Life in the Georgian Court / Catherine Curzon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Curzon, Catherine, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hanover, House of.

Great Britain--History--1714-1837.

Great Britain.

Europe--Kings and rulers--History--18th century.

Europe.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (217 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Barnsley, South Yorkshire, [England] : Pen & Sword History, 2016.

Summary:

This lively history of Europe's royal families through the 18th and early 19th centuries reveals the decadence and danger of court life. As the glittering Hanoverian court gives birth to the British Georgian era, a golden age of royalty dawns in Europe. Houses rise and fall, births, marriages and scandals change the course of history. Meanwhile, in France, Revolution stalks the land. Life in the Georgian Court pulls back the curtain on the opulent court of the doomed Bourbons, the absolutist powerhouse of Romanov Russia, and the epoch-defining royal family whose kings gave their name to the era, the House of Hanover. Beneath the powdered wigs and robes of state were real people living lives of romance, tragedy, intrigue and eccentricity. Historian Catherine Curzon reveals the private lives of these very public figures, vividly recounting the arranged marriages that turned to love or hate and the scandals that rocked polite society. Here the former wife of a king spends three decades in lonely captivity, King George IV makes scandalous eyes at the toast of the London stage, and Marie Antoinette begins her final journey through Paris as her son sits alone in a forgotten prison cell. Life in the Georgian Court is a privileged peek into the glamorous, tragic and iconic courts of the Georgian world, where even a king could take nothing for granted.

Contents:

Intro

Cover

Dedication

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgements

Illustrations

Timeline of Major Events

Introduction

Act One: Childhood

An Era Begins

The Princess of Variolation

Before Frederick Was Great

The Infant Prince

The Twins of Versailles

The Nameless One

A Forgotten Princess

An Untold Life

The Boy Who Would Be King

A 'far from pretty' Princess

A Scandalous Babe

The Lost Dauphin

'She would have been my friend'

'My birth and my death

that is my whole story'

Act Two: Marriage

'I will not marry the pig snout!'

The Mysterious Monsieur de Busch

The Teenage Widow

Farewell to the Infanta

The Night Emperor

A Quiet Couple

A Scandalous Walpole Bride

Dentists and Dauphines

A Marriage in Exile

Henry and the Widow Horton

A Marriage Denied

A Match Made in Hell

The Princess Who Got Away

'The next best thing'

The Second Empress

The Last Georgian Monarchs

Act Three: Scandal

A Diplomatic Distraction

The Wanton Widow

A Prussian Soap Opera

You Can't Choose Your Parents…

The Many Lovers of the King of Bling

A Duchess, a Duke… and His Best Friend

A Necklace Fit for a Queen

The Princess and the Equerry

Dora and the Duke of Clarence

A Delicate Scandal

Two Ladies of the Court

A Deadly Passion

Act Four: Death

'A Weary Traveller': The Birth of Georgian Britain

The Sunset of the Sun King

Death on the Road

'Harness my sledge'

A Historic Hernia

The Death of a Westphalian Ham

The Fungi that Felled an Emperor

A Fatal Wicket

The Prince Who Died of a Broken Heart

A Fatal Toilet

Death is Just a Word

One Semla Too Many

A Masquerade to Remember

'I die innocent'

'My blood alone remains'

'I beg you take courage'

Bloody Murder in St Petersburg.

Death of a Devoted Consort

A Tragic Mother

The Death of Farmer George

'What eye has wept for him?'

The King Who Rotted on his Throne

Afterword

Bibliography

Notes.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed November 10, 2016).

ISBN:

9781473845541

1473845548

9781473845534

147384553X