European titles. George IV: biography Cake Prince Regent ingredients

An English royal dynasty that ruled from 1714 to 1901. Representatives: George I, George II, George III, George IV, William IV, Victoria.

Dynasty coat of arms

Sophia of Hanover was the granddaughter of King James I of England and the daughter of Elizabeth, the "Winter Queen" of Bohemia. Her son became the first king of England from the Hanoverian dynasty - George I.

George
Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt

But he might not have become King of England, because Queen Anne, the last of the Stuarts, wanted to transfer the throne to her younger brother James III, who lived in exile in France, but apart from the Queen and her Prime Minister, very few wanted to. In this difficult political situation, Georg found himself the lesser of possible evils.

Georg I. von Großbritannien gemeinsam mit Georg Friedrich Händel (links) auf einer Bootsfahrt auf der Themse
Edouard jean conrad hamman

Georg spent his entire adult life in Germany. He fought at the head of the Hanoverian army against the Turks on the Danube, fought in Italy and on the Rhine. After his father's death, becoming Elector of Hanover, he behaved like a circumspect ruler, and the people of Hanover fell in love with him.

Georg I. von Großbritannien, Ausschnitt aus einem Gemälde, das ihn im Kreise seiner Familie zeigt
James thornhill

Georg was a windy man. Having married the beautiful, educated and witty Sophia Dorothea, daughter of the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, he could not appreciate her. George's rudeness and cruelty forced Sophia Dorothea to leave her husband and settle in Italy. In Italy, under the southern sun, she amused herself, and soon rumors of her adventures reached George. The abandoned husband filed for divorce and won it in 1694.

Sofia Dorothea with children
attributed to Jacques Vaillant

George first came to England in September 1714. He did not speak a word of English, refused to travel around the country in order to get acquainted with its structure and population, brought with him his German servants and two mistresses who received the titles Duchess Kendal and Countess Darlington ... All this did not make him popular.

Duchess Kendal

Due to the fact that the king did not know English at all, the prime minister was first promoted to the first place in politics, and many of the king's powers passed to parliament.

Robert Walpole - Prime Minister

George I's son, George II, spoke English a little better than his father. In addition, he did not like England at all, and the monarch tirelessly vilified the English cooks, the English coachmen, and the English constitution.

George II
John shackleton

During the reign of George II, the post of prime minister was occupied by Walpole and Pitt Sr., who achieved outstanding foreign policy successes: victories were won in the wars of the Austrian succession and the Seven Years' War, the British ousted the French in India and North America, acquiring huge colonies. The rapidly developing industry led to the dominance of the world markets. Personal merits of Georg in all this were small, but these successes gave shine to his reign, and by the end of his life he even became popular with his subjects.

Statue of George

George II was short, agile and extremely talkative. But he was brave and very proud of his military exploits: in his youth, under the leadership of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, he participated in hostilities and especially distinguished himself in the battle of Udenard. Later, on holidays, he always appeared in the hat and uniform that he wore on that glorious day.

George II was married to the daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Anschlach, Carolina, was very attached to his wife, but considered it a matter of honor to have favorites. Carolina resigned herself to this and even became his attorney in amorous affairs.

Caroline

George III (1738 - 1820), King of England from 1760, was the grandson of George II. The style of his government was tough and aggressive, the king imposed his decisions on the governments, and in case of disagreement, he would not hesitate to dismiss them. By the end of the 1770s, he achieved the fact that he began to rule himself.

Relations with parliament were difficult. And the problem of finding a reliable and knowledgeable first minister was only solved with the appointment of William Pitt Jr. in 1784. In relation to the king, he behaved respectfully, but firmly, and George had to come to terms with his power.

George
by studio of Allan Ramsay

In 1775, the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, and George began a stubborn war against them. The defeat in the war influenced George so much that he even threatened to abdicate the throne and retire to his Hanoverian Elector, but the threats did not make any impression on the British.

Three men breaking a large bowl which is cracked and patched. Lord North is shown chiselling inside the bowl, behind the bowl is Lord Sandwich, next to Lord Sandwich is a man identified as Lord George Germain. Behind Lord North stands George III whose hands are raised as if in surprise. On the wall behind are posted two documents labeled "List of the Navy" and "Plan of Minden".
James gillray

In the person of Queen Charlotte he found a loving and caring wife, but his sons, especially Prince George of Wales, called him "Prinny", gave him a lot of anxiety due to extravagance and extravagance.

Take
Sir thomas lawrence

The first signs of mental illness in George III were discovered in 1788. At the same time, he claimed to be married to the Countess of Pembroke, formerly Lady Elizabeth Spencer, the honorable maid of honor of the Queen. He told his wife that he did not like her, that she had lost her mind thirty years ago, claimed to have come up with a new doctrine of the Trinity and dreamed of a harem. And once he mistook the oak for the Prussian king Frederick.

James gillray

Some experts believe that George III's madness was of organic origin, a symptom of metabolic disorders — porphyrin disease, which many of his ancestors and descendants are said to have suffered from.

The sick king was placed in the Bedlam psychiatric hospital, where he recovered quickly enough, but the disease returned to him in 1801 (when the cabinet changed and a proposal was made to introduce a bill to exempt Roman Catholics from criminal legislation), in 1804 and in 1810, shortly after celebrating the 50th anniversary of his reign. His son, Prince George of Wales, was appointed Regent.

Take
Sir thomas lawrence

Until the end of his days, George III existed in his lonely world, he did not even notice the death of his wife in 1818. He was blind and deaf. In early 1820, George refused to eat and on January 29 died of starvation at the age of 82.

Henry meyer

George III had twelve children, but in 1817 none of his six sons had a legal heir. George IV (1762 - 1830), King of England since 1820 in 1811 - 1820 he was the prince-regent.

Vauxhall gardens by Thomas Rowlandson

While still a prince, he erected the magnificent and amazing Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Prinny transformed his villa on the south coast of England into a huge palace that amazed with luxury and splendor. In it, he arranged luxurious receptions. Once the guests saw on one of the tables a whole river, with embankments and bridges, in which goldfish were swimming. Prinny and his wife Caroline of Braunschweig were very unhappy in their marriage. The couple separated immediately after the birth of their daughter Charlotte.

Charlotte
Richard Woodman

Their relationship was so strained that when the royal crown was placed on George, his wife was expelled directly from the coronation ceremony.

Caroline
Sir thomas lawrence

Georg hated Caroline so much that the first thing he did was filed a case against his wife for adultery. An incredible scandal broke out. The case was dropped due to the death of Caroline in 1821.

Caroline
James lonsdale

Here it should be noted, in fairness, that George himself, since 1785, was secretly married to Mary Ann Fitzgerbert, who patiently endured his betrayal and even marriage to Caroline until 1809, when she finally could not stand it and parted with Prinny forever.

Mary Ann Fitzherbert
Sir Joshua Reynolds

Having become king of England, Prinny continued to revel and drink, although due to poor health and considerable years, he could not indulge in the pleasures of love, which he was eager for in his youth.

Everyone agreed that there could be no worse king than George IV.

George cruikshank

With the death of George on June 26, 1830, the dark era of the Four George ended. They were replaced by William, but the subjects sighed with relief only with the accession to the throne of young Victoria.

Stephen poyntz denning

George's only daughter died on November 6, 1817, giving birth to a dead boy. This meant that after George's death, his younger brother William, Duke of Clarente, would come to power.

Sir David Wilkie

William IV came to power at the age of 56 and was so happy that he constantly did ridiculous acts in a very extravagant manner, sowing surprise and horror around him, and at the same time did not fall silent for a second. It is said that he could be quite reasonable, good-natured and sincere, if approached correctly. But who could know how to do this?

Cake "Prince Regent" (Prinzregententort) - the most Bavarian cake of all that exists. This is another masterpiece of confectioners.

Its name reflects the history of Bavaria. Its full name sounds like this: a cake in honor of His Royal Highness Prinzregent Luitpold Karl Joseph Wilhelm Ludvig Wittelsbach von Bayern. The Wittelsbachs - one of the oldest families in Europe - ruled Bavaria for almost seven and a half centuries (from 1180 to 1918).

The most popular ruler in Bavaria was Prince Regent Luitpold. The son of King Ludwig I, he became regent after the tragic death of King Ludwig II. The regency was continued after the coronation of Otto I, the younger brother of Ludwig II, because of his "emotional grief". As a result, Prince Luitpold ruled as regent from 1886 until his death in 1912.

The period of his reign was distinguished by the prosperity of the Bavarian economy, culture and art. Munich turned into a significant cultural center of Europe, which T. Mann called "Shining Munich".

The pastry chefs also did their best: one of them invented the "Prince Regent (Prinzregententort)" cake. True, evil tongues make vague hints, as if the name of the cake indicates the name of its inventor. The first mention of the cake was in 1911.

The building, if you like, the design of the cake is fully consistent with the administrative division of Bavaria. During the reign of Prince Regent Luitpold, the Kingdom of Bavaria consisted of 8 districts, and the cake usually has 8 cakes and is baked in a round shape.

• Prince-regent (German Prinzregent, English prince regent, etc.), in a number of European states - a prince who acted as a monarch due to incapacity, childhood, long absence of the latter. The most famous historical examples of a prince regency are:

  * Philip II of Orleans, who ruled France (1715-1723) under the minor Louis XV;

  * George IV, who ruled Great Britain (1811-1820) due to the mental illness of George III;

  * Luitpold of Bavaria, who ruled the Bavarian kingdom (1886-1912), first due to the incapacity of King Ludwig II, and then due to the mental illness of King Otto I;

  * Ludwig III, who ruled the Bavarian kingdom instead of Otto I (1912-1913).

Related concepts

Russian law in a broad sense is a legal culture, a system of law predominantly with Slavic sources, operating in the 9th-14th centuries in Kievan and Udelnaya Rus (Old Russian law), as well as from the 13th century in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and from the 15th century in the Russian state. The written sources-monuments of Russian law are, first of all, Russkaya Pravda, the Lithuanian statutes, Moscow judicial codes and the Sobornoye Ulozhenie of 1649.

Parakimomen (Greek παρακοιμώμενος, "the one who sleeps around", bed-bed) - a court position in the Byzantine Empire, usually held by eunuchs. Many of those who occupied it in the 9th-10th centuries served as the chief minister. This position was the highest among those that could be held by eunuchs.

The republic (Latin res publica - "public business") is a form of government in which all government bodies are either elected for a certain period, or formed by national representative institutions (for example, parliament), and citizens have personal and political rights. The most important feature of the republic as a form of government is the election of the head of state, which in most cases excludes the hereditary or other non-elected way of transferring power.

Five good emperors - five successively ruling Roman emperors from the Antonine dynasty: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius (at first his co-ruler was Lucius Verus). During their reign (96-180 A.D.), which was distinguished by stability and the absence of repression, the Roman Empire reached its highest peak.

The order of succession to the British throne determines the order of succession to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the remaining 15 states of the British Commonwealth.

The debate on the legal status of the Grand Duchy of Finland was a controversy in scientific and political circles of the Russian Empire about the legal status of Finland, which lasted from the first half of the 19th century to 1917.

French law (French droit français) as a concept arose in the 15th century. The legal system of modern France belongs to the group of Romano-Germanic law. Basically, it was formed during the Great French Revolution of 1789-1794. and in the first decades that followed, especially during the reign of Napoleon (1799-1814).

The long struggle of Great Britain with Napoleon I and the French Empire, which ended in the defeat of Napoleon and the victory of England, is associated with the reign of George the Regent. The country's economic development during these years was also successful.

However, George IV (as Prince Regent and then as King) was personally extremely unpopular - one of the most unpopular monarchs in Britain in general. Dandy, a generous patron of artists, a gourmet, Georg had a not entirely deserved reputation as a cold egoist, indifferent to his loved ones.

On April 8, 1795, he married Caroline of Braunschweig, from whom he had his only daughter, Charlotte August. The society was amazed by his conflicts with his daughter Charlotte, the probable heir to the throne (she died during the life of her grandfather, in childbirth) and his legal wife Caroline of Braunschweig. Caroline, whom her husband left back in 1796, after the death of her father-in-law in 1820, with strong public support, returned to Great Britain with the aim of being crowned with George (July 19, 1821), but this was not allowed to her, since the House of Lords accepted this the law on their divorce not approved by the House of Commons; Less than a month later, the shocked queen died (of course, there were rumors that her husband had ordered her to be poisoned). Georg was a repeated subject of satire (in particular Byron).

There is a historical anecdote that George IV was crowned with a crown, which he rented from the jeweler Randall (since he could not buy it out due to huge debts).

The early death of his only legitimate daughter actually left George without heirs. Since all of his numerous brothers (except for the Duke of Cumberland, married since 1815, who, however, did not yet have children) were single or in civil marriages, and all the sisters were childless, this endangered the existence of the dynasty. In 1817-1818, several British princes at once quickly got wives thanks to the monarch's promised significant financial incentives to those who would continue the dynasty. Born in one of these marriages, a daughter, Princess Victoria of Kent, inherited the British crown after the deaths of George and her other uncle, William IV, in 1837.

George IV invented the right and left boot. Before that, all shoes could be worn on any foot.

He was considered, especially in his youth, a womanizer and a heartthrob, taking into account the fact that his waist circumference reached 1.5 meters.

An interesting fact is that one of Georg's mistresses was Olga Aleksandrovna Zherebtsova, nee Zubova. Contemporaries considered Zherebtsova one of the most beautiful women of her time. Her illegitimate son Georg (Yegor Yegorovich, 1806-1844) Nord, according to her own statements, was from George IV. Yegor Nord was married to Princess Shcherbatova, served as the Russian consul in Persia and died in Gilan from smallpox.

Titles, titles and awards

• 12 August 1762 - 19 August 1762: His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall
• 19 August 1762 - 29 January 1820: His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
• February 5, 1811 - January 29, 1820: His Royal Highness The Prince Regent
• October 1, 1814 - January 29, 1820: His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Hanover
• January 29, 1820 - June 26, 1830: His Majesty The King

• (KG) Order of the Garter December 26, 1765
• (PC) Privy Councilor August 29, 1783
• (KT) Order of the Thistle 5 November 1811
• (KP) Order of St. Patrick 5 November 1811
• (GCB) Order of the Bath January 2, 1815
• (GCH) Royal Order of Guelph 12 August 1815
• (GCMG) Order of St Michael and St George

• Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called November 13, 1813
• Order of the Holy Spirit 20 April 1814
• Order of Saint Michael 20 April 1814
• Order of the Golden Fleece 1814
• Order of the Black Eagle June 9, 1814
• Order of the Red Eagle June 9, 1814
• Order of the Golden Fleece July 1814
• Order of the Elephant 15 July 1815
• Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit 1816
• Order of Saint Januarius 1816
• Bow with three military orders, the Order of Christ, the Order of Avis and the Order of Santiago and the Sword 1816
• Order of the Tower and Sword 1816
• Order of Willem 27 November 1818
• Order of Saint Hubert
• Order of the Southern Cross 27 November 1818
• Don Pedro I Cross 27 November 1818
• Order of Carlos III November 27, 1818

George IV (George August Frederick August 12, 1762 - June 26, 1830) - King of Great Britain and Hanover from January 29, 1820, from the Hanoverian dynasty. In fact, he headed the country much earlier, from the turn of the century, when the mental illness of his father, George III, worsened. On February 5, 1811, George III was declared incapacitated, and from that time his eldest son was proclaimed Prince Regent and remained so until his father's death on January 29, 1820. The period 1811-1820 is called the era of the Regency (English Regency). During the reign of George IV, the expansion of the borders of Britain continued (in particular, the British were expanding in Central Asia). In Europe, after the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain had great prestige and was the leading power (along with Russia). During this period, the industrial revolution entered its final phase.

Attempts by George III to eradicate the vices of the Hanoverian dynasty and raise his son in a spirit of high morality did not have the slightest success. Poet Lee Hunt described Prince Regent George as "a man who cannot keep his word, a libertine, deeply immersed in debt and dishonorable deeds, who does not put his loved ones in a penny and surrounds himself with players and ladies of questionable behavior." As a result, Hunt was charged with libel and sentenced to a five hundred pound fine and two years in prison.

Following the tradition of the royal family, the Prince of Wales lost his virginity at the age of sixteen with the help of one of the Queen's maids of honor. Soon, his mother learned that his son was spending time "in bad company" at night. First, the object of his love was Mary Hamilton, the twenty-three-year-old daughter of the Duke of Hamilton. When the girl rejected the prince, he fell in love with a much more accommodating person - Mary Robinson, an actress with a dubious reputation from Bristol. Her father, an Irishman, left the family and founded a trading post on the coast of Labrador, where the Eskimos lived. Mary married Robinson's law firm clerk. They had a daughter, but then hard times came for the family, and she and her husband ended up in a debt prison. Having freed herself, Mary decided to become the star of the London stage and, without choosing the means, to achieve success in life.

Portrait of George IV of the United Kingdom

Georg saw her for the first time in the role of Loss in The Winter's Tale. Intoxicated by the flushed feeling, he sent Mary a lock of his hair and asked to come to him in a young man's suit. She resisted the prince's wishes until she found her husband in bed with a maid, returning home earlier than usual. In revenge, Mary decided to sleep with George. All the pricks of conscience were forgotten as soon as the prince promised her twenty-one thousand pounds for her twenty-first birthday.

They were often seen together, but this connection soon ended. Mary had only a bundle of very sensitive letters addressed to Loss and signed by Florizel. She threatened to publish them, and the king had to buy off five thousand pounds in lump sum and five hundred pounds of annual allowance. He severely condemned his son for being in such a "disgraceful position" at the age of eighteen.

Portrait of George IV, when Prince of Wales

Mary went to France, where she became the mistress of the Duke of Orleans, later she returned to her homeland and lived with a member of parliament from Liverpool, Colonel Tarleton. In her declining years, she was paralyzed, and Georg often visited an old acquaintance.

Despite the reproaches of the king, George continued to lead a scattered life. He had a brief relationship with Elizabeth Armistead, who later married the politician Charles Fox. His next mistress was Mrs. Grace Elliot, a very wealthy divorced lady. She stated that the father of her daughter was Georg, and named the child in his honor Dahlia Augusta Frederica, although one of the other two men who were with her at that time could just as well have been responsible for the birth of the girl.

It is also possible that George's son was Lord Melbourne, the future prime minister, although his mother claimed that Lord Egremont was the father of the child. In addition, the prince's mistresses were: a plump singer named Elizabeth Billington; daughter of the Duke of Argyll, Augustus Campbell; the Countess of Salisbury, a fox-hunter who was twelve years older than George; the Duchess of Devonshire, renowned for hosting political parties; and also many other women, not so prominent, including actresses, singers, venerable matrons, maids, ladies of the court and courtesans.

Charlotte Augusta of Wales is the only legitimate daughter

When the prince was eighteen years old, he met the wife of the Hanoverian ambassador, Countess von Hardenburg, a woman of "divine beauty." Georg saw her playing a card game, and "a fatal, albeit sweet passion, arose in his soul." Overwhelmed by passion, Georg "broke all other ties and devoted himself entirely to this angel in the guise of a little woman." For the indicated little woman, a similar demonstration devotion and love made a strong impression. And yet she continued to keep her distance. Then Georg pretended to be sick, and she - out of compassion - gave herself up to the young adorer. “It was unearthly bliss,” said the ecstatic prince.

Count Karl August von Hardenburg learned of his wife's infidelity from the secular news column in the Morning Herald and wrote the prince a letter full of scathing reproaches. The Count's wife also wrote to George, recalling his vows and saying that she agreed to flee with him that night. In desperation, George confessed everything to his mother. She raised such a cry that the poor youth fainted. The king was forced to take practical measures to remove the von Hardenburg family. Not surprisingly, the count soon left his diplomatic post. He was assigned to Prussia, where he played a prominent role during the Napoleonic Wars.

Trying to save his son from shameful acts in the future, the king wrote a long lecture "on the recklessness" of the prince. It had no effect. George became friends with Charles Fox, a radical politician and main opponent of the royal ministers.

While spending time looking for entertainment, the prince turned into a playboy. He had grown fat from excessive eating and drinking. In Vauxhall Gardens and elsewhere, Georg had drunken fights. In 1789, at a thanksgiving service in St. Paul's Cathedral, George and the other princes ate pastries, talked loudly, and generally behaved very casually. The king bitterly said that almost every day he found in the newspapers "very unpleasant mentions of Prince George." The Times, for example, wrote that the heir to the throne "under any circumstances prefers the bottle and the damsel to politics and prayer." The Duke of Wellington called the prince "the heaviest millstone around the neck of any government imaginable." Georg himself, however, spoke of himself softer. "Yes," he used to say, "I love to drink and have fun with the lady."

Portrait of Maria Fitzherbert (1756-1837)

Having calmed down, Georg created even more problems. In 1784 he met Maria Fitzherbert, a wealthy, beautiful woman six years his senior. The prince fell in love instantly and with all ardor - he even tried to stab himself when Maria rejected his courtship. A very pious lady, Maria was frightened by the prince's insistent offers to become his mistress and went abroad.

The Prince of Wales "rolled on the floor with sobs, banged his head, tore his hair, screamed hysterically and swore by all the saints that he would give up the crown, sell jewelry and silverware, and use all the funds collected to escape with his beloved to America." ... Despite these antics of Georg, Maria remained firm. She stated that she would return only if the prince gave his word to marry her.

In accordance with the law, this, of course, was impossible. George realized that he would not be able to ask his father's consent, as provided for by the new Royal Marriage Act. Ms Fitzherbert has divorced twice already. Worse, she was Catholic, and according to the Succession Act of 1701, the heir to the throne was strictly prohibited from marrying a person of the Catholic faith.

Therefore, for five hundred pounds, George freed an Anglican priest from a debt prison and promised him the rank of bishop to perform a ritual that has no meaning and to present to Mary an equally insignificant marriage document. Later, she admitted that “she gave herself to him, without setting any conditions, relying only on his honor and not attaching importance to the ceremony, which the prince insisted on.” They began to live together, and soon the marriage of George to “Princess Fitz” is no longer for anyone was no secret. He loved her for the rest of his life, and she bore him ten children.

mary's house

However, their relationship was not at all cloudless. The prince remained very immoderate in food, drank a lot, he had fits of rage more and more often. One night Maria had to hide behind a sofa while he looked for her with a drawn sword. Moreover, Georg was a pathologically unfaithful husband.

He had an illegitimate child with Lucy Howard and an affair with Anna Crouch, who shone in John Gay's Beggar's Opera. For a few nights spent with George, Anna received ten thousand pounds and some jewelry. In addition, Georg had to pay off her husband, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, who threatened to bring a case of adultery in court. It cost the prince another four hundred pounds. Love letters, which he had the imprudence to write, also caused a lot of trouble.

Lady Jersey. She managed to maintain good relations with the future king and his mother. It is believed that she was the one who persuaded him to marry Caroline.

The next was Georg's connection with lady jersey, lady over forty ...

During the so-called "regency period" in high British society, two women were noted who bore this title. The more famous and influential was Sarah Child, nicknamed "silence" for her love of chatter, but her mother-in-law, Francis, got the attention and bed of the prince. She met George in 1793, when she was already 40 years old, and she was already the mother of ten children and even a grandmother. The prince was far from the first adultery of a prolific aristocrat.

Less than a year after they met, she managed (temporarily) to take the place of Mary Fitzherbert. She used all her influence on the heir to the throne to persuade him to marry Caroline of Brainschweig. King George III treated Milady Jersey without much sympathy, she was friends with Queen Charlotte, and the king's opinion did not interest her too much. She ran the prince's private and social affairs with an iron fist for almost 10 years, remaining his "official" mistress, until she was removed from her position by Lady Hartford.

By the way, all this time she remained officially married, and the morals at that time were such that no one was particularly surprised. Lady Jersey was famous for her outstanding ability to seduce people of both sexes. After all these feats, the prince owed half a million pounds. Ms. Fitzherbert had to pawn her jewelry so that the bailiff would not come to the house. In this position, Georg had no choice - he had to marry.

Caroline of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

George III chose a bride for his unlucky son, and realizing that marriage would entail an increase in the amount of his support, the Prince of Wales agreed to go through a solemn marriage ceremony. Unfortunately, the choice of the king was very unfortunate. Caroline of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, the cousin of the Prince of Wales, was "extremely promiscuous" even by German standards, "and the German ladies at that time were not distinguished by sophistication."

The Lady of Jersey was determined from the beginning to prevent this marriage in any way. She delayed the royal crews so that upon arrival in Greenwich, Carolina was left without transport. Even worse, the bride and groom disliked each other at first sight. “For God's sake, give me a glass of brandy,” said the Prince of Wales. "I feel bad." For her part, Caroline considered the prince "too fat" and "not at all as good-looking as in the portrait."

Georg and Caroline's wedding. Gainsborough Dupont, 1795/1797

In truth, the bride herself was not a beauty, and her cleanliness left much to be desired. The British envoy, who accompanied her to the prince, had to insist that Caroline wash and put on fresh linen. All the charm she could have had was hidden under many layers of blush and powder, and under very unfortunate outfits - no doubt the work of the cunning Lady Jersey, who managed to take the position of maid of honor of the princess.

On the wedding day, Georg said: "All my life I will love only Mrs. Fitzherbert." At the ceremony he appeared late and drunk, and during the service he was amused by the fact that he did not take his eyes off the Lady Jersey. The first wedding night, the prince slept on the floor in a state of extreme intoxication, thrusting his head into the fireplace. Surprisingly, despite such an unfavorable start to marital relations, Caroline had a daughter, Charlotte, almost exactly nine months later.

Caroline soon realized that her maid of honor Lady Jersey was her husband's mistress. With bitterness and humiliation, she demanded that George fire the Countess of Jersey. However, George reasoned that after the birth of his daughter, he fulfilled his duty in relation to the succession to the throne, and directly told Caroline that he no longer intended to share a bed with her.

Carolina with her daughter. Thomas Lawrence, c. 1800

Naturally, the marriage fell apart. The distressed king wrote to his son: "It seems that you look at the union with the princess as an ordinary marriage between private persons and completely lose sight of the fact that the marriage of the direct heir to the throne, which you are, has a public significance and affects the interests of the entire kingdom."

Georg turned his back on "this Jezebel," Lady Jersey. He longed to be reunited with his "true wife" Mrs. Fitzherbert. The prince even changed his will, writing off the fortune to Mrs. Fitzherbert and making a note: “Whoever is called Princess of Wales, I leave one shilling.” It took him four years to regain his love for Mary. She even wrote to the Vatican, asking for papal confirmation that the church did not object to her renewal of her conjugal relationship with George. The pope assured her that in the eyes of the Lord she was the true wife of the Prince of Wales

1829, of King George IV

George shed weight in an attempt to make a favorable impression on Maria and spent a lot of money on Carlton House and the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, although the treasury was drained by the Napoleonic wars. True, the participation of the prince himself in these wars was limited to the training of a small detachment of soldiers in Brighton.

Reconciliation with Ms Fitzherbert did not distract George from hunting other women. The prince recognized himself as the father of William Francis, the son of a certain Miss Davis, as well as George Seymour Crowe, the son of Mrs. Crowe, who lived on Charles Street. Fortunately, his relationship with a French woman, wife of Lord Masserine, did not produce offspring. Georg also had a short affair with the dancer Louise Hillisberg, and from time to time he made night visits to Madame de Meyer's house.

Isabella Ingram-Seymour-Conway, Marquess of Hertford

As a middle-aged woman, Mrs Fitzherbert was philosophical about the prince's pranks with younger women. However, she was worried about his affection for Isabella Seymour, Lady Hertford- one of those already having grandchildren, but well-preserved ladies, to whom the prince was very attracted. Princess Lieven described her like this: "A lot of luxurious flesh."

Hoppner - Isabella, Viscountess Beauchamp, later Marchioness of Hertford

Georg wrote long love letters to the venerable matron, which contained such pearls: "Truly I feel like a young foal, released into a green meadow, cheerful as a lark and light as a feather." And he added: "I implore you, tell Lord Hartford (with my best wishes) that I will be quite satisfied if, when meeting me, you experience at least half of the joyful feeling that I experience when meeting you."

Napoleon must have laughed when he heard of this novel.

Grace Elliot. She was the mistress of the Irish viscount, then the British crown prince, then the French duke, miraculously escaped the guillotine and helped the French aristocrats get to England. Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough

Grace Elliot is the only lover of George IV, whose life was much more interesting and fuller than his own.

In fact, the affair with the prince took a very short time in her life, but Grace left a daughter from him. It is curious that although the prince took responsibility for the child, in fact, he did not consider himself a father. Grace was the daughter of a poor and humble Edinburgh lawyer. She had no money, no position in society, but she was beautiful. So beautiful that she was carried away by the famous and rich doctor, whom she married.Then she met the Irish aristocrat Viscount Valentia, who became her lover. The doctor-husband did not like it. He obtained evidence of adultery and divorced his wife.

In the absence of money and the reputation of poor Grace, there was nothing left to do but go from wife to courtesan. She moved to London, where she had a quiet and short affair with the prince.

Portrait of Olga Zherebtsova (1766-1849)

But then the fun begins. In all fairness, this has nothing to do with the British monarchy, but deserves a small digression. Prince George of Wales introduced her to the Duke of Orleans. The duke transported the beautiful Englishwoman to Paris, where she became his official mistress.

It was then that she was caught by the French Revolution and the Jacobin terror that followed. On the one hand, Grace was the recognized mistress of the Duke of Orleans, who accepted the revolution and even began to be called Philippe Égalité. On the other hand, it was well known in the society that her sympathies were on the side of the royalists, and she became the transmission link in the secret correspondence between the British government and the French government in exile.

Several times she risked her life, hiding aristocrats fleeing from revolutionary terror in her house. For example, Grace laid the wounded Marquis de Chamcene on her lush bed between two mattresses, and she herself lay down on top, pretending to be seriously ill. So the revolutionary guard, who had searched her house, was left with nothing.

She also managed to arrange safe travel to Britain for several aristocratic families. In the end, she was arrested, but the terror subsided, it was in 1793, and Grace managed to avoid the guillotine. It is said that she was carried away by a very young Napoleon Bonaparte and it seems that even wanted to marry her, but she refused. She spent the rest of her life in abundance and peace and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.

The Prince, and then King George IV, had three more mistresses: the actress and poet Mary Robinson, the Marquess of Hartford and the Marquess of Cunningham.

Mary Robinson, actress and poet. She brought into fashion a new style of dresses, which became known as "Perdita", after one of her best roles. Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough

Perhaps the most interesting of them was Mary. She was not too eager to take advantage of her alcove royal conquest and introduced a new style of dress into fashion, which was named "Perdita" after the heroine of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", whose role was one of the most successful of her career.

Meanwhile, Georg did not disregard the burly lady Bessborough, the subject of the prince's love since his youth. Lady Bessborough later recalled: “He fell to his knees, hugged me and, before I could recover, began to cover my neck with kisses. I screamed with indignation and fright. But he continued to overcome my resistance, and sometimes he sobbed and swore that he would break up with Mrs F. and Lady X. "

Mee, Anne - Isabella, Marchioness of Hertford

Lady Bessborough did not know whether to laugh or cry at the sight of “a huge and ridiculous figure, partly on the sofa, and partly on the floor, and assuming the most bizarre poses.” When the old king retired and George became regent, he preferred Lady Hartford, and he removed the faithful Mrs Fitzherbert, telling her coldly: "Madam, there is no place for you here."

Georg boldly suggested lady Hartfordlive with him openly. Her husband, of course, had evidence that “His Royal Highness was too close to her,” but preferred to refrain from any action, since Lady Hartford's influence on the prince allowed him to take the post of Lord Hofmeister and gain a seat at court. for their son.

William Blake: Mrs. Q. (Mrs. Harriet Quentin)

When the royal marriage fell apart Carolineshe moved to Blackheath, where she indulged in flirting at receptions and often "retired with young men" - that is, by common belief, she led a lifestyle open to "the most unfavorable interpretation." In addition, she aroused the outrage of her neighbors for her friendship with Lady Douglas, who by that time had been ostracized by the local community. It was believed that Lady Douglas once had an affair with her husband's former boss, Sir Sydney Smith. It is possible that Lady Douglas and the princess were more than just close friends. Lady Douglas's diary contains the following entry about the princess: "She went up to my bedroom, kissed, hugged me and said that I was very beautiful ... She showered me with such compliments that women never exchange."

Caroline proudly told Lady Douglas, “that she can get a partner in her bed whenever she wants, and that there is nothing better for her health,” and once admitted to her friend that she was pregnant. When their friendship came to an end, Caroline sent Sir John Douglas obscene drawings depicting his wife and Sir Sydney Smith in each other's arms.

In 1806, a special commission was commissioned to investigate Caroline's indecent behavior. The "Delicate Investigation", as it was called, did not ignore any of the most disgusting details of Caroline's intimate life, including her relationship with Captain Manby, a naval officer who often visited Blackheath.

The results of the commission's work were summarized in a poem by one poet-satirist of the time:

Oh Carolina, do not sin
And hurry up to leave us,
And if you do not give up fornication,
Fornication, at least, is not here.
And so Caroline did. She went on a big tour of Europe and traveled with "completely obscene companions."

Lady Bessborough saw her at a ball and described their meeting in this way: “Her face was crimson, her white girlish dress left bare her shoulders, back and neck, a disgusting neckline reached the middle of her belly ... and her head was decorated with a wreath of bright roses. Suddenly she nodded to me and smiled. Not recognizing her, I took this woman for a madman, but then William Bentinck pushed me and said: "Can't you see that the Princess of Wales is greeting you?"

George Crookshank's caricature of Caroline and Pergami's alleged relationship

Carolina settled in Como with Bartolomeo Perga, a former quartermaster of the Italian army. When Princess Charlotte, a virgin raised in austerity by her chaste aunts in Windsor, came to visit her, Caroline attempted to ruin the girl's reputation by locking her in the bedroom with Captain Hesse. He was said to have been the illegitimate son of George's brother the Duke of York and one of Caroline's lovers. Subsequently, Charlotte married a beggar German prince and died of birth fever.

When the old king died and George IV came to the throne, he made one last attempt to get rid of the unwanted queen. George offered her an annual allowance of fifty thousand pounds in exchange for a promise never to return to England. At the same time, the government drafted a "punishment bill," according to which the marriage was dissolved because of Caroline's adultery.

The House of Lords has thoroughly studied all the intimate details of these arguments. Numerous witnesses were interviewed. They revealed that Pergami was present in the queen's boudoir when she was dressing and could see her naked breasts. In the presence of others, he caressed her breasts and stroked her thighs. They slept hugged in the carriage during the journey. He was seen in the queen's bedroom - in clothes, without clothes, in underwear, in one shirt. She took a bath in his presence. They slept together in a tent. There was no end to this kind of accusation.

Trial against Queen Carolina. George Hayter, 1820

Caroline had come to attend the hearing, and Pergami thought it good to stay in Italy. Gradually, however, the accusing party became an object of ridicule. After all, the king himself remained a libertine all his life, and should be judged by the same yardstick. In London, a crowd stopped the Duke of Wellington on the street and demanded that he shout: "God save the queen!" The Duke was not taken aback. “Well, gentlemen,” he said, “if you insist, let it be your way. God save the queen - and may your wives be like her. "

Caroline, Princess of Wales. Unknown artist, c. 1820

In the end, the government had to withdraw its bill, but Georg was already making plans for revenge. It was decided that Caroline could not be crowned with the king at Westminster Abbey. Attending the ceremony, she was not allowed inside because she did not have an invitation card. When rumors of Napoleon's death reached London, the king was informed that his greatest enemy was dead. "My God," replied the king, "is she really no more!"

Portrait of Lady Coningham, 1801, Sir Thomas Lawrence. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham.
Elizabeth Coningham (née Denison), Marquess of Coningham (31 July 1769 - 11 October 1861), was an English courtier and noblewoman. She was the last lover of George IV in the United Kingdom

Caroline died in 1818. Georg celebrated this event by taking on a new mistress, Lady Coningham. This stout lady was the wife of a respected Irish peer and had five grown children.

The portrait of Lady Elizabeth Coningham, daughter of the Marquis, is commonly mistakenly identified as the Marquis herself. Portrait, painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence in the early 1820s, is in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon

A poem appeared in the tabloid leaflet, perpetuating the meeting of such large - in weight and size - people:

Very pleasant activities at your leisure -
Here is a fat thigh he will scratch a friend,
They will wash down the cake with a bucket of claret,
And there are no thoughts in their little eyes.
To create such bodies,
Heaven has worked hard
And if the king sleeps with such a girlfriend,
He no longer needs a pillow.
It seemed that this strange relationship gave the king new strength. Lady Cowper testifies that, according to Georg, "he never loved so much before and now feels ashamed of his boyhood." Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary George Canning has been instructed to send Lady Coningham's former lover Lord Ponsonby to Buenos Aires.

“I have never seen a man so in love,” wrote Princess Lieven, although - and this is not surprising - Lady Hartford viewed this connection with less enthusiasm. In her opinion, "the king's new love is ridiculous and ridiculous, if you take into account the age of both lovers." (It should be said that Lady Coningham and Lady Hartford were of the same age.) At the same time, she confessed that, "knowing the king very well, she never took the liberty of talking to him about his mistresses."

Georg's behavior has not improved over the years. In July 1821, when the Archbishop of York was preaching at Westminster Abbey on the duty of the sovereign to protect his people "from the pernicious influence of vice and unbelief," the sovereign himself "nodded, blinked, sighed, and devoured Lady Coningham with his eyes."

Anna Maria Crouch (1763-1805)

The king has lost influence over the government and has lost the respect of the people. When Lady Hartford left the royal bed, and her husband said goodbye to the post of Lord Hofmeister, George was no longer able to appoint the spouse of his new favorite Lady Coningham to this post. Lord Holland later admitted: "We encouraged all kinds of satire directed against him and his mistresses."

At the end of his life, the completely degraded king added drugs to drunkenness. This was one of the reasons for the unusual frankness of the obituary, published in 1830 in The Times: "We are unlikely to find anyone who his loved ones regret less." This was the harsh condemnation of society to its depraved monarch. However, this inglorious and shameless prince-regent retained something bright in his soul. This is what he asked in his will: "Let the portrait of my adored wife, my Maria Fitzgerbert, hang from my neck on a string, as I wore during my life, and let it be placed exactly on my heart." When Mrs Fitzherbert heard about this posthumous testimony of love, "large tears rolled out of her eyes."

Four Georgians ruled England for more than a century, from 1714 to 1830. None of them were particularly mourned by their compatriots, and the poet Walter Savage Landor wrote this scathing epitaph:

We will talk about four Georgians -
Praise be to the Creator that he stopped baking them.
Some say (and their ardor is understandable),
That the worst of the Georgians was the First.
But sometimes we discern the voice,
What was worse than the First George was the Second.
Well, is there a man in the world
What good word would you say about the Third?
But the Fourth said goodbye to us,
And the Georg family, thank God, ceased.

To be continued