The origin of this lady gives a glimpse of another romance. Her mother
was an exceedingly beautiful lady, the daughter of a tradesman, and she
became the wife of the Earl of Berkeley.
Fanny Kemble writes of the Countess in terms of admiration; but alludes
to the marriage with the addition of the phrase ("by courtesy") and how,
on being presented at Court she was frowned at by Queen Charlotte,
though George III. did not share the unfavourable sentiments entertained
by his wife.
The marriage with the Earl was the subject of a _cause celebre_ before
the House of Lords, with the result that the ceremony was held to be
illegal, which thus affected the position of Miss A.M. Berkeley.
Mrs. Margaret Jane Louise Hamilton, a widow lady, the daughter of Mr.
Robert Lennox Stuart, made a startling statement which was widely
reported in the newspapers at the time that the Druce case assumed a
new aspect in 1903. She said that she had been told the details of the
death of Lord George Bentinck by her father, who was an eye-witness of
the quarrel--if quarrel there was.
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