Duke of Wellington made no opposition; but
last year, during the uproar on the Catholic question, he
perceived the inconvenience of the arrangement, and intended to
speak to the King about it, for the Duke of Cumberland was
concerned in organising mobs to go down to Windsor to frighten
Lady Conyngham and the King, and the Horse Guards, who would
naturally have been called out to suppress any tumult, would not
have been disposable without the Duke of Cumberland's concurrence,
so much so that on one particular occasion, when the Kentish men
were to have gone to Windsor 20,000 strong, the Duke of Wellington
detained a regiment of light cavalry who were marching elsewhere,
that he might not be destitute of military aid. Before, however,
he did anything about this with the King ('I always,' he said, 'do
one thing at a time') his Majesty was taken ill and died.

On the accession of the present King the Duke of Cumberland
wished to continue the same system, which his Majesty was
resolved he should not, and he ordered that the colonels of the
regiments should take the Stick in rotation. He also ordered
(through Sir R. Peel) that Lord Combermere should command the
troops at the funeral as Gold Stick. This the Duke of Cumberland
resisted, and sent down orders to Lord Cathcart to assume the
command. The Duke of Wellington, however, represented to Lord
Cathcart that he had better do no such thing, as nobody could
disobey the King's orders gone through the Secretary of State,
and accordingly he did nothing. But the King was determined to
put an end to the pretensions of the Duke of Cumberland, and
spoke to the Duke on the subject, and said that he would have all
the regiments placed under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief.
The Duke recommended him to replace the matter in the state in
which it stood before the Duke of Cumberland's pretensions had
altered it, but he would not do this, and chose to abide by his
original intention; so the three regiments were placed under the
orders of the Horse Guards like the rest, and the Duke of
Cumberland in consequence resigned the command of the Blues.

August 3rd, 1830 {p.023}

[Page Head: WARDROBE OF GEORGE IV.]

Notwithstanding the above story, the King dined with the Duke of
Cumberland at Kew yesterday. I went yesterday to the sale of the
late King's wardrobe, which was numerous enough to fill Monmouth
Street, and sufficiently various and splendid for the wardrobe of
Drury Lane.