A Girl's Guide to Authordom

Without…emptiness filling up everything Charlotte’s death forever changed Leopold. The warmth he concealed beneath a reserved nature was now “replaced for ever by a loveless chill.” It was written that “it was grief to look at him. He seemed so heartbroken.”  The Princess of Wales’s post mortem was performed and Charlotte was prepared for burial. Leopold stood guard as his son was wrapped in…

By the royal couple’s first wedding anniversary, Leopold and Charlotte were expecting their first child. All commented on the growing royal belly. The queen (her grandmother and the one from Bridgerton) said, “Princess was so large that she was likely to have twins and her figure was so immense (to me not natural) that I could not help being uneasy to a considerable degree.” The medical team was…

Before Princess Diana, there was Charlotte, Princess of Wales who lived the greatest romance of a lifetime.

A Royal Wedding  The day of the royal wedding arrived. And much like when Diana and Charles, Wills and Kate even Meghan and Harry, the crowds gathered outside Clarence House along the Mall between Carlton House and Buckingham House long before the wedding time at nine pm.  In the early afternoon, Leopold visited his bride before returning to Clarence House. The crowds outside yelled for him…

Get Me To The Church On Time

Wishing And Hoping Now, that Charlotte had chosen the prince for her, she wished to receive her father’s approval and quickly. Her uncle advised her to wait until November when Parliament would sit so another push would be made. Meanwhile, Charlotte was now at Warwick House with even less freedom while Leopold was on the continent with the Russian army to destroy Napoleon’s army.  Soon,…

Better Than Prince Charming

Prince Leopold A Boy General… On 16 December 1790, the youngest of six children of the Duke Francis of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld entered the world. Prince Leopold George Christian Fredrick hailed from a family with seven hundred years of family history.  As the youngest child, Leopold would not inherit the dukedom so he would have to make his own way in the world either as a solider or a diplomat.…

Ease, beauty, grace and romanticism: French Revolution style

French Beauty Vaucouleurs, France. The Lorraine region. On 19 August 1743, Jeanne Bécu came into the world. History remembers her as Madame du Barry, the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France.  Jeanne was the illegitimate daughter of Anne Bécu, a seamstress, and possibly Jean Jacques Godard. Jeanne’s mother worked for Monsieur Billiard-Dumonceaux and his Italian mistress, Francesca. Now…

A Princess In Need Of A Prince

Royal marriages rarely include love instead duty is the other four-letter word used. Most royal couples hope for some form of compatibility between the prospective bride and bridegroom. And for Princess Charlotte and the Prince of Orange, such an outcome was hoped for as well. The first meeting between the royal pair was to happen over a dinner party her father was throwing. For the party,…

A Royal Marriage…Perhaps?

A Princess With Benefits The Prince Regent had marriage on his mind. Not for himself but for his daughter and the man he had his eye on William VI—Slender Billy—the Prince of Orange. Slender Billy hated the British but there was a threat a bigger threat—Napoleon and Britain was his only hope to defeating the Corsican. Napoleon had taken the throne of Holland and with it William’s seat so a…

Who's That Girl? An Art Mystery Needing Solving

When I was searching for the next portrait for the What Was Worn series, I came across this portrait, Lady Holding an Orange Blossom and knew with the first glance that this one was it. Why? Her face captured me. This unknown lady reminded me of a friend I had during my teenage years. My friend and I had grown apart and I have seen her in decades but I wonder about her and her life. Where she…

A Regency Princess whose life was cut short

It’s 1811 and George III is mad and his son, George has gone from the Prince of Wales to the Prince Regent. And George did as George loved to do—he decided to throw a grand fête at Carlton House. As the invites went out, Charlotte waited for her own to appear on her table. She waited in vain. Public favor and attention couldn’t be ripped off the Prince Regent and set upon his daughter or worse,…

Charlotte Augusta: The People’s Princess

The lone child of the Prince of Wales and his utterly unwanted wife resided above her parent’s apartments in the nursery of Carlton House. When Charlotte was a year old, her mother moved out of Carlton House and to a place five miles away in Blackheath. Charlotte, Princess Of Wales Not that either parent could be describe as tentative yet, she saw more of her father than her mother since she…

The Man Made The Clothes: What Was Worn

The idiom goes the clothes make the man. In the 1600s that was certainly true. Through fabric, colors, and style, a person’s position in society was announced without a word. In this installment of What Was Worn, we are continuing with Renaissance Artemisia Gentileschi’s work of art entitled Esther Before Ahasuerus. The last installment centered around Esther’s garments and accessories. This…

A Rotten Wedding: A Regency Marriage Gone Wrong

The Prince of Wales, George, (who would go on to be crowned George IV—son of George III—the Mad King who lost America) loved the finer things in life—fashion, art, architecture, and fine food. He spent every shilling of his allowance on his interests. And he had a very fine allowance. The Prince received an annual allowance of 60,000 pounds from the Privy Purse and as the Duke of Cornwall (as…