Of the daughters of George II. and Queen Caroline, Anne, the eldest, was married at St. James’s to the Prince of Orange, November, 1733, urged to the alliance by her desire for power, and answering to her parents, when they reminded her of the hideous and ungainly appearance of the bridegroom, “I would marry him, even if he were a baboon!” The marriage, however, was a happy one, and a pleasant contrast to that of her younger sister Mary, the king’s fourth daughter, who was married here to the brutal Frederick of Hesse Cassel, June 14, 1771.  The third daughter, Caroline, died at St. James’s, December 28, 1757, after a long seclusion consequent upon the death of John, Lord Harvey, to whom she was passionately attached.

George I. and George II. used, on certain days to play at Hazard at the grooms’ postern at St. James’s, and the name “Hells,” as applied to modern gaming-houses is derived from that given to the gloomy room used by the royal gamblers.

The northern part of the palace, beyond the gateway (inhabited in the reign of Victoria by the Duchess of Cambridge), was built for the marriage of Frederick Prince of Wales.

The State Apartments (which those who frequent levees and drawing-rooms have abundant opportunities of surveying) are handsome, and contain a number of good royal portraits.

The Chapel Royal, on the right on entering the “Color Court,” has a carved and painted ceiling of 1540.  Madame d’Arblay describes the pertinacity of George III. in attending service here in bitter November weather, when the queen and court at length left the king, his chaplain, and equerry “to freeze it out together."...

When Queen Caroline (wife of George II.) asked Mr. Whiston what fault people had to find with her conduct, he replied that the fault they most complained of was her habit of talking in chapel.  She promised amendment, but proceeding to ask what other faults were objected to her, he replied, “When your Majesty has amended this I’ll tell you of the next.”

It was in this chapel that the colors taken from James II. at the Battle of the Boyne were hung up by his daughter Mary, an unnatural exhibition of triumph which shocked the Londoners.  Besides that of Queen Anne, a number of royal marriages have been solemnized here; those of the daughters of George II., of Frederick Prince of Wales to Augusta of Saxe Cobourg, of George IV. to Caroline of Brunswick, and of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert.

The Garden at the back of St. James’s Palace has a private entrance to the Park.  It was as he was alighting from his carriage here, August 2, 1786, that George III. was attacked with a knife by the insane Margaret Nicholson.  “The bystanders were proceeding to wreak summary vengeance on the (would-be) assassin, when the King generously interfered in her behalf.  ‘The poor creature,’ he exclaimed, ’is mad:  do not hurt her; she has not hurt me.’  He then stept forward and showed himself to the populace, assuring them that he was safe and uninjured.”