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San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
Compiegne (France). Edward Augustus, Prince, Duke of York & Albany, 1739-1767. Letter to Charles Sloane Cadogan, Earl Cadogan
- Description
- The core of this small collection consists of letters addressed to Cadogan reporting or justifying various expenditures made during the Prince's European travels between 1763 and 1767. The chief correspondents are Edward Augustus himself (9 letters), his Groom of the Bedchamber Colonel (later General) Henry St. John of Rockley, Wiltshire (32 letters), his Master of the Horse Colonel Sir William Boothby, Baronet, of Ashbourne Hall Derbyshire (10 letters), his equerry Colonel George Morrison (2 letters), and his younger brother Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1 letter only). There are passing references to travel plans, people met, and social entertainments attended, but little descriptive or other substantive comment about the pasing countryside or individual cities. The overall impression given is one of a small, informal, extravagant, and pleasure-loving royal party, well entertained by social events given in their honor, by romantic encounters with local ladies, and in one instance at least (when dining with the Duc de Villars in 1767) by homosexual propositions. Only Morrison's two letters from September 1767 can be considered descriptive travel accounts in the conventional sense. St. John provides much detail about the Prince's final illness and death and the mourning ceremonies in Monaco. Boothby and the Prince occasionally send directions concerning horses in England. In most cases the amounts of reported expenditures are summary totals only, with very few specific expenses explained. The Prince and his attendants constantly complained of their limited allowance from King and Parliament and pressed Cadogan to obtain an increase in the royal stipend.
