[Rarebooks] fa: QUEEN CHARLOTTE (George III) - 1789 AUTOGRAPH LETTER re. WINDSOR UNIFORM & "DRESS WARS"

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, April 10. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/jlfxmuz

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA

QUEEN CHARLOTTE. Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg Strelitz (1744-1818), wife of King George III. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, signed "Charlotte. Windsor, the 21st of April 1789," to "My Lord," saying that she is "glad to see that the Duke & Duchess of Marlborough have been able to know their own mind. I think Lord Robert Fitzgerald may safely make the Windsor Uniform without my mentioning it to the King… for I saw the two Mrs[?] Phipps in it at the Play upon the Strength of their being invited." Single sheet, 4to, mounted, framed and glazed (frame size: 15" x 9 3/4"). Very Good condition; not examined out of frame.

A unique glimpse at the politics of dress during a tumultuous time in British history. "Windsor uniform," consisting of dark blue with red collar and cuffs, was (and remains) the officially prescribed form of dress of the British royal court. First established by George III in 1777, by the next decade the uniform had become a visual symbol of the political conflict between the king and his Tory ministers on the one hand, and the Prince of Wales and the Whigs on the other. In this "dress war," the Whigs adopted the colors buff and blue in opposition to the red and blue of the court and administration. At the time the queen's letter was written, April of 1789, tensions were particularly high: King George had just recovered from his first extended bout of madness, bringing an end to the Regency Crisis, in which the Prince and his Whig allies had come tantalizingly close to assuming power. London was erupting in a series of balls, levees, and receptions to celebrate the king's recovery, and who was seen where, wearing what, was of great political significance. The partisanship would only get worse with the coming of the French Revolution three months later. Quoting from this very letter in his book, Dressed to Rule: Royal and Court Costume from Louis XIV to Elizabeth II (Yale, 2005; p. 62), historian Philip Mansel notes that, "Even more than Marie Antoinette, Queen Charlotte became an active agent in dress politics."