‘Meanwhile, the marriage was being received with enthusiasm by the populace. In London there were illuminations, and joyous peals of church bells rang out through the night all over the country. Hopes of a future heir to the throne did something to lessen the Prince’s unpopularity, and the Princess of Wales became overnight a national heroine. As yet, she had scarcely been seen, but at Windsor, the Sunday after her marriage, she appeared for the first time as a member of the Royal Family. It was noticed that the Prince of Wales was not with her, either at St. George’s Chapel or on the first time or on the terrace of the Castle where the Family paraded after the service. But the King made up for it by offering her his arm with every appearance of pleasure. An onlooker thought her “genteel, & her face, exclusively of her exquisitely fine complexion…very pretty. She looked happy”. So, outwardly at least, the Princess of Wales gave the impression of being a radiant bride, and the King, animated and clearly gratified, demonstrated to the crowds that he was delighted with his son’s choice.
Indeed, it seemed that all the Royal Family were determined that the marriage should be a success. In May, Princess Elizabeth was writing to her brother of his wife’s “open character” and “perfect good temper”, and adding, perhaps a little condescendingly, “I flatter myself that you will have her turn out a very comfortable little wife.” “I am commissioned with loves, loves, loves from all sides,” she writes in July, “to you as well as the Princess.” And even the Queen unbent and sent her daughter some suckling pigs. “They are to be refreshed upon the road with milk so that they will be fit for killing immediately,& I hope they will prove to the Princess’s taste.” But by this time it was known that the Princess was pregnant.’
[an extract from ‘Prinny’s Daughter: A Biography of Princess Charlotte of Wales’ by Thea Home]
Princess Charlotte of Wales 