Dissecting a right royal mystery with strong Brighton connections

Prince George & Master Frederick is released through Alliance Publishing Press at £15, available from bookshops, on Amazon and via the author’s website: www.rosalind-freeborn.com.

Rosalind, aged 70, said: “The book explores an intriguing royal mystery. Was the orphan boy adopted by King George III and Queen Charlotte in 1765 really the king’s secret son? I believe I have found the answer – yes, he was.

“Following up a story that my family was, in some way, connected to King George III, I decided to research the claim. Discovering the life of Frederick Blomberg, the child who was adopted by the King and Queen when he was only four and brought up as a prince, was so compelling that I simply had to write this book. The title reflects the close friendship between Prince George, future Regent and King George IV and his adopted brother, Frederick Blomberg.

“Some of the action in the book takes place in Brighton and, naturally, features the Royal Pavilion. However, I uncovered an interesting story in the local paper from April 1817 which illustrates just how much the Prince Regent cared for his half-brother, Frederick Blomberg. Whilst out riding on West Cliff, a horse bucked and kicked Frederick Blomberg, breaking his leg in two places. The Prince Regent was frantic and summoned the best surgeons in the county to tend his injuries. Frederick convalesced at the Pavilion.

“There is a further Brighton connection. After Frederick Blomberg’s death, his niece, and heir, Anna-Maria Newbery bought a house in Brunswick Square (number 36) and lived there for the rest of her life. Her husband, George Newbery belonged to the illustrious Newbery family of Sussex. They also owned a fabulous portrait of Frederick painted by court artist Richard Brompton. It was painted as a companion portrait to one of Prince George which now hangs in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace. The two portraits are on the front cover of my book.

“And there’s a further fascinating visual clue to Frederick Blomberg’s place as a royal boy. King Charles III recently purchased a portrait for the Royal Collection. It’s a sketch of Frederick Blomberg which was made by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, along with all the other royal children in 1769. This very picture once hung on the wall of my grandmother’s home and she thought that Frederick must have been a relation. It pleases me to know that Frederick’s portrait is now tucked up safely in a box in the Print Room at Windsor Castle with the rest of his royal family.”

In the book, Rosalind, who lives in Muswell Hill in North London, offers the tale of King George III’s “secret firstborn son”: “Very little is known about him but, in my book, Prince George & Master Frederick, I’ve researched the true life story of Master Frederick Blomberg. He was the little boy who, at nearly four years old, was bundled into a carriage and taken from his rural home to live with the King George III, Queen Charlotte and the Royal Family at Richmond Palace to be a playmate to the then three-year-old Prince George, future regent and King George IV.

“Historians and royal biographers hardly ever mention Frederick yet, if you start looking for him in newspapers and magazines of the day you will find him, often ‘in the room where it happened’ and hiding in plain sight as an important and influential character in Georgian royal history.

“Many commentators of the day expressed their surprise at the likeness between the King, Prince George and Master Frederick. There would have been much speculation at the time about why the King and Queen decided to adopt him. His origins were shrouded in mystery. But the story was, the King had been close friends with Major William Blomberg, Frederick’s father and, on his death, decided to take on the orphan child. In my book, I reveal that there was much more to the story.

“One of the elements which clinched my belief that Frederick was the firstborn (illegitimate) son of the King is that he was treated so well. And also, Queen Charlotte clearly loved him. She commissioned portraits of all her sons in 1769 and included one of Frederick. It was this sketch, made by the court artist Hugh Douglas Hamilton, which hung on the wall of my grandmother’s home and made her believe that he was a relation.”