KING GEORGE IV VS CAROLINE OF BRUNSWICK

Well before Charles and Diana’s modern marital feud, George and Caroline had already raised couple dramas to an art form.

Caroline and George became engaged in 1794, but didn’t meet until just days before their wedding. He couldn’t stand the sight of her and claimed to be disgusted by her looks, body odour and Germanic manners. The dislike was completely mutual.

They spent just two nights together but, miraculously, conceived a child, Princess Charlotte. Shortly after her birth, George wrote to Caroline detailing the terms of their separation.

In 1811 George became Prince Regent due to the mental incapacity of his father, King George III. Standing in as Britain’s ruler, George was extravagant and unpopular with the public – and particularly with his wife, who he had by then banished to mainland Europe.

When King George III died, the feuding couple became King and Queen – and George’s spite against his wife only increased. Clergymen were instructed not to mention the Queen in Sunday prayers, and he was determined not to have Caroline at his coronation – even though she herself was becoming Queen!

At 6am on coronation day, Caroline arrived at the abbey and was greeted with public applause. Turned away by the King’s guards (he had hired 20 professional boxers as security!), she tried to get in through a side door but was foiled. Nearby crowds shouted, ‘Shame! Shame!’

Caroline died less than three weeks later. The new King’s popularity never recovered from his marital feud, but she had garnered support for women’s rights.