image id: ps_cps_cd3_044
Charles Williams (fl. 1797–1830)
Is Not She a Spunky One—or The Princess and the Bishop
Engraving
London: J. Johnston, April 1816
NYPL, The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle
Charles Williams's 1816 print satirizes the famous flight of Princess Charlotte,
heir apparent to the English throne and the only child of the future George
IV and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, after her father tried to force her
to marry against her better judgment. Her elderly tutor, the Bishop of Exeter,
is no match for her agility. Charlotte did not actually run to a ship, and
was soon returned to Kensington Palace, but she held her ground and finally
met, in Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, a man who was suitable to both her and
her family.
