86 therefore, of the matters thus alleged, and of "the course hitherto pursued upon them, we "deemed it proper, in the first place, to examine "those persons, in whose declarations, the oc"casion for this Inquiry had originated, because, "if they on being examined upon oath, had retracted, or varied from their assertions, all "necessity of further investigation might possibly "have been precluded. We accordingly first ex"amined on oath, the principal Informants, Sir "John Douglas, and Charlotte his wife, who both positively swore, the former to his having ob"served the fact of the pregnancy, of her Royal Highness, and the latter, to all the important particulars, contained in her former declaration, " and above referred to. Their examinations are "annexed to this Report, and are circumstantial "and positive. The most material of those allegations, into the truth of which we have been "directed to enquire, being thus far supported by the oath of the parties, from whom they had 'proceeded, we then felt it to be our duty, to "follow up the Inquiry, by the examination of "such other persons, as we judged best able to "afford us information as to the facts in question. "We thought it beyond all doubt, that in this course of Inquiry, many particulars must be "learnt, which would be necessarily conclusive 66 66 66 66 on the truth or falsehood of these declarations, "so many persons, must have been witnesses to "the appearance of an actually existing preg nancy; also, many circumstances must have "been attendant upon a real deliver and diffi 66 "culties so numerous and insurmountable, must "have been involved in any attempt to account "for the infant in question, as the child of another woman, if it had been in fact the child of the "Princess, that we entertained a full and confi"dent expectation of arriving at complete proof, "either in the affirmative or negative, on this part of the subject. 66 "This expectation was not disappointed. We are happy to declare to your Majesty, our per"fect conviction, that there is no foundation "whatever for believing, that the child now with "the Princess, is the child of her Royal Highness, or that she was delivered of any child, in the year 1802; nor has any thing appeared to us, "which would warrant the belief, that she was pregnant in that year, or at any period within "the compass of our Inquiries. 66 66 "The identity of the child now with the Princess, its parents, age, the place and the date of "its birth, the time, and the circumstances of its being first taken under her Royal Highness's "protection, are all established by such a concurrence, both of positive, and circumstantial "evidence, as can, in our judgment, leave no "question on this part of the subject. That 66 66 child was beyond all doubt, born in the Brownlow Street Hospital, on the 11th day of July, "1802, of the body of Sophia Austin; and was first brought to the Princess's House, in the month of November following. Neither should "we be more warranted, in expressing any doubt respecting the alleged pregnancy of the Prin 66 66 66 cess, as stated in the original declarations, a fact, so fully contradicted, and by so many witnesses, to whom, if true, it must in various ways be known, that we cannot think it en"titled to the smallest credit. The testimonies on these two points, are contained in the annexed depositions and letters. We have not partially abstracted them, in this Report, lest by any unintentional omission, we might weaken "their effect, but we humbly offer to your Majesty this, our clear and unanimous judgment upon them, formed upon full deliberation, and pronounced without hesitation, on the results "of the whole Inquiry. We do not, however, 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 feel ourselves at liberty, much as we should "wish it, to close our Report here. Besides the allegations of the pregnancy and delivery of the Princess, those declarations, on the whole of which, your Majesty has been pleased to com"mand us to enquire and Report, contain, as we have already remarked, other particulars respecting her Royal Highness, such as must, especially considering her exalted rank and station, necessarily give occasion to very unfavourable interpretations, from the various deposi"tions and proofs, annexed to this Report; particularly from the examinations of Robert Bidgood, William Cole, Frances Lloyd, and Mrs. Lisle; your Majesty will perceive, that "several strong circumstances of this description, "have been positively sworn to, by witnesses "who cannot, in our judgment, be suspected of "any unfavourable bias, and whose veracity, 66 66 "in this respect, we have seen no ground to question. 66 "On the precise bearing and effects of the "facts thus appearing, it is not for us to decide; "these we submit to your Majesty's wisdom; "but we conceive it to be our duty, to Report on "this part of the Inquiry, as distinctly as on the "former facts, that, as on the one hand, the facts of pregnancy and delivery, are to our minds. satisfactorily disproved: so on the other hand we think, that the circumstances to which we "now refer, particularly those stated to have passed between her Royal Highness and Cap“tain Manby, must be credited, until they shall "receive some decisive contradiction; and if true, 66 66 66 are justly entitled to the most serious consider"ation. We cannot close this Report, without humbly assuring your Majesty, that it was on every account our anxious wish, to have exe"cuted this delicate trust with as little publicity "as the nature of the case would possibly allow; "and we entreat your Majesty's permission to 66 express our full persuasion, that if this wish has been disappointed, the failure is not imputable "to any thing unnecessarily said or done by us, "all which is most humbly submitted to your It is not a little remarkable, that notwithstanding the nature of this Report, two days after its date, the Earl of Cholmondeley was examined, relative to the hand writing of the Princess of Wales, and as to his opinion, whether the anonymous letters, produced by Sir John and Lady Douglas, were written by the Princess. The Earl of Cholmondeley deposed, that he had seen the Princess of Wales write frequently, and thought he was perfectly acquainted with her manner of writing. On a letter marked (A) being produced to his Lordship, he said, this letter is not of the Princess's handwriting. A paper was produced to his Lordship marked (B) with a kind of drawing of Sir Sidney Smith and Lady Douglas. His Lordship said the paper appeared to him to be written in a disguised hand; some of the letters remarkably resembled the Princess's writing; but because of the disguise he could not say whether it was, or was not her Royal Highness's writing. On the cover being shown to his Lordship also marked (B) he gave the same answer. His Lordship was also shewn the cover marked (C), to which he answered, I do not see the same resemblance to the Princess's writing in this paper. Sworn July 16, 1806. On the 11th of August the Report of the Commissioners and the Depositions were communicated to the Princess of Wales. The next day the Princess wrote to the King denying the truth of the charges, and reminding his Majesty that the whole of the evidence was taken behind her |