This is a guest post written by Rosalind Freeborn, author of the book Prince George and Master Frederick, a historical novel which uncovers the life of Frederick Blomberg, the little boy who was adopted into the Georgian royal family by King George III and Queen Charlotte. Just what was this child's secret connection to the king? Read on to find out more.
In 1771 two little boys posed for their portraits at Richmond Lodge whilst the court artist, Richard Brompton sketched them in preparation for full size paintings, commissioned by Queen Charlotte. Prince George, Prince of Wales, future regent and King George IV is dressed in Garter robes and holds an elaborate hat trimmed with ostrich feathers. The other boy is Frederick Blomberg, the King’s ‘adopted son’, aged nine, who adopts a relaxed pose wearing a sumptuous rust-coloured outfit and holding the paw of his faithful greyhound.
Both boys wear the same cream-coloured shoes with pom-poms. The background behind Prince George features Windsor Castle and Frederick Blomberg’s backdrop is Buckingham House (before it was remodelled as a palace)
These two pictures appear on the front cover of my novel, Prince George and Master Frederick and they are, to me, the clearest evidence that little Frederick Blomberg, so often regarded as the ‘cuckoo’ in the royal household, was a much-loved child, given equal status with the princes and princesses, of the House of Hanover, yet historians barely ever mention him.
I was alerted to the life of Frederick Blomberg by my grandmother. She had grown up in an impressive house, Kirby Misperton Hall, close to Malton in Yorkshire which had, a century earlier, become the home of Frederick Blomberg. She was familiar with a small sketch of a child they referred to as Blomberg and, she assumed, must have been a member of our family. Her knowledge of him was sketchy but I remember asking her when I was 22 just what was his connection? The story she gave was that King George III, Farmer George, as he’d been known, had travelled around the English countryside as a young man, fallen in love with the beautiful daughter of a farmer, a baby had resulted and, to avoid a scandal, and get the girl out of trouble, his best friend and equerry, Major William Blomberg had married her and given the child a name.
So far, so familiar. There are plenty of examples of ‘accidental’ royal children throughout British history. And perhaps young Frederick Blomberg would have remained anonymous and grown up in a rural environment but for the fact that he became an orphan. His father, Major William Blomberg, died on active service in the Caribbean - British forces were stationed there to protect the American colonies from incursions by the French and Spanish. On the night he died, he appeared to his commanding officers as an apparition, exhorting them to seek out the child of his secret marriage (and gave the address) and also find a red morocco box containing documents detailing his inheritance – a valuable estate in Yorkshire. The soldiers duly returned to England, found Frederick living in the countryside and informed King George III. The King and Queen adopted Frederick when he was not quite four years old, summoning him to their home at Richmond Lodge to be a playmate for the then three-year-old Prince George.
It’s a remarkable story of kind-hearted adoption but, to my mind, it indicates that this child had a far closer connection to the king than was ever admitted. Most tellingly, many contemporary commentators on Blomberg’s presence within the royal household mention how very similar the boys looked. And, after researching Frederick’s life, and his closeness to the royal family, I am convinced that he was not only the King’s firstborn, secret son, but he also became a lifelong friend and confidante of his half-brother, Prince George.
Sifting through newspaper and magazine articles of the day, as well as guest lists of set-piece royal events, to research the story, I discovered that Frederick was very often ‘in the room where it happened’. Having been educated, first, within the royal nursery at Richmond Lodge, he moved, with the other four royal Princes: George, Frederick William and Edward to Kew Palace which was renamed the Princes House for what sounds like a pretty brutal teaching regime with frequent beatings. Later, the King paid for Frederick to go to St John’s College, Cambridge to study divinity, he was ordained at Ely (a familiar career choice for the ‘spare’ sons of aristocratic families) and then granted some very lucrative livings in Somerset giving him a pleasant place to live, a good income and status. But, in 1784 he was also appointed chaplain to the royal family who had relocated to Windsor Castle and was also private secretary to Prince George. Frederick was very much back within his royal family and remained close to them throughout his long life.
There’s so much more to his story – and you’ll have to read my novel to find out what happened! But, here’s a little postscript. Last year, King Charles III purchased a drawing of Frederick Blomberg, aged seven, for the Royal Collection Trust. The portrait had been made as part of a set of all the royal children, commissioned by Queen Charlotte from the court artist, Hugh Douglas Hamilton. It’s on their website now. This was the very portrait my grandmother used to see on the wall of her home in Yorkshire and gave us the family story of some connection with King George III. It delights me to know that Frederick is back with his royal family again, safely tucked up in a box with the other portraits of his siblings in the Print Room at Windsor Castle.
Prince George and Master Frederick by Rosalind Freeborn, published by Alliance Publishing Press. Available on Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible and from bookshops. ISBN 9781838259853.
Author website: www.rosalind-freeborn.com
You might also like: The Daughters of George III and The Women of Bedlam.
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