At six the Duchess woke up her daughter, and told her that the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were there, and wished to see her.

She got out of bed, put on her dressing-gown, and went, alone, into the room where the messengers were standing.

Lord Conyngham fell on his knees, and officially announced the death of the King; the Archbishop added some personal details.

Looking at the bending, murmuring dignitaries before her, she knew that she was Queen of England.

"Since it has pleased Providence," she wrote that day in her journal, "to place me in this station, I shall do my utmost to fulfil my duty towards my country; I am very young, and perhaps in many, though not in all things, inexperienced, but I am sure, that very few have more real good will and more real desire to do what is fit and right than I have." But there was scant time for resolutions and reflections.