n.

The Attorney-General reminded us that if the King died before the new
Parliament assembled, the old Parliament would revive.

Peel talked a good deal of the Regency. He is much in favour of making the
Queen Regent for a year after the King's death, to provide for the possible
pregnancy. It seems the principle of all Regencies has been to make the
guardian of the person Regent. It is curious that the case should never
have been provided for of a Queen being left pregnant of an heir apparent,
and that it should never have occurred. The difficulty would be infinite.

I consider the death of the King to have been one of the fortunate events
which have often saved the Duke of Wellington. I really do not know how we
could have gone on, had he lived two months.

The King wishes to make Lord Combermere a Privy Councillor, thinking all
gold sticks have been so. We find he is misinformed, and the Duke means to
show him the list of gold-sticks not Privy Councillors, and at the same
time to tell him how Lord Combermere stands, having within these few months
been censured by the Government. The Duke will show the King the
correspondence which passed lately, and leave it to him to decide. There
would be no objection to making him a Privy Councillor some months or a
year hence.

Brougham made a violent speech against Lord Conyngham for not being in
readiness to swear in the House of Commons.

_June 28._

Went to St. James's at eleven. The Household, the Royal family, and the
Ministers only were there. The King was dressed in plain black. He went to
a large window looking into the courtyard, and stood forward. There were
but few people there at first, the Horse Guards and the Heralds. The King's
band played God Save the King, and those who were there cheered, upon which
numbers of people came round from before the Palace and filled the
courtyard. They then cheered well.

As the King passed through the line we formed for him to go to the window
he came up to me and said he must begin by chiding me for not coming to him
yesterday. In fact he had forgot I was a Cabinet Minister, and he therefore
would see me to-day. I said 'it was my first and I hoped it would be my
last fault.' After the Proclamation he sent for the Duke of Wellington, and
when the Duke left him, for me. He asked about China. I told him how we
stood there. That there was an interruption which would probably prevent
the arrival of any ships this year; that o