 Charlotte 's pregnancy was the subject of the most intense public interest . Betting shops quickly set up book on what sex the child would be . Economists calculated that the birth of a princess would raise the stock market by 2 @.@ 5 % ; the birth of a prince would raise it 6 % . Charlotte spent her time quietly , spending much time sitting for a portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence . She ate heavily and got little exercise ; when her medical team began prenatal care in August 1817 , they put her on a strict diet , hoping to reduce the size of the child at birth . The diet , and occasional bleeding , seemed to weaken Charlotte . Stockmar was amazed at a treatment he saw as outdated , and declined to join the medical team , believing that , as a foreigner , he would be blamed if anything went wrong . 
