Did it Really…?
Did somebody really try to kill George II when he was still Prince of Wales?
George II gets overlooked a lot as a do-nothing king, but when he was a prince, he and Princess Caroline were both very popular. With most people. Most of the time. There was this once though…
HISTORICAL SPOILER ALERT!!!!
“Towards the end of September 1716 he made a progress from Hampton Court to Portsmouth, distributing largess copiously all the way, held a review of the troops and inspected the ships at Portsmouth, and was everywhere received with the utmost enthusiasm. He increased his popularity by his energy in superintending the suppression of a fire at Spring Gardens on 3 December, to which he walked from St. James’s Palace in the early morning. He displayed great coolness a few days later at Drury Lane Theatre, when an assassin attempted to enter his box with a loaded pistol, and was only secured after taking the life of the guard in attendance.”
— Dr. Marjorie Bloy, “A Web of English History” quoting James McMullen Rugg, 1889 —
Yes, “Careless” Mary Bellenden’s is real too. As annoying as it is to have a Molly and a Mary to keep straight, there wasn’t a lot I could do about it. Mary apparently regularly stole the show with her appearance, and her behavior. She certainly had the eye of the gentlemen poets of the day