| Collection | Diaries, essays and notes of Queen Charlotte |
| Description | Measuring 7.8 cm x 11.4 cm, these diaries are more akin to pocket notebooks than their larger 1789 counterparts. The 1794 diaries continue to be factual accounts of Queen Charlotte's daily activities rather than a record of her thoughts and feelings. However, there are some key differences: weather is no longer recorded unless exceptionally bad, and notes are made on life outside the family circle. Typically, the day's activities are recorded on the right-hand page. The left-hand page records world events (particularly relating to the progress of the war) and society news (often births, marriages, or deaths). Sometimes events mentioned in the right-hand side of the diary will be expanded upon in the account on the left-hand side. This does mean that the two sides do not always correspond to the same day.
The King and Queen continue to divide their time between Windsor and London - in the Queen's case principally to attend Court in the Drawing Room at St James's Palace. The diaries typically list a selection of people that were presented to the Queen on the days she attends Court.
During January, the King and Queen spend equal amounts of time in both places. In February and May, the family regularly travel up to London on Mondays and returning to Windsor on Fridays attending the Drawing Room on Thursday afternoons. From March to Easter (20 April), Court is also held on Sunday afternoons seeing the family leaving London on Mondays and returning on Wednesdays. From June until the end of the year, the Queen and family travel to London roughly fortnightly spending only 2/3 days in London or later Kew before returning to Windsor. This is excepting the period from 15 August - 27 September when the Royal Family leave Windsor for an extended stay at Weymouth.
During their stays in London, the Royal Family stay at the Queen's House [now Buckingham Palace] until July. Thereafter they stay at Kew and travel into London before returning to home to the Lodge in Windsor |
| Custodial History | Transferred from the Royal Library, 1965 |