Coffin plate of 'injured Queen' Caroline of Brunswick for sale at Treasure House Fair

A silver coffin plate belonging to Caroline of Brunswick, who styled herself 'the injured Queen of England', will be sold at the Treasure House Fair at Chelsea Royal Hospital in London from 24-30 June, priced at £75,000. The plate was originally engraved by master silversmith Paul Storr in 1821, costing £25 17s 3d. It was twice wrenched off her coffin during her funeral in a battle between her supporters and King George IV's representatives. The official Latin plate described her as Queen Consort and glorified George IV, while also getting her age wrong (54 instead of 53). Caroline's plate was retrieved by a servant who hid it down his trousers; it remained with lawyer Stephen Lushington's family until sold at Christie's last year. Dealer Martyn Downer, who is selling the plate with a replica of Caroline's coffin, traced the plate's history and brought it back to St Peter's Church in Colchester, where her coffin once lay overnight. Caroline died in 1821, three weeks after being barred from George IV's coronation. Her marriage to George IV was notoriously unhappy, producing only one child, Princess Charlotte, who died in childbirth in 1817. Caroline is buried in Brunswick Cathedral, Germany.