The Three Choirs Festival was at Worcester that year. It was due to be held towards the end of August as usual, but the King asked for it to be moved to the beginning so that he could attend it while he was on holiday. An advertisement for the 'Worcester Music Meeting' appeared in Berrow's Journal in June, not mentioning the proposed attendance of the King, but announcing that His Majesty's Private Band would be playing.
Over the weeks other snippets of gossip appeared in the paper about the King at Cheltenham: 'This morning, his Majesty and the Princess Royal were at the Spa very early. His Majesty, after putting the Princess Royal into the carriage, walked across the meadows, attended by only two little dogs. Nothing pleases the inhabitants of this place more than the unguarded manner in which his Majesty walks about here - they say it is a confidence that would make even rebels loyal.'
Details of a visit to Croome, and a poem 'On his Majesty's expressing a wish to serve the Charity at Worcester' built up the excitement of the Worcester visit, and the City responded enthusiastically.
An incredible number of spectators stood at the Hop-Pole Inn (now Victoria House in Foregate Street), where the Royal Party changed horses on a visit to Hartlebury Castle to see the King's personal friend Bishop Hurd of Worcester. The party returned to the City on the evening of Tuesday 5th August for their stay at the Bishops Palace (the Old Palace in Deansway) for the Festival.
Fanny Burney, who attended Queen Charlotte, wrote in her diary that 'the King had an huzza that seemed to vibrate through the whole town; the Princess Royal's coach had a second, and the Equerries a third; the mob then, as ours drew on in succession, seemed to deliberate whether or not we should also have a cheer, but one of them soon decided the matter by calling out - These are the Maids of Honour! - and immediately they gave us an huzza.' The Cathedral bells were rung and City folk turned out carrying lamps decorated with variegated shades and picture transparencies. The King was so impressed, he came out to see the illuminations again when it was darker at ten o'clock.
King George was an early riser. In London he would often get out of bed at five o'clock and light the fire, so that he could sit and work for an hour before he woke the Queen. He made no exception during his holiday, and both King and Queen were up and about as soon as it was light. Tales were told of the Royal couple climbing from the window and down the ivy, to dodge the servant sleeping in the corridor outside their room. Certainly they had looked around the Cathedral and its precincts, and walked to almost every part of the town before seven.
The formal part of the visit began with a speech from the Bishop at the palace, introductions to the members of the Corporation, and the knighting of Charles Trubshaw Withers, who lived in the house in Sansome Walk (now next to the railway bridge). The party went in procession to the Cathedral for the first of the concerts attended by the King. A special gallery had been constructed under the West Window, lined with Worcester carpet and faced with crimson silk. This and special seating in front accommodated the Royal Family, the Bishops of Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester, various nobles and members of the Corporation. But not the ladies in waiting, according to Fanny Burney, who were required to stand throughout the long performance.
In the afternoon, the Royal Party visited Flight's Worcester china shop at 59 High Street (the later building on the site is now empty but it was best known as the Cadena). Then they were shown around Michael and Watkins' carpet factory in Silver Street. They all went on foot until the crowds of people made it necessary for a carriage to collect the Queen and Princesses. The King returned separately, talking to people in the crowd as he walked.
Up early again the next morning, the King and Queen walked through the streets and came across the shop at 33 High Street (now Hush Puppies) which was being fitted up as Chamberlain's China Shop, a rival to Flight's. According to Mrs Chamberlain's later recollection, the couple climbed straight to the top floor, and sat down on the top step for want of chairs. A mason and carpenter working there cleared away dust and shavings and the King kept them discussing the issues of the day for half an hour.
A visit to the Guildhall and a performance of the Messiah which attracted 3000 spectators were the official functions on the Friday of the visit. On the last day, a large party visited Flight's china works (the College of Technology is now on the site, right next to the Old Palace) to see the processes involved in manufacture. The King placed a substantial order with Flight's, and suggested that they open a London showroom, which they did with great success.
On leaving the City, the King gave large amounts of money for the poor of the City, the relief of clergymen's widows and orphans (the charity of the Three Choirs Festival), the liberation of debtors from the Gaol, and the workmen of the China Works.
The King's health had improved enormously during his holiday, and the Queen wrote to a friend that schoolboys had never enjoyed one so much.
Two months later,the King fell ill, as a result of walking in the wet grass for several hours, then travelling without changing his stockings. He began the first of his spells of madness which lasted 32 years until his death in 1820.