On this day, Louis XV writes to the Duke of Parma from Compiègne:
“My very dear grandson, the Duke of York has very singular eyes, and for the rest everyone was very pleased with him. He has left to go on a tour of the southern countries, but he assured me that he would be at Fontainebleau in October. I believe he will spend at least part of his winter in Paris, for he seems to me to be having a very good time in France. You must not despair of anything my dear grandson. You are still a bit young, but in a few years a trip to Spain and France could do you much good. With this agreeable idea, I embrace you very tenderly my dear grandson.”
Commentary:
Sadly, the Duke of York will not to make it to Fontainebleau in the autumn. He will not even make it to Italy. He will get only as far as Monaco, where his ship puts in when it is realized that the prince is too ill to continue on board all the way to Genoa, the intended port. He dies in the princely palace in Monte Carlo. The bedroom where he expires is still called “the Duke of York’s room.”
Pictured: Edward (1739-1767), Prince of Great Britain, Ireland, and Hanover, Duke of York and Albany, painted a few years before his death by Batoni.
The Duke of York is the next younger brother of George III. They have 2 younger brothers, the Dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland. Of them all, only George III and Gloucester have legitimate descendants. They also have 3 living sisters at this date. One of them is Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark, another is Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and the last is Princess Louisa, who is unmarried, and, like York, not long for this world. This brood are the offspring of the late Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Coburg-Gotha, now Dowager Princess of Wales.
Pictured: The family of Frederick, Prince of Wales, painted after his death in 1751 by George Knapton, later Surveyor of the King’s Pictures under George III. The Duke of York is at far left with the future George III seated next to him. Four of these children will be dead before 1770.
Ferdinand of Parma has expressed a wish to visit Spain and France, it seems. It will never happen. Grandfather and grandson are destined never to meet in person.
The translation from the French is my own.
If you have questions that I have not addressed in the commentary, please ask in the comments.
Was reading along, and based on the date of death, had thought it was Frederick who had died, not George II's eldest son. Thank you for explaining who was who.