June 9th, 1820
THE QUEEN’S RETURN. Brougham’s speech on Wednesday is said by his friends to have been one of the best that was ever made, and I think all agree that it was good and effective. The House of Commons is evidently anxious to get rid of the question if possible, for the moment Wilberforce expressed a wish to adjourn the county members rose one after another and so strongly concurred in that wish that Castlereagh was obliged to consent. The mob have been breaking windows in all parts of the town and pelting those who would not take off their hats as they passed Wood’s door. Last night Lord Exmouth’s house was assaulted and his windows broken, when he rushed out armed with sword and pistol and drove away the mob. Frederick Ponsonby saw him. Great sums of money have been won and lost on the Queen’s return, for there was much betting at the clubs. The alderman showed a specimen of his taste as he came into London; when the Queen’s coach passed Carlton House he stood up and gave three cheers.
It is odd enough Lady Hertford’s windows have been broken to pieces and the frames driven in, while no assault has been made on Lady Conyngham’s. Somebody asked Lady Hertford ‘if she had been aware of the King’s admiration for Lady Conyngham,’ and ‘whether he had ever talked to her about Lady C.’ She replied that ‘intimately as she had known the King, and openly as he had always talked to her upon every subject, he had never ventured to speak to her upon that of his mistresses.’