George, Prince of Wales became Regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on the 6th February 1811 and, although initially restricted, it finally provided him with an official role. Under the terms of the Regency Act, 1811, the Prince would ‘assist the King’ having ‘full power and authority in the name and on behalf of His Majesty’. However this duty came with conditions: the Regency would be terminated when the King was restored to health; he was required to swear allegiance to the King; relinquish the care of the King and the King’s household to the Queen (for which a Queen’s council would be appointed); and that his own powers would be restricted until February 1812. Ultimately the Act bestowed responsibility upon the Prince without executive power, a situation noticeable within the correspondence where letters received do not usually ask for his advice or opinion, but merely keep him informed of affairs, or simply request him to sign and return their enclosures.

For a large proportion of these papers this is the first time they have been made widely available (it is estimated as many as 60% have not previously been published), although scholars have been able to access the original material by visiting the Royal Archives. Currently the papers comprising the first year of Regency, 1811- 1813, have been published, with subsequent years to be made available as the Georgian Papers Programme progresses.

These papers reveal little of the Prince’s own thoughts and beliefs, due to the majority being written to rather than by him, but despite this lack of insight they are a rich source of information he was privy to, such as parliamentary reports, treasury papers, and military intelligence, especially in relation to the Napoleonic Wars. One prevalent correspondent in terms of foreign affairs is the Duke of Northumberland, and in one letter sent to Colonel McMahon (the Prince’s Private Secretary), dated 9th April 1811, the Duke writes that Lord Wellington was ‘so close to Napoleon, that he may attack him when he pleases; which will probably be during Napoleon’s attempt to cross the Alva’. This meeting (which had already taken place at the time of writing) was, as Northumberland predicted, a great success for Wellington.

In addition to intelligence, George III’s health is unsurprisingly a regular topic of discussion, as his recovery would lead to a termination of the Regency. These documents, often showcasing the confusion and concern around the King’s condition, include letters from the King’s ministers and physician’s medical reports. However, due to a worsening of the King’s condition in July 1811 the question of when the King might recover was abandoned. In a letter that same month to Colonel McMahon, Lord St. Vincent stated it was ‘evident that the physicians despair of restoring mental faculties’ and that ‘the state of the patient is truly lamentable’. This was supported by a statement given by the physician Matthew Baillie during his examination by committee on I0 January 1812. Interestingly none of the physicians interrogated would admit to the King’s case being ‘hopeless’, and all felt that although his mind was afflicted he could still live a long life (GEO/MAIN/19079-19095).

The state of the King’s health understandably impacted upon the government. The Prince did not wish to alter his father’s ministers whilst it was still thought the King could recover, and the correspondence showcases the ever-present uncertainty surrounding the issue, particularly in relation to what form the government would take after the end of the restricted regency. This complex issue was not aided by the Prince’s strained political relations. In an attempt at political neutrality after the death of Charles James Fox in 1806 he had distanced himself from his former political allies, the Whigs, but had also continued to withhold his confidence from the Tories, leading to the alienation of both.

The confusion regarding political allegiances was closely intertwined with the issue of Ireland, which features heavily within the papers. James Willoughby Gordon believed that the government ministers ‘use their situations, and power, wholly to support the King, arising from His Majesty’s conscientious opposition to the Catholick Petition’. Since the Prince had, before his self-imposed neutrality, been a supporter of the Petition, Gordon thought he ‘stands between these two parties, as the arbiter upon the Catholick Question’ and, ‘if he rejects it, he draws upon him… the united hostility of his former friends’.

By November 1811 the question transfixing the kingdom was what would happen after the regency restrictions ended. James Willoughby Gordon voiced these concerns to Colonel McMahon, writing ‘What will the Prince do when he has full power? will he change the government? - will he abandon his old friends, and will he concede anything to the Catholicks?’.

The Prince’s position became clear in the final days of the restricted Regency with his admission of support for the Catholic Relief Bill, but this did not mean the measure could be passed and actively supported. The Prince declared that as he was acting on behalf of the King (who did not support the Bill believing it to be in conflict with his oath) the matter would have to be postponed until he reigned in his own right. This was perceived as an increasing allegiance, and alignment of ideas, with the existing government. Nevertheless the Prince still strove to avoid being partial to either political party and to create a cohesive coalition. He offered government positions to Charles Grey and William Grenville, but their refusal made it necessary to abandon this idea and continue with the existing government.

The correspondence from the first months of 1812 demonstrate the mixed emotions surrounding the Prince Regent and his chosen government. One who embraced the new state of affairs was the Duke of Northumberland who wrote a letter of congratulations to the Prince on 18 February 1812 stating ‘the goodness of your heart, & the superiority of your understanding cannot fail, sir, to ensure happiness to the people, who live under your government’. However Lord Moira was less optimistic, voicing his disappointment at the Prince’s abandonment of his Whig supporters in favour of the Tory government, writing ‘it grieves me to the soul’ the ‘unexplained departure from all those principals which you have so long professed’. Irrespective of the diverse public opinion the unrestricted regency began on the 17th February and it fell to the Prince Regent and Spencer Perceval to navigate this new era together.

The Prime Minister Spencer Perceval led the Tory government until his assassination at the Houses of Parliament on the 11 May 1812. The document detailing the indictment of John Bellingham for the Prime Minister’s murder, entitled ‘The King verses John Bellingham, 15th May 1812’, can be found within the official papers and includes witness testimonies, verdict, and Bellingham’s sentence. After Perceval’s death a period of uncertainty ensued, which is reflected by the extensive correspondence deliberating upon the form of the new administration, including Lord Wellesley’s letter to the Prince Regent in late May which touched upon the ever present subjects of the Napoleonic Wars and the Catholic Question. This uncertainty lasted until the 8 June 1812 when the 2nd Earl of Liverpool was appointment Prime Minster, a position he held until 1827, providing a point of stability throughout the Regency.

During the first half of the Regency war raged on the continent until Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated in April 1814 and sent to Elba. This collection comprises a vast quantity of papers relating to the Napoleonic Wars; one describes chaperoning Napoleon to Elba, stating that at one point stones were thrown at his carriage and that it was unsafe to change horses in the French villages. However, Napoleon’s escape in 1815 recommenced the fighting, an event which the Queen of Württemberg, the Prince Regent’s sister, described as throwing ‘The whole continent’ into ‘a state of distress’. In July 1815, after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington wrote to the Prince Regent stating that he hoped they could bring affairs to the ‘conclusion most wished for’ ‘without a farther effusion of blood’ and that if so ‘your Royal Highness will again have saved the world’. Once affairs had concluded Napoleon was sent to St. Helena to avoid a repeat escape.

Throughout the Regency, the Prince Regent’s unpopularity increased. This was in part due to public perception he was responsible for the government’s strict measures to counter outbreaks of violence, such as the event at St. Peter’s Field.

In addition to war and public opinion, Princess Charlotte of Wales, the Prince’s only daughter, presented further issues during the Regency, including the arrangement of a suitable marriage for the future queen. After a failed engagement to William, Hereditary Prince of Orange, in 1814, she wed Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in May 1816. This collection holds various letters regarding these arrangements, including a memorandum of Lord Castlereagh’s meeting with the Prince of Orange, a proposed meeting between Prince Leopold and the Prince Regent, and the allowance for married Princess. However, in November in 1817 the sudden death of Princess Charlotte in childbirth, along with her stillborn son, would present another concern for The Prince Regent, that of a successor. Not desiring anymore children of his own, he passed this responsibility to his numerous brothers, who scrambled to marry and produce legitimate heirs.

The Regency ended on 29 January 1820 with the death of George III, and George IV’s first address to Parliament as King announced the death of his father. Even though he was now the Sovereign his powers did not alter drastically from those as Regent, but the change in his position led to the re-emergence of difficulties with his estranged wife Caroline, who had been on the continent since 1814. Wishing to claim her rights as Queen, Caroline returned to Britain, but the King, refusing to acknowledge her as consort, hoped to gain a divorce. This hope was eventually deemed undesirable as it would bring to light, not only her offences, but George IV’s own discretions. Instead a Bill of Pains and Penalties was drawn up and presented to the House of Lords on 7 August 1820. After the Bill’s hearings it was withdrawn as, with a vote of 70-71, it was feared it would not pass through the House of Commons, especially as sympathetic crowds gathered outside cheering for the Queen. This concern led Lord Sidmouth to report in September on the public feeling regarding the Queen’s trial. The decision to abandon the Bill left George IV in the undesirable situation of being married but unwilling to acknowledge his wife as Queen. His Coronation on 19 July 1821 at Westminster Abbey (of which the ceremony booklet can be found within this collection) demonstrated his determination to exclude Caroline from his life, as her entry was barred and she was turned away from the Abbey amidst jeering crowds. Conveniently for George IV, Caroline died a few weeks later on 7 August, removing the issue of her claim for the remainder his reign.