Charlotte's relationship with her aunts varied depending on her circumstances. When she was younger, they appeared old frumps who were under the thumb of their brother the Prince of Wales and involved in spying on her and trying to help him control her. However, Sophie was always a favorite. "I must indeed say to you how thoroughly amiable & what a true friend she is, & how entirely she is to be depended upon" she wrote to her friend Mercer Elphinstone. "When I see her with the rest of her family, I can hardly believe she belongs to them." Her relationship with Mary initially was not good "...Mary...is almost the most violent person I ever say & the carrier of everything back again to the P[rince], whose great favorite she is, as well as Pss Elizabeth. There is but one difference, that the former being a fool, canot contrive things so well as the other who has cleverness & deepness, both..." Elizabeth was "that detestable Pss Elizabeth" and "Pss M[ary], E[lizabeth], & the Q[ueen] have been caballing [plotting] shockingly against me..." Augusta was not especially singled out for attention although she tended to be lumped in with the gang which was making perceived as making Charlotte's life a misery. Gradually, however, the attitudes of both Charlotte and her aunts changed towards each other. The departure of Charlotte's mother to the Continent in particular removed a very great source of irritation from the scene -Charlotte did not have to defend or feel guilty about her mother, the aunts did not have to be outraged or criticise her. When the Prince of Orange betrothal fell through, Charlotte was able to write "Only think of Elizabeth & Augusta saying to me last [night] how much they hoped I should be tormented & worried no more on the P.O. busines, how they longed for an answer for me wh. might set my mind at rest..." Mary tried to use her influence with the Prince of Wales to achieve a better relationship with Charlotte; and finally, once Charlotte was married, none of the aunts had any power (or perceived power - one suspects a lot of the plotting and spying was in Charlotte's mind) to interfere with her, and from spies and intriguers they dwindled into harmless and irrelevant relations. Though Sophia remained "...a very sweet dear, being so true to me, so sencible [Charlotte's spelling], so right on all subjects. She is a no small comfort when separated from you [i.e. Mercer Elphinstone, to whom all these remarks were addressed]".
