court had been given him as a residence. He was
raised to the peerage in 1825.]

The Queen's illness was occasioned by information which she
received of the Duchesses of Cumberland and Cambridge having met
and embraced. This meeting took place as if by accident, but
really by appointment, in Kew Garde