| Collection | Diaries, essays and notes of Queen Charlotte |
| Description | This diary is a factual account of Queen Charlotte's daily activities rather than a record of her thoughts and feelings. The diary has been catalogued to pick out key events or interesting entries as such not every day has an entry recorded below although Queen Charlotte has typically recorded each day in the diary.
This diary sees the Royal Family splitting their time between Windsor and London as follows: Windsor, 15 - 16 April; London, 17 - 20 April; Windsor, 21 - 30 April; London, 1 - 2 May; Windsor, 3 - 5 May; London, 6 - 9 May; Windsor, 10 - 12 May; London, 13 - 17 May; Windsor, 18 - 19 May; London, 20 - 23 May; Windsor, 24 - 26 May; London, 27 - 30 May; Windsor, 31 May - 2 Jun; London, 3 - 6 June; Windsor, 7 - 18 June.
Due to Charlotte's sometimes idiosyncratic spellings and to enable greater discoverability, the names of people and places have been corrected and expanded in square brackets using the published edition of the diaries (see below) which contains further notes on people, places, and events mentioned.
19 April (f 3 v, f 5 r)- visit to Kew; visit from Lady Howe, Lady Charlotte Curzon and family; sees kangaroos; returns to London
23 April (f 4 v, f 5 v, f 7 r) - goes to [Hurst] Lake 'in the Great Park to have a net drawn'; visit to Flemish Farm in the Great Park 'where we had a Cold Collation'; goes to Frogmore. Arrival of the Duchess of York, General Grenville, and General de Budé
25 April (f 5 v, f 6 v, f 9 r) - birthday of Princess Mary. Visit to Sir George Howard and Lady Frances Howard at Stoke; visit from the Duke of Clarence; walks on the Terrace
26 April (f 6 v, f 9 r, f 10 r) - visit to Frogmore with the Duke of Clarence; visit from Mr Price and Dr [Hugh Davies]
27 April (f 6 v, f 10 r, f 11 r) - goes to the Cathedral; 'Church being over we looked at the New Painted Window in the Cathedral just put up, The design by [Benjamin] West, executed by [Charles Forrest]'; visit to Frogmore
29 April (f 7 v, f 8 v, f 11 r, f 12 r) - King goes hunting for the last time this season; visit to [Holly Grove] and sees Lady Jennings[-Clerke], [Anne Duncombe née Jennings-Clerke], [Frances Duncombe], and Lady Bulkley
30 April (f 12 r, f 13 r) - leaves Windsor for London; visit from Field Marshal Freytag and Lord Harcourt; visit from the Duke of Gloucester and Princess Sophia; visit from the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Clarence; sits for picture; goes to 'the Antient Concert under the direction of Lrd Uxbridge for Lrd Fitzwilliam, & our Music begun with the Te Deum on account of the good news from Flanders'
2 May (f 8 v, f 14 r) - visit from Mr [?Henry] Dundas; leaves London for Windsor; visit from Lady Cremorne
3 May (f 8 v, f 14 r, f 15 r)- visits to Frogmore; visit to Clay Hall near Old Windsor
6 May (f 9 v, f 10 v, f 16 r, f 17 r) - visit to Oatlands to see the Duchess of York; walks to Mr [Henry William] Bunbury's house
7 May (f 17 r)- visit from Lady Harcourt; visit from the Duke of Clarence; goes to 'the Antient Concert under the direction of the Duke of Leeds for Lrd Malden'
10 May (f 19 r) - visit to Frogmore; sees the Reverend Mr [Christopher] Alderson
12 May (f 14 v, f 15 v, f 20 r, f 21 r)- leaves Windsor for London; visit from Lady Harrington and her daughters. Note on 'seditious' Corresponding Societies. 'last Night was reported that the Expedition Packet from lisbon was taken by a French Privateer, Ldy Ann [Fitzroy] & Her Brother Mr [Henry] Wesley were on board of this Packet'
14 May (f 15 v, f 16 v, f 17 v, f 22 r, f 23 r) - visit to Mr [George] Pocock's house in Charles Street accompanied by Lady Sidney and Lady Frances Howard; visit from the Duke of Clarence; goes to 'the last Antient Concert of this year under the direction of Lrd Grey de Wilton'. List of those returned to the House of Commons Committee 'to take into Consideration the Papers from different Seditious Societies'
17 May (f 21 v, f 25 r, f 26 r) - leaves London for Windsor; visit to Frogmore; Lady Caroline Waldegrave dines. Sees the Colours taken by the Duke of York in Flanders
19 May (f 22 v, f 26 r, f 27 r, f 28 r) - Queen Charlotte's birthday. Observes feu de joie from the Terrace with the Princesses - the King, the Prince of Wales, and the Spanish Ambassador [Bernardodel Campo y pérez de la Serna] observe from the Park; breakfasts at Frogmore; leaves Windsor for London; visit from the Duke of Clarence; visit from Field Marshal Freytag; visit from the Prince of Wales; attends Ball
21 May (f 29 r) - visit from Lady Harcourt; visit from Lady [Elizabeth Courtenay] and family
23 May (f 26 v, f 30 r, f 31 r) - leaves London for Windsor; arrival of Lady Bulkley
24 May (f 26 v, f 27 v, f 31 r, f 32 r) - visit to Frogmore and meeting with Mr Price; visit from Lady Dashwood
28 May (f 28 v, f 35 r, f 36 r) - visit from [Peltro William] Tomkins the engraver; 'then I saw Duval the Jeweller, then [John Chamberlaine] with a new Number of Holbeins prints'; airing; visits from the Prince of Wales and Lady Harcourt
29 May (f 28 v, f 36 r, f 37 r) - visit from Lord Effingham; goes to St James's; visit from the Duke of Gloucester and Princess Sophia; returns to the Queen's House
30 May (f 28 v, f 29 v, f 37 r, f 38 r) - visit to Lord Ailesbury at Seymor Place to breakfast; leaves for Windsor; arrival of Lady Howe
3 June (f 40 r) - visit from M Duval; visit from Lady Cremorne; 'Madame Beauvais came with Our Birth day Gowns'; goes to the opera 'in order to hear the Famous Singer [Brigida Giorgi] Banti'
4 June (f 30 v, f 41 r) - George III's birthday. Prince of Wales and Duke of Clarence come to breakfast; visit from the Duke of Gloucester and his daughter; goes to St James's; visit from the Bishop; 'saw the procession of the Mail Coaches'; dines at St James's; goes to Ballroom; returns to Queen's House
5 June (f 41 r, f 42 r) - goes to 'St [Margaret's] Church to hear the Messiah performed for the Benefit of the Decayed Musician[s]'; visit from Field Marshal Freytag
6 June (f 31 v, f 42 r, f 43 r) - goes 'to the Exhibition at Somerset House'; visit from Lady Bath and the Duke of Clarence; leaves London 'for good'; arrives Windsor
7 June (f 31 v, f 32 v, f 43 r, f 44 r) - visit to Frogmore; visit from Lady Dashwood; visit to Frogmore 'where I found a new building begun at the end of the Barccan by the [King's] order'
8 June (f 44 r) - goes to Cathedral; reads [Blair's] Sermons; visit from Count Kielmanseg and Monsieur [Christian Friedrich Wilhelm, Freiherr von] Ompteda; walks on Terrace |
| Custodial History | Transferred from the Royal Library, 1965 |