The words 'KEW: DECEMBER 5, 1788' appear, and Kew palace is shown from the interior. SERVANT #4, panting for breath and exhausted, opens the door. FRANCIS WILLIS, a stern clergyman and physician, stands outside the door holding a bundled-up jacket in his left arm. He bows stiffly.
SERVANT #4: Sir, we are not at leisure to receive guests at this time.
WILLIS: I am no guest. My name is Francis Willis.
SERVANT #4: I don't recall anyone sending for a clergyman.
WILLIS: I was a clergyman; but I have since devoted my life to medicine, specializing in curing the insane. Now, [He steps inside] where is my patient?
SERVANT #4: [Offended] His Majesty is upstairs. Who sent for you?
Enter DR. ANTHONY ADDINGTON, who descends the staircase. He bows.
DR. ADDINGTON: Ah, Dr. Willis!
WILLIS: Are you Dr. Anthony Addington?
DR. ADDINGTON: I am, yes. Thank you for coming so soon, and on such short notice. I daresay you had little time to prepare yourself.
DR. WILLIS: Let me assure you, Dr. Addington, that I am better suited to treat the insane than anyone else. I have cured many people, including the mother of one of Lady Pembroke, and several wards of the Court of Chancery. Where is the King?
DR. ADDINGTON: Upstairs in his bedchamber, throwing a most terrible fit over his desire to starve himself. You had better see the King at another time, for the purpose of preserving your own safety. His Majesty frequently attacks his attendants and physicians when upset.
WILLIS: Worry not about my safety. I have defended myself against my own violent patients more times than I can count.
SERVANT #4 leads WILLIS and DR. ADDINGTON up the stairs.
DR. ADDINGTON: What is that, under your arm?
WILLIS: If the King's behavior proves to be disagreeable, you shall see.
DR. ADDINGTON: What measures will you take to correct his character, Mr. Willis?
WILLIS: Only one: I must break him in as horses are broken.
DR. ADDINGTON: Mr. Willis! How can you speak that way of our King?
WILLIS: Have his other physicians made any progress whatsoever in curing him? Have you, Dr. Addington?
DR. ADDINGTON: I fear that our differing opinions as to how the King should be treated have caused any thoughts of recovery to vanish. I am convinced that His Majesty can be cured, while Dr. Heberden, Dr. Reynolds, and Sir Pepys are uncertain, and Dr. Warren has not the slightest hope that the King will recover.
They reach KING GEORGE III's bedchamber. WILLIS places the jacket outside of the door.
DR. ADDINGTON: Now, Mr. Willis, when speaking to His Majesty, take care not to mention these things: the Queen, the Prince of Wales, Lady Pembroke-
WILLIS ignores DR. ADDINGTON, and enters the bedchamber. DR. ADDINGTON follows him in, and SERVANT #4 exits promptly. He finds KING GEORGE III, DR. WARREN, DR. HEBERDEN, DR. REYNOLDS, and SIR PEPYS. KING GEORGE III stares, completely bewildered, at WILLIS, and attempts to look composed.
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The Drunken Feathers
Historical FictionIn this biographical series that begins in 1784, twenty-one-year-old George, Prince of Wales-- the eldest son of King George III and heir to the British throne-- spends his youth idly by keeping countless mistresses, drinking profusely, and making f...
