Educational approach and lessons
Lady Charlotte has been variously described by biographers as warm, competent, and kindly. As was typical for the period, the children were infrequently seen by the king and queen; Finch was the unvarying adult figure in their lives. While the royal princes endured disciplined lessons in an austere educational environment, Finch was loved by her female charges. They affectionately referred to her as "Lady Cha", and upon returning from a trip to the continent in 1771, Queen Charlotte wrote her, "They can never be in better hands than yours". Shefrin says that Finch "supervised a progressive nursery focused on child-centred learning" and shared a passion for education with Queen Charlotte, as is evident in their correspondence and the writings of contemporaries; the idea of noble mothers encouraging education for their children—a concept advocated by educators and scholars—was becoming popular, and Finch's approach at court helped spread these new educational theories. Among the methods she employed was the use of "dissected maps", some of the earliest jigsaw puzzles, to teach geography.
The historian Flora Fraser writes that "in many ways, the education... ordered for the princesses would be as rigorous as" that which the king ordered for the princes. Queen Charlotte felt that a woman equipped with an education was as able as a man. An accomplished woman herself, Finch, alongside Mrs Cotesworth, organised lessons in the arts and sciences which were taught to both the princes and princesses. Subjects included geography, English, grammar, music, needlework, dancing, and art. A tutor, Julie Krohme, taught the children in the French language. Once old enough, the princesses would travel each day to receive their education at Finch's new house at Kew alongside the river. Conversely, the princes gradually saw less of Lady Charlotte as they became older and entered into the care of governors.
In 1774, Mrs Cotesworth retired due to ill health. While seeking a successor, Lady Charlotte requested that she devote less time to the children. This was opposed by Queen Charlotte. The monarch felt that Cotesworth's resignation was partly due to Finch decreasing hours with the children, and also thought the other staff would be encouraged by Finch increasing her presence and "make them look upon it as a less confinement". Finch replied that she had regularly spent many hours with the princesses, both mornings and evenings, adding:
How can I without deviating from my own principles undertake an additional duty of a kind for which I am conscious I am growing every day more unfit, as your Majesty must know what an uncommon stock of spirits and cheerfulness is necessary to go through the growing attendance of so many and such very young people in their amusements, as well as behaviour and instruction, besides ordering all the affairs of the nursery.
Lady Charlotte threatened to resign so that the queen could hire someone "younger and more fitted for it", a declaration which ended Queen Charlotte's quest to increase her hours. Finch remained at her post. A new sub-governess, Martha Gouldsworthy (sister to Lieutenant-General Philip Goldsworthy, a favoured equerry of the king)—hired on Finch's recommendation—now spent frequent time with the princesses, chaperoning and supervising their studies in preparation for their lessons with their teacher Miss Planta. In April 1777, Another Lady was appointed by Queen Charlotte to be the third sub-governess, Mary Hamilton (niece of diplomat Sir William Hamilton), she would describe her experiences in her diaries and letters. In 1782, the 14th royal child, Prince Alfred, sickened and died at Windsor near the age of two, despite Lady Charlotte's devoted nursing.
