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Show TWO ROYAL LOVERS. The Princess Mary has a lover in her cousin Prince William, the only son of the King's brother, the Duke of Gloucester. They were of the same age, and early destined for one another. Growing up with this understanding, they seem quite readily to have fallen in love, and here at least a marriage, and a happy one appeared to be in prospect. So stood the affair, when the appearance of little Charlotte on the scene overturned such a romantic plan. To provide a husband for the heir to the throne was of the first importance, and the Princess Mary could wait or go without one altogether. For Prince William must remain single now until the little Charlotte is grown, incase no suitable wooer can be procured for her, she may find a match in her cousin! Prince William went to Cambridge, distinguished himself in the army in Flanders, and was in every way worth of the interest and affection the princess Mary gave him. They were twenty-one when the Princess Charlotte was born, and for twenty years from this time they must wait before they can be united. Poor princely lovers! All overclouded and uncertain is your destiny now in '96, with a long future before you in which it lies undermined. And little Charlotte, unconscious of the heartaches she is causing, grows like here handsome father, and is very forward in her understanding, as Hannah More tells us a few years later. She shows off her little accomplishments, dances for Hannah and the Bishop of London, repeats the "little Busy Bee," and sings in sweet childish treble, "God save the King." Madame D'Arblay descries an assembly at the Queens palace in 1814, when the foreign princes are entertained-the Emperor of Russia, the Prussian princes, six in number. Here also are our own royal Dukes, with the Princesses Augusta and Mary. The Princess Amelia was no more, and the King, though living had ceased to reign. A new star had fairly emerged above the horizon, and all England's hopes were centered on the young Princess Charlotte. Madame D'Arblay is ready with her homage: "The Princess Charlotte looked quite beautiful. She is wonderfully improved. It was impossible not to be struck with her personal attractions, her youth, and splendor." And where is the fairy prince who is to marry this paragon? Poor [paper torn] lover has been waiting all these [paper torn] in case he should be [paper torn] now there is hope for Mary [paper torn] of Orange [line obliterated by fold] Charlotte. Then Mary's sky is s [paper torn] overclouded, for this match will not come off. At length all suspense is over. The fairy prince arrives in the person of Prince Leopold, and our patient, dutiful pair are to be rewarded at last. Miss Martineau, in her sketch of the Duchess of Gloucester, writes that "when Princess Charlotte descended the staircase at Carleton House, after the ceremony, she was met with open arms, and face bathed in tears." In a few weeks after this marriage Princess Mary became Duchess of Gloucester. Her wedding was, we may be sure, and affecting one. Lord Eldon, it was said, was moved to tears on the occasion. He was an ardent admirer of our princess, and enjoyed telling it as a joke that Queen Charlotte used to accuse him of flirting with her daughter Mary,-K.M. ROWLAND, in Harper's Magazine |