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 Caroline a royal decree; 18 July 1771 he was made cabinet minister, and his orders were declared to have the same validity as if signed by the king; 22 July—the queen's birthday—he and Brandt were created counts. His administration met with universal obloquy. The queen shared his unpopularity, partly because he gave every possible publicity to her regard for him, which was the best security of his position, partly because her conduct seemed to furnish a strange comment on the spirit of her favourite's reforms. There seems indeed to have been little truth in the rumour as to the extraordinary license prevailing at her court. But the sovereigns were completely surrounded by Struensee's creatures, who belonged as a rule to his own class; the court, says Reverdil (271), who returned to Denmark about midsummer, had the air of servants in a respectable house sitting down to table in the absence of their masters. Struensee's attempts at retrenchment in court expenditure were counterbalanced by the extravagance of Brandt; and on one occasion which became notorious the queen seems to have shared with them in a gift from the royal treasury (Wiwet's indictment ap., 278-9). Reverdil found the king, whose condition was already near to imbecility, willing to allow the queen to conduct herself with the most open familiarity towards her favourite (260). Shrewd observers thought that the latter occasionally exhibited indifference towards the advances of the queen (ap., 184); but he well knew that her support was indispensable to him. Colonel (afterwards Sir Robert) Murray Keith, who arrived as British minister at the Danish court in June 1771, clearly perceived the condition of affairs, but behaved with great discretion, reserving his intervention for a 'dangerous extremity' (keith, i. 227-8). Even the news of the birth, 7 July, at Hirschholm of a princess (Louisa Augusta, afterwards married to Duke Frederick Christian II of Augustenburg) was coldly, if not suspiciously, received by the capital; the queen dowager was, however, ready to be a godmother at Caroline Matilda's request (Authentische Aufklärungen, 103). The queen nursed the infant herself. Indeed the maternal instinct was always strong in her, and although she was reproached for giving her son an early training, which by Struensee's advice was based on the principles of 'Emile' (, 264-5), it seems on the whole to have been successful.

The overthrow of Struensee was the result of a court intrigue, not of any popular movement; but some time before it was brought about the wildest charges had been spread against the queen and him. It was said that they intended to shut up the king and proclaim the queen as regent—a rumour, as Charles of Hesse in repeating it points out, absurd in itself, as the king was rather a protection to them than an obstacle (, 115n.) Towards the end of 1771 they began to grow uneasy, and when early in September a malcontent body of Norwegian sailors made a tumultuous visit to Hirschholm the queen prepared everything for flight. Another panic followed in connection with a popular festival held at Frederiksberg 28 Sept.; if Reverdil is to be believed (287), this was caused by a real plot, of which Juliana Maria was at the bottom. In October Struensee thought it necessary virtually to abolish the liberty of the press, which had been one of his most striking reforms. Then Brandt himself, Struensee's confederate, engaged in a desperate scheme for the minister's removal; 'means would be found for consoling the queen' ( ap., 122). This danger was averted by a grotesque affray between the king and Brandt, which afterwards proved fatal to the latter; but Struensee's anxiety continued. About this time (according to the Authentische Aufklärungen, 122-3) he threw himself at the feet of the queen, imploring her to allow him for both their sakes to quit the country, but she induced him to remain. On the other hand, he told Reverdil, to whom he was not otherwise confidential, that his devotion to the queen alone kept him at his post (288). The same writer relates a characteristic anecdote how the queen, who had a pleasant voice, facetiously declared that when in exile she would gain her bread as a singer (290). Struensee's arbitrary system, however, continued; when, 30 Nov., the court migrated to Frederiksberg, military precautions were taken for its security, and Copenhagen itself was placed under effective control. Finally, an order for the disbandment of the guards as such led to their mutinous march to Frederiksberg on Christmas eve, and to scenes in the capital which left no doubt as to the sentiments of the population. It is said (by, ii. 78) that about this time Keith offered Struensee a large sum of money if he would leave the country; but there is no notice of any such proposal in Keith's 'Memoirs,' and he was probably too discreet to have made it. The court returned to Copenhagen 8 Jan. 1772. By this time the mine had been laid. Rantzau, discontented with his share of the spoils and with Struensee's unwillingness to adopt his political views, had determined to overthrow the favourite. He induced the dowager