Category: Regency Era

Articles about the Regency era

Napoleon’s reluctant summer cruise

Approaching St. Helena by ship – as Napoleon likely saw the island from the HMS Northumberland in 1815.

 

This summer the cruise ship industry is getting back on its feet after being shut down by the pandemic for 15 months. According to the Cruise Lines international Association, 31.5 million passengers are expected to board a cruise ship in 2023, surpassing 2019 pre-pandemic numbers.

For many, a summer cruise means a fun vacation, a journey to anticipate and an opportunity to escape mundane cares and responsibilities. But a summer cruise 208 years ago promised a different experience for Napoleon Bonaparte.

That August the former Emperor of France set out unwillingly on a special voyage, designed just for him. His ship was no luxury liner; it was more like a prison transport, taking him to his final place of exile.

Consequences of Waterloo

I doubt Napoleon knew he would wind up in St. Helena after two Coalition armies, led by the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian Prince Blücher, decisively defeated the French forces at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. But he must have suspected that his glorious career as a European emperor had run its course.

Napoleon on the Bellerophon in Plymouth Sound after surrendering onboard to Capt. Maitland. Artist Charles Eastlake hired a boat to take him to the ship, and he sketched Napoleon from the boat.

Napoleon’s first stop after his defeat was Paris. There he methodically prepared for the next phase of his life. After all, it wasn’t the first time he’d lost a battle and been forced into exile.

However, Napoleon’s stay on the Mediterranean island of Elba in 1814 following the Treaty of Fontainebleau didn’t last long. He traded this relatively cushy exile for another shot at glory when he escaped to France on February 26, 1815, and assembled an army.

After vanquishing Napoleon four months later at Waterloo, Coalition commanders were determined not to let history repeat itself. This time, the consequences of defeat would include a much stricter exile for their former enemy. However, Napoleon still tried to exert some control over where he would spend the rest of his life.

First, though, he had business to attend to. In Paris, he abdicated his throne in favor of his son. Which incidentally didn’t work – the French throne went to Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI, the unfortunate monarch who was guillotined during the French Revolution.

The next step in Napoleon’s retirement plan was to escape France and go to the United States. He was even promised a passport to the U.S. by the French provisional government.

But the promised passport never materialized. So Napoleon decided to take matters into his own hands. He went to Rochefort, a port on the southwestern coast of France. Still determined to go to the U.S., he hoped to slip past the Royal Navy blockade.

A thwarted escape 

Napoleon boarding the HMS Bellerophon just outside of Rochefort on July 15, 1815.

But Napoleon’s dreams of escape evaporated when he saw the tall ships of the Royal Navy blocking every conceivable exit. So, on July 15, 1815, Napoleon accepted the inevitable and surrendered to Captain Frederick Maitland aboard the HMS Bellerophon, a British man-of-war anchored off the small island of Aix near Rochefort.

“I have come to put myself under the protection of your prince [that would be the Prince Regent] and your laws,” said the man who was once a feared British foe.

Next, the Bellerophon carried the former Emperor of the French (now known simply as General Bonaparte) to Plymouth and Torquay Harbor on the north shore of Tor Bay.

At Torquay Napoleon stayed on the ship, becoming a tourist attraction for the curious who clustered onto small boats and rowed out into the English Channel hoping to catch a glimpse of the defeated emperor.

If Napoleon thought he’d ever get off a Royal Navy ship while in England he was sadly mistaken. British officials vowed they wouldn’t make the same blunder they’d made in 1814.

So they decided to exile their old enemy to a remote location far away from Europe and any chance of a comeback. On July 31, Napoleon was told that he was headed for St. Helena, an island off the coast of Africa.

Concerned that the aging Bellerophon couldn’t make the voyage, the Navy transferred Napoleon to another ship, the HMS Northumberland, which set sail for St. Helena on August 7, finally leaving British waters on August 9.

Napoleon left the British Isles without ever having set foot on British soil. In fact, he would never return to Europe at all, alive at least.

~~

Sources for this post include:

  • “From Waterloo to the island of St. Helena,” by Joanna Benazet and Irène Delage, October 2015 (translation Rebecca Young); Napoleon.org, the history website of the Fondation Napoleon
  • The Wars of Napoleon: The History of the Strategies, Tactics, and Leadership of the Napoleonic Era, by Albert Sidney Britt III, The West Point Military History Series, Thomas E. Greiss, Series Editor, Department of History, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, Avery Publishing Group Inc., Wayne, New Jersey, 1985.
  • “The Cruise Industry Is Back—and Breaking Pre-Pandemic Travel Records,” by Simmone Shah, Time Magazine, March 16, 2023

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

Beau Brummell and the Snub that Backfired

A ball held in London’s Argyle rooms, as depicted by Isaac Cruikshank in 1825

This month marks the anniversary of one of the most famous snubs in history, or at least in Regency history. For it was in July of 1813 that Beau Brummell snubbed the Prince Regent at London’s Argyle rooms. And that snub, for whatever momentary satisfaction it may have given Brummell, marked the beginning of the end of his career as the undisputed arbiter of men’s fashion and manners in Regency England.

Here’s how it happened:

Beau Brummell, engraving from a miniature by John Cook

Brummell and a trio of his aristocratic chums (Lord Alvanley, Sir Henry Mildmay, and Henry Pierrepoint) decided to host a masquerade ball to celebrate the money they had won gambling at Watier’s Club.

The four dandies reluctantly invited the Prince Regent to their party, primarily because His Royal Highness was determined to attend despite the fact that he had recently quarreled with Brummell.

When he arrived at the ball, Prinny greeted Brummell’s friends but ignored the Beau.

Brummell retaliated by inquiring in a high-pitched voice that penetrated the room’s din: “Alvanley, who is your fat friend?”

Now, the Prince Regent was extremely sensitive about his ever-increasing girth, so he was mortified and infuriated by Brummell’s remark, so much so that he never spoke to the Beau again.

And even though the Prince Regent was enormously unpopular with his subjects, and Brummel’s social standing remained undiminished after the snub (at least for a time), the net effect of the Beau’s unkind remark was that he forever lost his royal patron.

Highly unflattering 1819 caricature of the Prince Regent by George Cruikshank

The damage didn’t seem too bad at first. Despite being shunned by the Regent, for the next few years Brummell remained popular among the ton. Even without Prinny’s favor, he still had many upper class friends and was able to keep his position as the acknowledged leader of fashion.

But Brummell was addicted to gambling, and it was not long before his debts got the better of him. It became increasingly difficult for him to find anyone who would extend him a line of credit, and he piled up thousands of pounds in debts he could not repay.

So the Beau was forced into exile, fleeing to France in 1816 to avoid arrest. He never returned to England, much less to his former glory as the unrivaled authority on what constituted sartorial elegance in Regency London.

Once a king of London’s high society, Brummell died in Caen in 1840 after a stint in debtor’s prison. He ended his days in dire poverty, ravaged mentally and physically by syphilis, dirty and unkempt – a state that was a far cry from his former fastidiousness.

To the end of his life, the Beau hoped the rift between himself and his former patron would heal, especially after the Prince was crowned King George IV in 1821. Unfortunately, a reconciliation never took place.

Whether retaining the future king as a lifelong friend rather than making him an enemy in 1813 would have altered Brummell’s sad fate is impossible to know, but easy to conjecture.

So there you have it – the snub that triggered the downfall of a social lion. This story is a good reminder that a witty  remark can sometimes ricochet, hurting the one who hurled it.

That was certainly true for Beau Brummell.

Statue honoring Brummel in London’s Jermyn St. by Irena Sedlecka, erected in 2002

 

Sources for this post include:

  • The Prince of Pleasure and his Regency, by J.B. Priestley, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, NY 1969
  • Beau Brummell, by Hubert Cole, Mason/Charter, New York, 1977

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Grown Ladies and Gentlemen Taught to Dance

Since properly brought up young ladies and gentlemen learned to dance before they were old enough to be out socially, one assumes this piece satirizes the rising middle class and their pretensions. Notice that “taught to dance” is italicized and followed by exclamation points. The people to the left appear to be learning posture tortuously as well.

Published by Wallis & Son, artist unknown. From the British Cartoon Collection of the Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons.

Off to the Races! The Royal Ascot

Depiction of the Ascot Gold Cup race, by James Pollard, 1834

June is a busy month in the UK’s royal calendar. In addition to the King’s Birthday Parade (also known as Trooping the Colour), on the second Saturday of June there’s the Royal Ascot – arguably the most famous horse race in the world.

The Royal Ascot races, held every year, span five days in the middle of June, from Tuesday through Saturday. This year’s event took place last week on June 20-24.

Fabulous hat seen in the Royal Enclosure at the 2009 Ascot

It’s the social event for the sporting season, and a must for everyone who can afford tickets, especially the upper classes who go to see and be seen in their formal clothes. Some female guests like to display their hats – which can be huge, show-stopping creations or whimsical “fascinators.”

Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, 1964

As to the social importance of this royal racing event, who can forget the scene in My Fair Lady when Professor Higgins takes his pupil, Eliza Doolittle, to the Ascot races to prove that he has transformed her from a Cockney flower girl into a “real lady?”

But the Ascot races have a history that started long before the Edwardian setting of George Bernard’s famous play. It’s a history that includes our favorite time period, the Regency.

Here a selective timeline of that history, (as detailed on the Royal Ascot Hub, linked below), from the inception of the races through the mid 1820s:

1711: Queen Anne, an avid horse racing fan, starts a racing tradition at East Cote in London. Her race, called Her Majesty’s Plate, takes place in August and carries a prize of 100 guineas. The race was open to any horse, mare or gelding that was six years or older and capable of carrying a rider weighing 12 stone (168 pounds).

Queen Anne, painted by Michael Dahl, 1705

1744: A ceremonial guard called the Greencoats is formed. The Guard got its name from a rumor that their green uniforms were sewn with fabric left over from curtains made for Windsor Castle. By the early 19th century the guards’ duties expand to include crowd control. Today, Greencoats still can be seen assisting attendees of the Ascot races.

1752: By the mid-18th century the popularity of the annual races, especially among the ton, is becoming apparent. Peers like the Duke of Bedford complain that when he visits London during the races he can find “no soul to dine or sup with.” Surrounding the races are other diversions, and attendees can watch cockfighting and prize-fights, gamble in gaming tents, listen to balladeers, see freak shows and marvel at lady stilt-walkers.

1783: A new rule states that jockeys must wear the colors of their horse’s owners. Up to this point, jockeys could wear whatever colors they wished, making it confusing for spectators to follow the race.

Late 18th century: Men in the Royal Enclosure must don black silk top hats, or “toppers.” Vintage top hats, made from the original material of silk hatter’s plush, are very rare and valuable now. If you can find one that fits your head (apparently men’s heads were smaller 200 years ago) it can cost a small fortune – tens of thousands of pounds.

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Beau Brummel caricature by Richard Dighton, 1805

Early 19th Century: A general dress code for upper class men attending the races develops. Influenced by Beau Brummell, one-time friend of the Prince Regent,  men abandon the bright colors and ornate embroidery of 18th century fashion for plain white waistcoats, and pantaloons, worn with a black cravats. The emphasis is on cleanliness, quality fabrics, and expert tailoring.

1807: This year the Gold Cup, Ascot’s oldest surviving racing event, is introduced. Winners of the Gold Cup today still receive – and get to keep – an engraved gold trophy.

1813: Ascot Heath becomes the new home of the races, thanks to an Act of Enclosure, passed by Parliament. Although the property actually belongs to the Crown, the act guarantees that the land will be used as a racecourse, open to the public.

1822: Prinny, now King George IV, orders the construction of a two-story seating stand at the racecourse. Access to the Royal Enclosure is granted only by the king’s invitation.

1823: The tradition of Ladies Day, also known as Gold Cup Day, starts. It gets its name from an anonymous poet, who describes this day, Thursday of the racing week, as Ladies Day, “when women, like angels, look sweetly divine.”

1825: King George IV inaugurates the first Royal Procession, a tradition which has endured to modern times. Each day of the five-day event begins with the king and queen, along with other members of their royal family, arriving at the racing grounds in horse-drawn landaus. They drive in a procession along the track before going into the Royal Enclosure to watch the races.

There was much excitement at this year’s Royal Ascot when King Charles’s horse, Desert Hero, won Thursday’s marquee race, the King George V Stakes. Desert Hero, ridden by jockey Tom Marquand, was bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II. The odds against the horse winning were long – 18 to 1 – making the victory all the sweeter.

This is King Charles’ first Royal Ascot win as a reigning monarch. It’s yet another first for the newly crowned king.

AscotFinishingPost.JPG
The finishing post at the Ascot racecourse, photo by John Armagh, 2007.

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Sources for this post include:

The Royal Ascot Hub

“King visibly moved as horse bred by Queen Elizabeth wins at Royal Ascot,” by India McTaggart, Royal Correspondent and Tom Cary, Senior Sports Correspondent, The Telegraph, June 22, 2023

“King Charles III claims his 1st Royal Ascot winner; Dettori rides to victory in Gold Cup,” by The Associated Press, June 22, 2023

All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

Trooping the Colour

The 2013 ceremony, which hasn’t changed much over the last 200 years. The two-rank formation of soldiers shown here is a tribute to Wellington’s successful tactics at the Battle of Waterloo.

This month on the second Saturday in June, a curious and uniquely British ceremony took place, as it does every year. Trooping the Colour is a centuries-old tradition full of pomp and pageantry, where anything can, and sometimes does, happen.

King Charles and Queen Camilla after their coronation on May 6, 2023

Also known as the Sovereign’s Birthday Parade, the event officially honors not only the sovereign’s birthday but also the infantry regiments of the British Army.

Typically taking place on the second Saturday in June, it’s one of the biggest events on the royal calendar every year, along with the State Opening of Parliament in May.

The parade starts at Buckingham Palace and goes along the Mall to the Horse Guards Parade grounds, and then to Whitehall, before going back again to Buckingham Palace.

About 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians took part in this year’s ceremony. This year’s event was especially noteworthy since it marked the first time the newly crowned King Charles III was honored.

Also this year Charles put his own stamp on the ceremony by reviving the tradition of the monarch leading the parade on horseback.

The last time a horse-mounted sovereign led Trooping the Colour was over thirty years ago, when Queen Elizabeth did so in 1986. For the remainder of her reign, she rode in a carriage at the ceremony.

Charles II, circa 1660-1665, by John Michael Wright

The tradition of Trooping the Colour traces its origins back to the reign of Charles II in the 17th century.

Starting in 1748, during the reign of King George II, it became an occasion to publicly celebrate the king or queen’s birthday, no matter what month or day the reigning monarch was actually born. (King Charles was born on November 14, 1948.)

“Colour” is another name for the brightly-colored battalion flags associated with the Five Foot Guard regiments (including the Scots Guards, Irish Guards, Welsh Guards, Grenadier Guards, and Coldstream Guards).

These flags not only showcase the individual spirit of each regiment but also commemorate its fallen soldiers.

In times past, there was a very practical reason to publicly display the “colour” like this – so that the soldiers would be able to recognize the flags of their comrades in the heat of battle.

Every year one of the five Foot Guard Regiments is chosen to display its flag.  This year the 1st Battalion of the Welsh Guards got to troop its color through the ranks of the assembled regiments. The honorary Colonel of the Welsh Guards is Prince William.

The inspection of the military troops and horses typically lasts about two hours. At the conclusion of this year’s event, King Charles and Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a flyover of about 70 RAF (Royal Air Force) aircraft.

George III, sick and unkempt in his final years. Engraving by Henry Meyer, 1817

This was a reprise of a flyover event originally planned for Charles’ coronation in May. That display had to be cut short due to bad weather.

The planes used in the flyover included Hurricanes and Spitfires from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Also, 18 modern Typhoon fighter jets spelled out “Charles R” (short for Charles Rex) in the sky to honor the king.

Trooping the Colour has been an annual event since the mid-18th century, with a few notable exceptions.

One exception was during the nine years of the Regency, from 1811 to 1820, when the king’s birthday parade was suspended due to King George III’s seclusion and illness. And the military parades were halted again during World War I and World War II.

There have also been a few memorable, unscripted moments, too, during this annual event, especially in the 20th century.

For example, in 1970 a guardsman rather spectacularly fainted while the Queen was reviewing the troops.

The Queen and her horse appear nonplussed by the fallen soldier ,who, though unconscious, has kept admirable form rather than collapsing into a crumpled heap.

And in 1981, a fame-hungry and delusional teenager fired six blank shots, point-blank range, at the Queen as she rode by with her procession from Buckingham Palace, on her way down the Mall to the Horse Guards Parade grounds.

Queen Elizabeth won a lot of praise that day as she kept her composure and her startled horse firmly under control. The young man was wrestled to the ground, charged with treason, and served a five-year prison sentence. When the man who shot blanks at the queen got out of jail at age 20, he changed his name and made a new life for himself.

I think he got off easy, considering how convicted traitors have been treated in the past!

Nothing that dramatic happened at this year’s event, though the King’s horse was notably restless and hard for the king to handle at times, perhaps most embarrassingly while the national anthem was being played.

Temperatures on the day of this year’s Trooping the Colour were in the high 70s, and I’m sure the king’s heavily decorated Welsh Guards uniform was hot for him to wear, but Charles sat ramrod straight on Noble, his horse, throughout the ceremony.

I suppose you could say the new king proved himself to be a real trouper as he led his first official Trooping the Colour!

King Charles on his horse Noble, at 2023’s Trooping the Colour

 

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Sources include:

“King Charles’ Horse Fails to Keep Still During National Anthem in Clip,” by Jack Royston, Newsweek, June 21, 1923

“What to Know as King Charles Takes Part in His First Trooping the Color Birthday Parade as Monarch,” by the Associated Press, June 17, 2023

 

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

 

Members’ Regency Fiction Releases for June 2023

On the 1st of each month, Regency Fiction Writers publishes our FREE online newsletter, The Regency Reader, to anyone interested in Regency Fiction (1780-1840). The publication features author interviews, tidbits about the Regency era, and a listing of new titles from members and non-members. Members’ releases also appear here on the blog. Submit your June Regency-set Fiction Release or Regency Author Article by May 24th, to appear in the June issue. Information submitted after May 24th will appear in the July issue. (Subscribe now!)

For more information about an author, click on author’s name, website, or show/hide the blurb for the book.

New This Month

 

Cover Image for Three Wicked Nights with a Notorious Earl

Sandra Sookoo

Book Title: Three Wicked Nights with a Notorious Earl
Author Name: Sandra Sookoo
Release Date: 06/13/2023
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Three Wicked Nights with a Notorious Earl
Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: New Independence Books (indie label)
Content Rating: Burning (Hot)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/13/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

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Can a marriage arranged in childhood survive the earl’s infamous reputation?

The Honorable Miss Evangeline Rigsby has been engaged from the age of five to a man about whom she has only heard improper tales. On her twenty-sixth birthday, she is sent to the wild Cornish coast to wed her reclusive betrothed, sight unseen, and with no choice in the matter, for he holds her father’s vowels and the mortgage to his townhouse in London. Beyond annoyed, she is more than ready for a challenge of thwarting the wicked earl at every turn.

Sebastian Hamilton, unrepentantly corrupted Earl of Reddingham, has been rejected from the London ton for a myriad of reasons. As duties and responsibilities press in, he’s compelled to put his life in order, and since he has been engaged from a young man of fifteen, it’s time to make the sacrifice. The one saving grace of being leg-shackled is introducing his innocent bride to forbidden carnal pleasures. Perhaps she might help him regain his rightful place in society and respectability.

Following a rather tempestuous nuptial ceremony, the earl sets out to initiate Evangeline into the world of scandal and sin. As each sensual night passes, confidences are exchanged that provide a closeness physical intimacy doesn’t. Shared emotions surprise them both, enhanced by mutual heat and attraction, but as an unexpected romance grows, fears creep in to stall their union. When a vicious squall blows in on the coast, they’ll need to decide that vulnerability and wanting love isn’t as horrid as they previously thought.

But will three wicked nights be enough…

Cover Image for The Lady's Daring Gambit

Sandra Sookoo

Book Title: The Lady’s Daring Gambit
Author Name: Sandra Sookoo
Release Date: 06/26/2023
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The Lady’s Daring Gambit
Series: Diamonds of London #2
Genre: Regency Romance Suspense
Publisher: New Independence Books (indie label)
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/26/2023
Author Website: https://www.sandrasookoo.com

Show/Hide Blurb

She needs to ferret out his secrets. He’s doing his level best to keep them.

Miss Honor Winslow wants revenge. Her father has been missing since the war with Napoleon ended. Then a week ago, a letter arrived from him asking for help, but it wasn’t signed, and no address had been included. Needing answers, she enlists the help of one of her friends, who has connections to the Home Office. If the old, pompous windbags there won’t listen, she will do the job herself, despite her physical difficulties following a minor apoplexy.

All Mr. Gideon McGarrett wants out of life is peace, and nearly forty, it’s finally within reach. Ready to close his last mission, the only thing he needs to do is extract a man of high military rank from where he’s hiding after being wounded. The one thing that stands in the way of a spotless career is the damned interference of a clever and vulnerable woman who insists on joining his mission.

As Honor and Gideon bicker during the journey north, heated awareness springs from forced proximity, and all too soon that desire becomes distracting, especially when a faux engagement is offered out of necessity. Once in the Lake District, when they locate her father, the woman who wants him dead has also arrived. It will take some smart negotiating and perhaps a fight to unravel the mess. Only then can the pair make a go at a life together—if they can stop hiding their emotions and let down their guards to enjoy the ride.

Cover Image for Duke in Name Only

Caroline Warfield

Book Title: Duke in Name Only
Author Name: Caroline Warfield
Release Date: 06/01/2023
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Duke in Name Only
Series: The Entitled Gentlemen
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.carolinewarfield.com

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Misfortune is an excellent teacher.
When Phillip Tavernash, Ninth Duke of Glenmoor, discovers his title is held fraudulently, he embarks on a journey to North America determined to succeed on his own. It doesn’t go well. He has no idea what a fish out of water he will be.
Nan Archer had to summon enough backbone to stand up to her father and older brother, who moved their family across the frontier every time civilization reached any clearing in which they’d made a stake. She has landed on the banks of the Mississippi and built something of her own, the tavern Archers’ Roost. She will go no further.
When Nan’s brother dumps a pathetic traveler, robbed, beaten, and wounded on her tavern floor, she takes him in as she would any wounded duck. That he called himself duke is cause for hilarity.
Attraction blooms easily, but can Phillip look past his life of privilege to find what he’s looking for deep inside himself? Can he convince her she’s the answer to his search?
Is he a duke or a bastard? Does it matter in the end?

Cover Image for Not Quite A Duchess

Alyssa Alexander

Book Title: Not Quite A Duchess
Author Name: Alyssa Alexander
Release Date: 06/05/2023
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Not Quite A Duchess
Series: Servants to Spies
Genre: Regency Georgian Romance Suspense
Publisher: Alyssa Alexander Romance LLC
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/05/2023
Author Website: https://www.alyssa-alexander.com

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London 1794

Tess Murray, once a maid in a fashionable London townhouse, traded her apron for a pair of breeches to become a spy—a decision that cost her the man she loved. Determined to become a spymaster and command her own team, Tess is hunting a traitor smuggling muskets to France.

Sebastian Moore, Duke of Northfield, spent ten years fighting to save his family’s reputation. When he finds Tess in his warehouse—and muskets hidden among the goods ready to be shipped—he realizes everything he has worked for is at stake.

He might be a suspect, and she might be a spy, but passion has no rules.

Cover Image for The Viscount's Code

Ellie St. Clair

Book Title: The Viscount’s Code
Author Name: Ellie St. Clair
Release Date: 06/23/2023
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The Viscount’s Code
Series: Reckless Rogues
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Prairie Lily Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/23/2023
Author Website: https://elliestclair.com

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Drawn together to break a code, will Hope and Anthony fight for their forbidden love?

His family name sullied after his father was branded a traitor, Anthony, Lord Whitehall, is fed up with all of the ton. His only allegiance is to his small group of daredevil friends, which is why he agrees to help break a code that is discovered as the next clue in their treasure hunt. The code he didn’t realize he would have to break? One in the form of an angelic blond woman who sees the world in sunlight.

Lady Hope Newfield believes love is worth waiting for — it just hasn’t found her yet. Then a surly viscount takes up residence at her family’s country home. She cannot help the irresistible pull to him as he attempts to solve the code, despite the fact that her father has strictly forbid any connection between the viscount and his daughters.

As the hunt to break the code intensifies, so does the danger that follows them, Anthony’s own search into the past, and the irresistible attraction between Hope and Anthony. Will they listen to her father and the voices of reason in their heads, or give in to all of their desires?

The second book of the Reckless Rogues series is a grumpy vs. sunshine, forbidden love, one-bed-only steamy regency romance featuring a beautiful, cheerful heroine, and a surly viscount who needs to move on from his past.

Cover Image for All Duke and Bothered

Mariah Stone

Book Title: All Duke and Bothered
Author Name: Mariah Stone
Release Date: 07/25/2023
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All Duke and Bothered
Series: Dukes and Secrets
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Mariah Stone
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 07/25/2023
Author Website: https://mariahstone.com/

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Brooding Duke. Notorious rake. Driven by grief. Forcing his enemy’s daughter into marriage for revenge. About to lose his heart.

Vengeance. Preston Seaton, the Duke of Grandhampton will bring down the man who killed his brother through any means necessary. So when Lord Neville Beckett auctions off his daughter’s hand in marriage to pay his debts, Preston makes a bid Beckett can’t refuse—evidence of murder.

Dreaming of a career as an artist, Penelope welcomes her future as a spinster. So when her father accepts the proposal of a man who despises her, she longs to flee. But she cannot abandon her poor, old father to his destruction. Moving into the powerful duke’s huge mansion, she wonders if she will ever escape this cold, dark prison.

Convinced Penelope played his brother for a fool and got him killed, Preston has no intention of losing his heart. But the sunny artist is soon filling his home with light and joy. Could a forced marriage forged from hatred ever lead to true happiness? And can Preston forgive himself for desiring the only woman his brother ever loved?

Cover Image for Return of the Scandalous Lady

Barbara Monajem

Book Title: Return of the Scandalous Lady
Author Name: Barbara Monajem
Release Date: 06/28/2023
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Return of the Scandalous Lady
Series: Perilous Secrets
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild) Spicy
Format: eBook
Release Date: 06/28/2023
Author Website: http://www.BarbaraMonajem.com

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Years ago, Frances Templestone left her husband and ran away to France with a lover. Now she’s back, widowed and more mature, but mostly unrepentant. A social pariah, she stays out of sight while her daughter Julia has her first London season…
Until Julia, who is as impetuous as her mother, sneaks out to a masquerade with an unsuitable man. Frances hastens to the rescue, and when she sees Julia about to get into a coach with a handsome stranger, she accuses him—very publicly—of being a rake who ruins innocent girls.

Soon she learns that Jasper, Lord Canterwell, is a respectable man. He wasn’t at the masquerade seeking an easy conquest. On the contrary—his daughter is missing, and he is searching for her everywhere. Aghast, Frances offers to help him. Rudely, he spurns her.

But Frances is determined and Jasper is desperate. Might a scandalous lady with a warm heart and a lively mind be just what a respectable gentleman needs?

Cover Image for Fortune Favors the Viscount

Caroline Linden

Book Title: Fortune Favors the Viscount
Author Name: Caroline Linden
Release Date: 06/27/2023
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Fortune Favors the Viscount
Series: The Wagers of Sin
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: self
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook AudioBook
Release Date: 06/27/2023
Author Website: https://www.carolinelinden.com

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There’s no such thing as luck …

Once a lady, reduced to a governess, Emilia Greene is desperate. The child in her care has been left orphaned and penniless, and Emilia will do anything to protect her—even track down the girl’s only relation. That man would be the next Viscount Sydenham, and surely he’ll be gentleman enough to take care of his cousin.

Or scruples …

Unfortunately, that man is Nicholas Dashwood, the dangerously attractive owner of the notorious Vega Club. He’s no gentleman, and he doesn’t want a title. What Nick needs … is a governess, for his younger sister.

When your heart is at stake

Their precarious bargain throws them together in unsettling proximity, until neither can deny their attraction to each other. But Nick has enemies, and Emilia has secrets, and taking a gamble on happily-ever-after could cost them everything.

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Cover Image for The Bond

Sanna Brand

Book Title: The Bond
Author Name: Sanna Brand
Release Date: 05/15/2023
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The Bond
Series: The Secret Tales
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Afterworld Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook .PDF
Release Date: 05/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.sannabrand.com

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Lady Rosamund Fielding hides a secret so terrible it could ruin her, her family, and Major General Lord Rhys Lansdowne, the man she loves. Rose and Rhys were inseparable in childhood—their friendship the one shining light in Rose’s dark upbringing.
Yet when Rhys proposes, Rose refuses, for he can never know her shameful truth.
Returned from the Napoleonic wars and now the Marquess of Ravenscroft, Rhys is determined to uncover the reason behind Rose’s rejection and win her hand and heart once and for all.
Meanwhile, Rose’s father, Earl Fielding, demands Rose accept Brigadier Viscount Pennworth’s marriage proposal, threatening dire consequences if she does not obey.
Time is of the essence as Rose faces this difficult crossroads, where she is forced to confront past demons and choose a path.
Should she marry Rhys, deceiving him, and forever be branded a liar in his eyes? She cannot.
Wed Pennworth? Never.
Or flee? Away from Rhys, away from her father, and away from all she holds dear.
Rose has faced many dangerous choices in her life. Will this final one destroy her?

 

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Cerise DeLand

Book Title: If I Loved You
Author Name: Cerise DeLand
Release Date: 04/20/2023
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If I Loved You
Series: Matrimony!
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance Mystery Suspense Historical Fiction
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 04/20/2023
Author Website: https://cerisedeland.com

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Love does not advertise. Love counts no wrongs.
But when a young woman needs to escape, she’ll take an ad to find a man she can adore.
Verity Carr wants a new life in a new town far from her old home—and the vile threat to her body and soul. She comes from a fine family, has a good education and a bold ambition to become a portrait artist. She’s ready to live her life with a man who will value her. A husband she can can respect—and in time, hopefully love. Yet valiant though she is, she questions if she can escape her past and one who will not let her go.

Can a gentleman to whom great wrong was done, build a new life with a true wife and leave the past behind?
Miles St.John Armstrong never should have wed his first wife. He vows to select a new one with logic and careful investigation—via advertisement. The young lady he selects is Verity Carr who is no ordinary woman. She has charm, wit and a beauty that sears his soul. No wonder theirs is a relationship built quickly on admiration and trust. No wonder their marriage becomes one built of mutual mad passion.
But devoted as they are, their past comes to call.
And it asks of them the ultimate question: Can their love withstand the tempest and survive the terror?

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Diana Lloyd

Book Title: The Last Lord Standing
Author Name: Diana Lloyd
Release Date: 05/15/2023
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The Last Lord Standing
Series: What Happens in the Ballroom
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Entangled
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.dianalloydbooks.com/

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Always the rogue and never the gentleman, Kerrigan Northam doesn’t worry about anything beyond his own pleasures. But lately, his noble friends have been considering marriage—specifically, the charms (and generous fortune) of the refreshingly pert Lady Olivia Liberty Chalford. Now they want Kerr to keep her from considering any other eligible suitors…by courting her himself!

Libby is averse to the very idea of marriage. Why be auctioned off when she has a far more enticing—if scandalously modern—plan for her future? So when she’s rescued by a wickedly dashing gentleman who claims to be something of a scoundrel, Libby thinks she’s found the perfect partner in crime…

It’s the perfect ruse. Libby gets a secret accomplice and Kerr’s in the uniquely coveted position of being able to kiss the comely, spirited Libby as thoroughly—and as often—as possible. But as their courting charade continues, Kerr’s gone from wondering how long until she discovers his secret…to how long until he’s madly in love with her.

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Jean Luntz
Danielle Dabbs

Book Title: The Bequest
Author Name: Jean Luntz
Release Date: 05/23/2023
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The Bequest
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance Historical Fiction
Publisher: amazon kdp
Content Rating: Clean Sweet Suspense
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/23/2023
Author Website: https://jeanluntz.com

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Rivals to their uncle’s fortune, Harwood and DeFrose have seven days to meet the stipulations of Uncle Edgar’s will or face disgrace, financial ruin, and death instead of a lifestyle of position and comfort. Harwood must marry, DeFrose must prevent it. Soon, the cousins are rivals not only for the money, but also for Rebecca – Harwood’s chosen bride. However, they do not know that another, lurking in the shadows, stands to gain if they both fail. What will happen by the time the dust clears and the inheritance is resolved at midnight on the last day?

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Alexa Aston

Book Title: Designs on the Duke
Author Name: Alexa Aston
Release Date: 06/08/2023
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Designs on the Duke
Series: Suddenly a Duke
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/08/2023
Author Website: https://alexaaston.com/

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A twin back from war, his brother dying in his arms. A woman who has traveled the world and learned from those travels. Two people who don’t fit into the constricting rules of London’s Polite Society . . .

Major Elijah Young never met his father, the Duke of Bradford, who believed his young wife betrayed him and gave birth to twin sired by another man. Now, two deaths have changed the trajectory of Elijah’s life—and he is the new duke. Elijah vows never to wed and father children, wanting the ducal line to end with him.

Miss Abigail Trent lost both her parents and spent a decade with her guardian, journeying to exotic countries around the world. Abby takes her experiences and begins Trent Furnishings, sketching furniture influenced by her travels and having craftsmen bring her visions to life. The ton is who can afford her designs, and so she enters Polite Society to bring notice to her business.

Neither Elijah nor Abby want marriage—and love is out of the question—yet their attraction grows as she accepts his commission to furnish his entire London townhouse.

Will this unlikely pair admit their feelings for one another—or will their lack of communication prevent them from finding lasting happiness?

Find the answer in Alexa Aston’s Designs on the Duke, Book 4 in Suddenly a Duke.

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Ally Hudson

Book Title: Courting Scandal
Author Name: Ally Hudson
Release Date: 07/04/2023
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Courting Scandal
Series: Most Imprudent Matches
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Busy Nothings Books
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild) Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 07/04/2023
Author Website: https://www.allyhudson.com

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Lady Juliet Dalton is not a romantic. She needs to escape her tyrannical father’s clutches, and marriage to a charming, conveniently rich duke will suffice. But, when she overhears an argument between her father and a mysterious stranger, she learns the horrifying truth. Her father wagered and lost their entire fortune, her dowry included.

Juliet is furious at her father and terrified of the fiancé willing to marry her penniless. She knows the future holds more of the same, cruelty and drudgery. But when that stranger, Michael Wayland, crashes into her life and refuses to leave, her days become anything but dreary. The handsome, enigmatic owner of a notorious gaming-hell, Michael owns her father’s debts. And, to Juliet’s astonishment, is winning her heart as well.

Unable to stay away, Juliet must decide whether the love she never expected is worth the wrath of her father and the contempt of the ton. When the temptation of Juliet’s bright eyes and alluring smile proves too much, Michael must make his own choice whether to bet on love.

Courting Scandal is a captivating and heartwarming debut novel by Ally Hudson. If you like Regency romances with witty, jaded rakes, and self-reliant heroines, then you’ll love this sweet and steamy story of found family, healing, and unexpected love.

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Aubrey Wynne

Book Title: Earl of Griffith
Author Name: Aubrey Wynne
Release Date: 06/01/2023
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Earl of Griffith
Series: Once Upon a Widow #6
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Plato Publishing
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook AudioBook .PDF
Release Date: 06/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.aubreywynne.com

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Sorrow and Regrets…
Lady Helen was a young, naïve girl when she gave up everything for a charismatic Irishman and eloped. Finding herself a widow after a few short years, she is disillusioned with love and raising a three-year-old daughter alone. Her homecoming will be bittersweet as she faces her family, asking forgiveness for the lies and the worry she has caused. But her first encounter in England isn’t a family member. Helen’s brother has sent a handsome Welshman to fetch her, and he soon charms both her and her daughter.

An unexpected ray of sunshine…
Conway, Earl of Griffith assumed his title and Welsh estate at birth. His world is gray, full of responsibility, and lonely. Griffith agrees to help a friend, escorting his sister from Bristol to London. At first sight, Lady Helen illuminates his dull world, and her daughter adds laughter to his life. But he senses the woman’s haunted eyes are not only from grief and wonders what secrets she holds close to her heart. As his affection turns to love, Griff must find a way to convince the beautiful widow that love is worth another chance.

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Andrea K Stein
Louisa Cornell

Book Title: Savoring the Chef
Author Name: Andrea K Stein
Release Date: 05/31/2023
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Savoring the Chef
Series: Sex, Lies, & Forbidden Desires Book 3
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Muirgen® Publishing, LLC
Content Rating: Burning (Hot)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/31/2023
Author Website: https://www.andreakstein.com/

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Will secrets destroy them or ignite the love of a lifetime?

Lionel Carrington-Bowles, wealthy gentleman with a reputation for scandalous behavior and even more scandalous friends, is on every ton hostess’s invitation list. He is devilishly handsome, delightfully charming, and the sort of man who dances with all of the ladies, even the wallflowers. When the journal in which he and his friends have entered their erotic exploits since their days at Cambridge disappears, he has far more reason than his three friends to track down his pages and destroy them. Should Society discover his preference in bed partners his life would move from scandalous to dangerous. When he discovers a cook at one of London’s most exclusive private clubs has his pages, he is determined to do whatever he must to retrieve them.

Nathaniel Charpentier arrived in London at sixteen with a bit of money, a small dog, a letter of recommendation, and some quite unique kitchen skills. Ten years later he is the chef de cuisine for Club Ambrosios, one of London’s most exclusive private clubs. His talents have made the club a huge success and has secured his future for the first time in his life. He derives his latest inspiration from the purchase of an erotic journal from London’s leading pornographer. His own amorous adventures, however, have taken a sinister turn with the arrival of a series of threatening notes. He fears his past has come to London to find him.

The spark between Lionel and Nathaniel is a roaring fire from the moment they meet and gives both good reason to keep their secrets for fear of ending the consuming passion between them. Once revealed, their secrets may destroy them or may be the very reason to take a chance on the love of a lifetime.

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Cheryl Bolen

Book Title: Vindicated by a Viscount
Author Name: Cheryl Bolen
Release Date: 06/02/2023
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Vindicated by a Viscount
Series: The Beresford Adventures
Genre: Regency Mystery
Publisher: Cheryl Bolen
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/02/2023
Author Website: https://www.cherylbolen.com

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While walking down a London street, Miss Georgiana Beresford nearly has apoplexy when she catches a glimpse of a woman she thought was dead. She whips around—which results in her falling into the muddy street and injuring herself. To her mortification, an exceedingly handsome man whisks her into his arms and insists on carrying her home.

Charles, Viscount Churston, had not been able to remove his eyes from the beautiful woman he was only too happy to assist. He delivers her home and learns she’s a Beresford, the sister of an Eton friend. When he calls to check on her the next day, Charles learns that his misguided act of chivalry has ruined her name. A malicious attack upon her has appeared in that morning’s London Gazette. There’s only one honorable thing to do. He must offer her marriage. Georgiana cannot deny her attraction to the handsome Lord Churston but laments that he’s only offering for her out of his sense of honor.

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Rebecca Leigh

Book Title: A Duke Is Always Intrigued
Author Name: Rebecca Leigh
Release Date: 06/06/2023
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A Duke Is Always Intrigued
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Self
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/06/2023
Author Website:

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Ian McDonough, Chieftain of Clan McDonough, and Scottish Duke of Sunbridge, has grown tired of the hassles of the London season, and his mother’s insistence that he find and marry an English bride was wearing thin. Of course, there was a time when he enjoyed all the frivolities the London season had to offer, but the responsibilities of his clan were waiting for him back at McDonough Castle in the Highlands of Scotland, and he determined it was time for him to take those responsibilities more seriously.
But thoughts of returning to Scotland fled his mind when he caught sight of a flash of blue silk at Redfield’s ball. He watched as the precocious lady skirted along the edge of the ballroom and he was instantly intrigued.
The lady, Emma Presley, niece of Viscount Yelverton, was visiting London with her uncle and aunt. Upon meeting Miss Presley, Ian was instantly drawn to her, but Emma was not going to make things easy for him.
Emma had never been to London before and knew because of her circumstances, it was unlikely that she would ever visit again. So, she was determined to make the most of the season.
The woman was as exasperating, impulsive, headstrong, and beautiful. But regardless of the trouble she caused, Ian knew that she belonged to him, and he would do anything to keep her and take her back to Scotland as his duchess. No matter who objected, even Emma.

Waterloo in Caricature

Wellington and Blücher stuffing Napoleon into a can, French political cartoon, 1815

 

In addition to paintings, architecture, and literature, the Battle of Waterloo inspired caricature art immediately after the victory and for some time after. Prints detailing the outcome and effects of the famous battle appeared in Europe and Great Britain, and they make fascinating viewing today.

In England, many of these cartoons were featured in Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, a periodical published in London by Rudolph Ackermann. One of Ackermann’s most noted contributors was the caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson.

Here’s Rowlandson’s take on the Treaty of Paris, signed on November 20, 1815. News of the treaty reached England three days after the signing, and on November 27, the day General Peace was celebrated in London, this Rowlandson etching was exhibited at Ackermann’s shop in the Strand:

 

Here you can see Wellington leading the Bourbon King Louis XVIII up to the French throne while Blücher fires his gun at Napoleon, who falls down the stairs.  The figure of Justice reclines on a cloud  above the scene, holding her scales and her sword. The message here is that Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo has brought peace throughout Europe, and the rightful order of government has been restored to France.

Here’s another Rowlandson cartoon, also published in 1815 in the aftermath of the great battle:

Napoleon, his arms held up in surrender, is being attacked on both sides by Wellington and Blücher. Notice how the emperor’s crown is knocked off his head, while Napoleon’s  Imperial Eagles desert him and fly away.

Caricaturists on both sides of the English Channel didn’t hold back their opinions on the more gruesome outcome of the famous battle. For example, here a French artist comments on the dreadful cost of Napoleon’s defeat. Death, holding his scythe, fiddles as Napoleon rides into the fray.

And here’s a British satire comparing the battle to a fox hunt.  “Death of the Corsican-fox,” shows Wellington capturing Napoleon and holding him up in triumph to a pack of baying hounds.

This print is a revision of a remarkably similar 1803 cartoon by the noted caricaturist and printmaker, James Gillray. In Gillray’s print, the Corsican-fox (again Napoleon) is caught alive during a hunt by King George III. Gillray died on June 1 of 1815, but had he lived to see Waterloo I think he probably would have done this Wellington version, or something very much like it, himself.

There may not have been social media in 1815, much less cable news shows delivering endless commentary and divergent opinions. But the talented caricaturists of the time, both British and French, certainly knew how to  get their points of view across!

 

Images from the Bodleian Libraries and Wikimedia Commons

 

Remembering a Historic Battle

 

“Waterloo,” painting by Denis Dighton (1792-1827), showing British Hussars of Viviene’s Brigade

 

June 18 is the 208th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, the epic 1815 encounter that put an end once and for all to Napoleon’s dream of conquering Europe.

Napoleon

The emperor had made a glorious comeback to power a hundred days earlier, after escaping from his exile on the island of Elba, just off the western coast of Italy. Napoleon seemed unstoppable as he made his way in triumph across Europe. It took the combined and well-coordinated military forces of Great Britain and its allies to halt the Emperor’s progress.

Waterloo was where it all come crashing down for Napoleon. His mighty army and his plans for the future of Europe were vanquished on a field near a village just south of Brussels.

On that summer day over 200 years ago the peaceful Belgium countryside was engulfed by the sights and sounds of a deadly battle: the thunder of drumbeats and hoofbeats; frantic shouts; booming guns; the thick, pervasive smog of musket and artillery fire; and the smell of death.

Engaged in fierce fighting against Napoleon’s Armée du Nord was a multi-national military force of British, Dutch and German troops under the command of the Duke of Wellington.

Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1815-1816)

Joining Wellington was the Prussian army led by Prince Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. This wasn’t the 72-year-old Blücher’s first encounter with Napoleon; five years earlier he’d defeated the French general at the Battle of Leipzig.

For such a short conflict Waterloo was extremely bloody, with approximately 50,000 casualties combined on both sides and thousands more wounded, captured or missing. And that carnage doesn’t account for the hordes of dead horses strewn over the battlefield, a gruesome contribution to the hellish scene.

Even worse, because of inadequate medical resources many of the wounded lingered on the open field for days, with no doctors to treat their injuries and prevent unnecessary and excruciating deaths.

So what did the battle achieve? Here are few reasons why the Battle of Waterloo merits attention:

  • First and foremost, Waterloo firmly squashed Napoleon’s hopes for a French-dominated Europe. Following his defeat, the emperor was forced into exile once again, this time on the distant South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.
  • The Battle of Waterloo also marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars, which spanned more than 15 years and caused the deaths of an estimated 3-6 million soldiers and civilians. If Napoleon had won the battle, the map of Europe would have been redrawn and the course of history changed.
  • Following Wellington’s victory at Waterloo, Britain became the world’s most powerful nation, expanding its empire and dominating international politics.
  • The aftermath of Waterloo also ushered in a period of relatively long-lasting peace, with no further armed conflict between the major powers in Europe for almost 40 years, until the Crimean War of the mid-1850s. The British army didn’t fight again on Western European soil for almost a hundred years, up to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

A smaller but enduring effect of the battle was the introduction of the word “Waterloo” into the English vernacular, as in the expression “meeting my Waterloo” or facing an ultimate defeat, just as Napoleon did that day.

Gebhard von Blücher

When news of Wellington’s momentous victory reached Great Britain, spontaneous celebrations broke out across the nation. Church bells were rung, people cheered, and students were given half-day holidays. Later, monuments were erected, and bridges and railway stations were renamed in honor of the battle. Poets such as Robert Southey and Byron immortalized the conflict in their work, while artists recreated battle scenes on their canvases.

The famous conflict is still commemorated today, though without the same fervor. Next Sunday, on June 18, the Battle of Waterloo will be remembered and celebrated, as it is every year, by a few regiments of the British Army. In much the same way, the Royal Navy commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar on Trafalgar Day every October 21.

By all accounts, Napoleon was shocked that he’d lost the battle.  Apparently he’d gone into the battle brimming with confidence and could only conclude that it must have been Fate that made him lose. He called June 15 “an incomprehensible day” and claimed “we ought to have won.” In September of 1815, as he set sail to his final exile on Saint Helena, Napoleon even said: “Ah! If it were only to be done over again!”

I think Wellington and Blücher would have disagreed.

A reflective Napoleon in exile on Saint Helena, painted by Franz Josef Sandmann circa 1820

***
For more on the Regency and the Battle of Waterloo, see:

The Regency Years During Which Jane Austen Writes Napoleon Fights Byron Makes Love & Britain Becomes Modern, by Robert Morrison, WW. Norton & Co., 2019

“Commemorating Waterloo,” from Age of Revolution: Making the World Over 1745-1848, an educational legacy project from Waterloo 200 Ltd, the official body recognized by the UK government to support the commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo during its bicentenary in 2015 and beyond.

“Napoleon on Waterloo – What did Bonaparte Actually Say About His Most Famous Defeat?” by Shannon Selin, November 19, 2019,  Military History Now

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

 

The Radical’s Arms and The Six Acts

George Cruikshank, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This rather nasty cartoon appears, ostentatiously, to mock the French Revolution and often has that as a caption. It certainly includes badges and symbols of the French radicals. Trampled under the feet of the central figures, however, are the Magna Carta, the crown, and symbols of the established church.

The image was published in November 1819. Three months before, the 15th Hussars and the Cheshire Volunteers attacked a group of 60,000 demonstrators in Manchester. It came to be called The Peterloo Massacre. It is an expression of the fears of the upper classes.

The rally had been called to focus on the depressed economy, the price of bread, and the need for political reform. The industrial cities of the north had no voice in Parliament. It was by all accounts peaceful and orderly. A march of that size by the populous fed upper-class terror of revolution and the Reign of Terror. Nervous officials touched off the unprovoked attack. That November, at about the time this cartoon was published, the powers that be pushed through The Six Acts, six reactionary and repressive laws. They were:

  1. The Training Prevention Act made any person attending a meeting for the purpose of receiving training or drill in weapons liable to arrest and transportation.
  2. The Seizure of Arms Act gave local magistrates the power to search any private property for weapons and seize them and arrest the owners.
  3. The Misdemeanours Act reduced the opportunities for bail and allowed for speedier court processing in order to push through faster convictions.
  4. The Seditious Meetings Act required the permission of a sheriff or magistrate in order to convene any public meeting of more than 50 people if the subject of that meeting was concerned with “church or state” matters.
  5. The Blasphemous and Seditious Libels Act (or Criminal Libel Act)  toughened the existing laws to provide for more punitive sentences for the authors of such writings.
  6. The Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act extended and increased taxes to cover those publications which had escaped duty by publishing opinions and not news.

 

Wigged Out

In my post earlier this week, I discussed the Titus haircut that was all the rage during the late 1790s-early 1800s, and how women sometimes used wigs to augment their fashionably cropped hair.

So I thought it would be fun to show you a set of period caricatures of women in wigs. Of the four women, only one (on the top left) seems unhappy with her wig. The rest of them seem pretty satisfied, though why is beyond me.

As a side note, check out the jewelry on the woman in the red wig. It appears to include a chain that goes from earring to earring under her chin. I think this piece emits a definite punk vibe – nearly 200 years before punk fashion hit the London scene.

I hope you enjoy this satirical glimpse into the past!

Wellcome Library Collection, London; copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only license CC BY 4.0

 

 

Help For Bad Hair Days, Regency Edition

Wellcome Images; © CC BY 4.0

An experience most of us can relate to is a bad haircut. You go to the hairdresser with high hopes that are soon dashed – either the first time you look in the mirror after your cut or in the days that follow. And for me, at least, the shorter the hair cut the more likely the regrets.

Regency women were no different. But for them getting their hair cut short wasn’t just one option out of many at the hair salon. It meant adopting a daring, ground-breaking style that broke the centuries-long tradition of long hair for women.

When the fad for short hair first hit the fashion scene in the 1790s, many women eagerly embraced it. And it’s easy to see why: the new look gave women welcome freedom from the elaborate hairdos of the 18th century.

Women were happy to say goodbye to powder and pomatum, along with sitting for hours as hairdressers teased and arranged their long hair over pads and cushions to make their coiffures rise to unlikely heights.

Woman with a Titus cut circa 1810. (Wikimedia Commons)

From 1800 to 1810, the style that was all the rage for women (and men, too) was à la Titus. This short cut was a more natural look, styled with hair devoid of any powder.

The grisly inspiration for this cut was the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. Aristocrats condemned to death on the guillotine had their hair cut short to make it easier for the blade to do its work. Like its fashion inspiration, the à la Titus style also exposed the neck.

Besides the dictates of fashion, another reason this unpowdered style became popular in Great Britain was the Duty on Hair Powder Act passed by Parliament in 1795.

In effect, this “duty” was a tax that had to be paid by anyone purchasing hair powder. There were a few exceptions (including the royal family, some clergy and military men) but otherwise there were substantial fines for anyone who violated the act.

So, this seemed to many like a good time to ditch the hair powder. There was still a need for a bit of pomatum; scented pomades were used to create a tousled effect in the short hair, and to define curls. But powder was definitely yesterday’s news. (Never fear – hair powder has made a comeback in our time, reincarnated as dry shampoo.)

Georgian woman with fashionable hairstyle, 1779. (Wikimedia Commons)

Some people were appalled by the new style. They deemed it unnatural, ugly and masculine. But that didn’t deter fashionable women from embracing the Titus cut. It must have felt liberating after the towering, time-consuming hair styles they’d worn before.

Plus, this daring new hair cut had a few variations. For those who were reluctant to chop all their hair off, tresses could be cut short in the front and sides, and left long in the back.

That may sound familiar – the look resurfaced in the 1970s-80s with the mullet, which is perhaps better known as “business in the front, party in the back.”

Jane Austen might have had something resembling a mullet. In a letter to her sister Cassandra in 1798 she explains why she loves to wear caps:

“I have made myself two or three caps to wear since I came home, and they save me a world of torment as to hair-dressing, which at present gives me no trouble beyond washing and brushing, for my long hair is always plaited up out of sight, and my short hair curls well enough to want no papering [curlers].”

Jane in one of her caps.   (Wikimedia Commons)

Sometime later Jane confessed she’d gone ahead and had her short hair curled, but she regretted it. She thought the curls looked “hideous and longed for a snug cap” to hide them.

Jane also was critical of the Titus cut, especially the short-all-over variation. When her niece Anna boldly chopped off her locks in accordance with the latest fashion, Jane described the girl’s “sad, cropt head,” adding that the haircut was very much regretted. (I couldn’t help but wonder, though, if it was Aunt Jane or Anna who regretted the cut.)

Women who got the cut and then had second thoughts about sporting short hair found ways to modify their new look. And they had more than caps to work with.

Wigmakers did a thriving business, and in addition to wigs, fashionable women used swatches of false hair and braids to augment their shorn locks. Feathery plumes, flowers, jeweled combs and ropes of pearls also dressed up their new hairstyles.

Today we have many more choices when it comes to how we wear our hair.  However, one thing remains constant from the Regency era to our own: with or without a new hairstyle, a bad hair day is always a possibility.

 

Woman getting a hairstyle she may  regret. (Wellcome Images; © CC BY 4.0)

 

Sources for this post include:

Voices from the World of Jane Austen, by Malcolm Day, a David & Charles Book, F&W Publications, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, 2006.

Jane Austen’s Guide to Good Manners, Compliments, Charades and Horrible Blunders, by Josephine Ross and Henrietta Webb, published by Bloomsbury USA, New York, 2006.

The Regency Companion, by Sharon H. Laudermilk and Teresa L. Hamlin, Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London, 1989.

“Coiffure Legendaire: the story of Titus haircut, the 1st short hairstyle,” by the editorial team of Estetica Hair Magazine, January 12, 2014.

The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty, by Lauren Stowell and Abby Cox, with Cheyney McKnight, Page Street Publishing Co., Salem Massachusetts, 2019.

Members’ Regency Fiction Releases For May 2023

On the 1st of each month, Regency Fiction Writers publishes our FREE online newsletter, The Regency Reader, to anyone interested in Regency Fiction (1780-1840). The publication features author interviews, tidbits about the Regency era, and a listing of new titles from members and non-members. Members’ releases also appear here on the blog. Submit your June Regency-set Fiction Release or Regency Author Article by May 24th, to appear in the June issue. Information submitted after May 24th will appear in the July issue. (Subscribe now!)

For more information about an author, click on author’s name, website, or show/hide the blurb for the book.

New This Month

Cover Image for The Bond

Sanna Brand

Book Title: The Bond
Author Name: Sanna Brand
Release Date: 05/15/2023
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The Bond
Series: The Secret Tales
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Afterworld Publishing
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook .PDF
Release Date: 05/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.sannabrand.com

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Lady Rosamund Fielding hides a secret so terrible it could ruin her, her family, and Major General Lord Rhys Lansdowne, the man she loves. Rose and Rhys were inseparable in childhood—their friendship the one shining light in Rose’s dark upbringing.
Yet when Rhys proposes, Rose refuses, for he can never know her shameful truth.
Returned from the Napoleonic wars and now the Marquess of Ravenscroft, Rhys is determined to uncover the reason behind Rose’s rejection and win her hand and heart once and for all.
Meanwhile, Rose’s father, Earl Fielding, demands Rose accept Brigadier Viscount Pennworth’s marriage proposal, threatening dire consequences if she does not obey.
Time is of the essence as Rose faces this difficult crossroads, where she is forced to confront past demons and choose a path.
Should she marry Rhys, deceiving him, and forever be branded a liar in his eyes? She cannot.
Wed Pennworth? Never.
Or flee? Away from Rhys, away from her father, and away from all she holds dear.
Rose has faced many dangerous choices in her life. Will this final one destroy her?

 

Cover Image for If I Loved You

Cerise DeLand

Book Title: If I Loved You
Author Name: Cerise DeLand
Release Date: 04/20/2023
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If I Loved You
Series: Matrimony!
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance Mystery Suspense Historical Fiction
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 04/20/2023
Author Website: https://cerisedeland.com

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Love does not advertise. Love counts no wrongs.
But when a young woman needs to escape, she’ll take an ad to find a man she can adore.
Verity Carr wants a new life in a new town far from her old home—and the vile threat to her body and soul. She comes from a fine family, has a good education and a bold ambition to become a portrait artist. She’s ready to live her life with a man who will value her. A husband she can can respect—and in time, hopefully love. Yet valiant though she is, she questions if she can escape her past and one who will not let her go.

Can a gentleman to whom great wrong was done, build a new life with a true wife and leave the past behind?
Miles St.John Armstrong never should have wed his first wife. He vows to select a new one with logic and careful investigation—via advertisement. The young lady he selects is Verity Carr who is no ordinary woman. She has charm, wit and a beauty that sears his soul. No wonder theirs is a relationship built quickly on admiration and trust. No wonder their marriage becomes one built of mutual mad passion.
But devoted as they are, their past comes to call.
And it asks of them the ultimate question: Can their love withstand the tempest and survive the terror?

Cover Image for The Last Lord Standing

Diana Lloyd

Book Title: The Last Lord Standing
Author Name: Diana Lloyd
Release Date: 05/15/2023
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The Last Lord Standing
Series: What Happens in the Ballroom
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Entangled
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/15/2023
Author Website: https://www.dianalloydbooks.com/

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Always the rogue and never the gentleman, Kerrigan Northam doesn’t worry about anything beyond his own pleasures. But lately, his noble friends have been considering marriage—specifically, the charms (and generous fortune) of the refreshingly pert Lady Olivia Liberty Chalford. Now they want Kerr to keep her from considering any other eligible suitors…by courting her himself!

Libby is averse to the very idea of marriage. Why be auctioned off when she has a far more enticing—if scandalously modern—plan for her future? So when she’s rescued by a wickedly dashing gentleman who claims to be something of a scoundrel, Libby thinks she’s found the perfect partner in crime…

It’s the perfect ruse. Libby gets a secret accomplice and Kerr’s in the uniquely coveted position of being able to kiss the comely, spirited Libby as thoroughly—and as often—as possible. But as their courting charade continues, Kerr’s gone from wondering how long until she discovers his secret…to how long until he’s madly in love with her.

Cover Image for The Bequest

Jean Luntz
Danielle Dabbs

Book Title: The Bequest
Author Name: Jean Luntz
Release Date: 05/23/2023
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The Bequest
Genre: Regency Traditional Romance Historical Fiction
Publisher: amazon kdp
Content Rating: Clean Sweet Suspense
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/23/2023
Author Website: https://jeanluntz.com

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Rivals to their uncle’s fortune, Harwood and DeFrose have seven days to meet the stipulations of Uncle Edgar’s will or face disgrace, financial ruin, and death instead of a lifestyle of position and comfort. Harwood must marry, DeFrose must prevent it. Soon, the cousins are rivals not only for the money, but also for Rebecca – Harwood’s chosen bride. However, they do not know that another, lurking in the shadows, stands to gain if they both fail. What will happen by the time the dust clears and the inheritance is resolved at midnight on the last day?

Cover Image for Designs on the Duke

Alexa Aston

Book Title: Designs on the Duke
Author Name: Alexa Aston
Release Date: 06/08/2023
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Designs on the Duke
Series: Suddenly a Duke
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/08/2023
Author Website: https://alexaaston.com/

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A twin back from war, his brother dying in his arms. A woman who has traveled the world and learned from those travels. Two people who don’t fit into the constricting rules of London’s Polite Society . . .

Major Elijah Young never met his father, the Duke of Bradford, who believed his young wife betrayed him and gave birth to twin sired by another man. Now, two deaths have changed the trajectory of Elijah’s life—and he is the new duke. Elijah vows never to wed and father children, wanting the ducal line to end with him.

Miss Abigail Trent lost both her parents and spent a decade with her guardian, journeying to exotic countries around the world. Abby takes her experiences and begins Trent Furnishings, sketching furniture influenced by her travels and having craftsmen bring her visions to life. The ton is who can afford her designs, and so she enters Polite Society to bring notice to her business.

Neither Elijah nor Abby want marriage—and love is out of the question—yet their attraction grows as she accepts his commission to furnish his entire London townhouse.

Will this unlikely pair admit their feelings for one another—or will their lack of communication prevent them from finding lasting happiness?

Find the answer in Alexa Aston’s Designs on the Duke, Book 4 in Suddenly a Duke.

Cover Image for Courting Scandal

Ally Hudson

Book Title: Courting Scandal
Author Name: Ally Hudson
Release Date: 07/04/2023
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Courting Scandal
Series: Most Imprudent Matches
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Busy Nothings Books
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild) Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 07/04/2023
Author Website: https://www.allyhudson.com

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Lady Juliet Dalton is not a romantic. She needs to escape her tyrannical father’s clutches, and marriage to a charming, conveniently rich duke will suffice. But, when she overhears an argument between her father and a mysterious stranger, she learns the horrifying truth. Her father wagered and lost their entire fortune, her dowry included.

Juliet is furious at her father and terrified of the fiancé willing to marry her penniless. She knows the future holds more of the same, cruelty and drudgery. But when that stranger, Michael Wayland, crashes into her life and refuses to leave, her days become anything but dreary. The handsome, enigmatic owner of a notorious gaming-hell, Michael owns her father’s debts. And, to Juliet’s astonishment, is winning her heart as well.

Unable to stay away, Juliet must decide whether the love she never expected is worth the wrath of her father and the contempt of the ton. When the temptation of Juliet’s bright eyes and alluring smile proves too much, Michael must make his own choice whether to bet on love.

Courting Scandal is a captivating and heartwarming debut novel by Ally Hudson. If you like Regency romances with witty, jaded rakes, and self-reliant heroines, then you’ll love this sweet and steamy story of found family, healing, and unexpected love.

Cover Image for Earl of Griffith

Aubrey Wynne

Book Title: Earl of Griffith
Author Name: Aubrey Wynne
Release Date: 06/01/2023
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Earl of Griffith
Series: Once Upon a Widow #6
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Plato Publishing
Content Rating: Sweet
Format: Print eBook AudioBook .PDF
Release Date: 06/01/2023
Author Website: https://www.aubreywynne.com

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Sorrow and Regrets…
Lady Helen was a young, naïve girl when she gave up everything for a charismatic Irishman and eloped. Finding herself a widow after a few short years, she is disillusioned with love and raising a three-year-old daughter alone. Her homecoming will be bittersweet as she faces her family, asking forgiveness for the lies and the worry she has caused. But her first encounter in England isn’t a family member. Helen’s brother has sent a handsome Welshman to fetch her, and he soon charms both her and her daughter.

An unexpected ray of sunshine…
Conway, Earl of Griffith assumed his title and Welsh estate at birth. His world is gray, full of responsibility, and lonely. Griffith agrees to help a friend, escorting his sister from Bristol to London. At first sight, Lady Helen illuminates his dull world, and her daughter adds laughter to his life. But he senses the woman’s haunted eyes are not only from grief and wonders what secrets she holds close to her heart. As his affection turns to love, Griff must find a way to convince the beautiful widow that love is worth another chance.

Cover Image for Savoring the Chef

Andrea K Stein
Louisa Cornell

Book Title: Savoring the Chef
Author Name: Andrea K Stein
Release Date: 05/31/2023
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Savoring the Chef
Series: Sex, Lies, & Forbidden Desires Book 3
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Muirgen® Publishing, LLC
Content Rating: Burning (Hot)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/31/2023
Author Website: https://www.andreakstein.com/

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Will secrets destroy them or ignite the love of a lifetime?

Lionel Carrington-Bowles, wealthy gentleman with a reputation for scandalous behavior and even more scandalous friends, is on every ton hostess’s invitation list. He is devilishly handsome, delightfully charming, and the sort of man who dances with all of the ladies, even the wallflowers. When the journal in which he and his friends have entered their erotic exploits since their days at Cambridge disappears, he has far more reason than his three friends to track down his pages and destroy them. Should Society discover his preference in bed partners his life would move from scandalous to dangerous. When he discovers a cook at one of London’s most exclusive private clubs has his pages, he is determined to do whatever he must to retrieve them.

Nathaniel Charpentier arrived in London at sixteen with a bit of money, a small dog, a letter of recommendation, and some quite unique kitchen skills. Ten years later he is the chef de cuisine for Club Ambrosios, one of London’s most exclusive private clubs. His talents have made the club a huge success and has secured his future for the first time in his life. He derives his latest inspiration from the purchase of an erotic journal from London’s leading pornographer. His own amorous adventures, however, have taken a sinister turn with the arrival of a series of threatening notes. He fears his past has come to London to find him.

The spark between Lionel and Nathaniel is a roaring fire from the moment they meet and gives both good reason to keep their secrets for fear of ending the consuming passion between them. Once revealed, their secrets may destroy them or may be the very reason to take a chance on the love of a lifetime.

Cover Image for Vindicated by a Viscount

Cheryl Bolen

Book Title: Vindicated by a Viscount
Author Name: Cheryl Bolen
Release Date: 06/02/2023
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Vindicated by a Viscount
Series: The Beresford Adventures
Genre: Regency Mystery
Publisher: Cheryl Bolen
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/02/2023
Author Website: https://www.cherylbolen.com

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While walking down a London street, Miss Georgiana Beresford nearly has apoplexy when she catches a glimpse of a woman she thought was dead. She whips around—which results in her falling into the muddy street and injuring herself. To her mortification, an exceedingly handsome man whisks her into his arms and insists on carrying her home.

Charles, Viscount Churston, had not been able to remove his eyes from the beautiful woman he was only too happy to assist. He delivers her home and learns she’s a Beresford, the sister of an Eton friend. When he calls to check on her the next day, Charles learns that his misguided act of chivalry has ruined her name. A malicious attack upon her has appeared in that morning’s London Gazette. There’s only one honorable thing to do. He must offer her marriage. Georgiana cannot deny her attraction to the handsome Lord Churston but laments that he’s only offering for her out of his sense of honor.

Cover Image for A Duke Is Always Intrigued

Rebecca Leigh

Book Title: A Duke Is Always Intrigued
Author Name: Rebecca Leigh
Release Date: 06/06/2023
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A Duke Is Always Intrigued
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Self
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 06/06/2023
Author Website:

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Ian McDonough, Chieftain of Clan McDonough, and Scottish Duke of Sunbridge, has grown tired of the hassles of the London season, and his mother’s insistence that he find and marry an English bride was wearing thin. Of course, there was a time when he enjoyed all the frivolities the London season had to offer, but the responsibilities of his clan were waiting for him back at McDonough Castle in the Highlands of Scotland, and he determined it was time for him to take those responsibilities more seriously.
But thoughts of returning to Scotland fled his mind when he caught sight of a flash of blue silk at Redfield’s ball. He watched as the precocious lady skirted along the edge of the ballroom and he was instantly intrigued.
The lady, Emma Presley, niece of Viscount Yelverton, was visiting London with her uncle and aunt. Upon meeting Miss Presley, Ian was instantly drawn to her, but Emma was not going to make things easy for him.
Emma had never been to London before and knew because of her circumstances, it was unlikely that she would ever visit again. So, she was determined to make the most of the season.
The woman was as exasperating, impulsive, headstrong, and beautiful. But regardless of the trouble she caused, Ian knew that she belonged to him, and he would do anything to keep her and take her back to Scotland as his duchess. No matter who objected, even Emma.

Still Available

Geraldine Burrows

Book Title: Wit and Witchery
Author Name: Geraldine Burrows
Release Date: 05/01/2023
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Genre: Regency Fantasy or Science Fiction Romance
Publisher: Glenarvon Press
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: eBook
Release Date: 05/01/2023
Author Website: https://geraldineburrows.com

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Annis Fulton is a wellborn young widow and a descendant of one of England’s oldest hereditary witch families. Trained in her secret heritage by her elderly nurse, Annis’s hedge witchery can’t save her from marriage to a cruel, much-older man in order to recover possession of her family’s ancestral estate.

Now happily widowed, she matches wits with Lord Nicholas Ryder with whom she has a long-standing quarrel. Ryder is determined to seduce her, for no other woman has aroused his ire and desire the way she has. Annis is equally determined to thwart his desire, and the two of them wage their private duel against the glittering backdrop of the London Season.

But they soon must join forces against a common enemy—Belle Barlow, proprietress of Covent Garden’s most decadent brothel and secretly the Red Queen of blood magic in London. She and Annis are born enemies, for white magic must always contend against the blood-fed red. But Annis is weakened in London, where she is cut off from the natural forces of hedge witchery and where her growing love for Ryder could prove her undoing.

And now Belle Barlow’s acolytes are readying a sacrificial altar for the white witch from the country who would dare to defy London’s Red Queen.

Isabella Thorne

Book Title: Searching for My Love
Author Name: Isabella Thorne
Release Date: 04/28/2023
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Series: Spinsters of the North
Genre: Regency
Publisher: Self
Content Rating: Sensual (Mild)
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 04/28/2023
Author Website: https://isabellathorne.com

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Miss Peggy Williams is no wilting flower. She does not need or want a man in her life.
Baron Whitefall wants to protect the love of his life and give Peggy all the luxuries she has missed
He just must convince her that he is everything she needs…and wants.
A slow burn proper Regency Romance.

Cover Image for Swept Into the Storm

Louise Mayberry

Book Title: Swept Into the Storm
Author Name: Louise Mayberry
Release Date: 05/05/2023
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Series:
Genre: Regency Romance
Publisher: Louise Mayberry
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/05/2023
Author Website: http://www.louisemayberry.com

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Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, 1824.

Sometimes storms can unearth the most precious treasure. . .

Ever since he unexpectedly inherited his father’s earldom in the Scottish Highlands, Cameron Dunn’s been searching for something, anything, to bring meaning to his new life—a search that reaches an abrupt end when he’s washed up, alone, on a deserted beach in Mexico.

Or at least the beach should be deserted. There’s no village for hundreds of miles. So who’s that beautiful woman walking toward him over the sand?

Letty Monro has a business to run, a plan for her future. Rescuing a shipwrecked earl wasn’t on the agenda. But the man’s desperate, so of course she’ll bring him to the British Settlement—for fifty pounds. And his signet ring for collateral. She’s even prepared to look past the fact he’s a peer, part of the system of oppression she despises.

As they begin their journey, sailing south through the Caribbean sea, Cameron finds himself falling for this guarded, stubborn businesswoman, and the heat smoldering between them threatens to burst into flame. Keeping her distance from the Earl of Banton will prove one of the greatest challenges Letty has ever faced. Especially when she notices, in the distracting warmth of his brown eyes, the one thing they have in common . . . How lost they both truly are.

Cover Image for Guarding the Widow Pellingham

Sandra Sookoo

Book Title: Guarding the Widow Pellingham
Author Name: Sandra Sookoo
Release Date: 05/12/2023
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Series: Willful Winterbournes #4
Genre: Regency Romance Suspense
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Content Rating: Spicy
Format: Print eBook
Release Date: 05/12/2023
Author Website: http://www.sandrasookoo.com

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Scandal is devastating… Graham Ashdowne—Marquess of Grantley—is gobsmacked. At the age of forty-one, he’s avoided society, but now that he’s decided to his duty to the title and the crushing reality the coffers are nearly empty, an acquaintance comes to call bearing outrageous news that has essentially upended his entire existence. Life is daunting at best and doesn’t help his stutter while in public. A distraction is most definitely needed despite the gossip dogging his footsteps.

Avoiding fun is wretchedly dull… Wealthy and independent, Mary Pellingham objects to the direction her life has taken. Widowed three years from a rather horrid marriage which she was glad to escape, she is thoroughly enjoying society but is not looking for another union. However, when a rejected suitor won’t leave her alone, she has no choice but to avoid the beau monde and accept the unlikely and quite accidental protection of an inexperienced but endearing marquess.

An accidental engagement can reverse unsavory circumstances… As Graham and Mary learn how to navigate the obstacles blocking their paths, unexpected desire flares hot, leading her to teach the shy lord a few carnal tricks, and that forced proximity leads to a surprising friendship. When the idea of romance sneaks in, the pair balks. Unless they acknowledge their feelings and give into the help of unexpected family, everything they’ve ever longed for will be lost, especially when a peer won’t take no for an answer.

Cover Image for An Engagement of Convenience

Regina Scott

An Engagement of Convenience
Series:
Book Title: An Engagement of Convenience
Author Name: Regina Scott
Release Date: 03/23/2023
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Genre: Regency Traditional Romance
Publisher: Edwards and Williams
Content Rating: Clean Sweet
Format: eBook eNovella
Release Date: 03/23/2023
Author Website: http://www.reginascott.com

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Chaperone Kitty Chapworth has foiled five elopements, four proposals of ill intent, and the worst first kiss in history, so she isn’t about to believe a gentleman’s silken promises. That is, until charming rake Quentin Adair returns to her life. Ten years ago, Kitty was instrumental in causing the poor fellow to be exiled to Jamaica in a tragic case of love gone wrong. When he requests her help to prevent his father’s ruin, she cannot refuse, even when helping requires her to pretend she is engaged to the handsome rogue at a summer house party.

Quentin has spent the last ten years becoming the man his father always hoped. Now he will not allow an old enemy to harm his family. Kitty is the perfect conspirator–sharp, witty, and fearless. But as danger threatens, Quentin finds that his priorities changing. Can a reformed rake convince the perfect chaperone to overlook propriety for love?

“The Queen of Hearts cover’d with Diamonds”

We’ve seen a glamorous, idealized version of Queen Charlotte in the first two seasons of the Bridgerton on Netflix and also in Queen Charlotte: a Bridgerton Story, the prequel now streaming.  But is that how Charlotte’s contemporaries saw her, particularly through the work of irreverent artists like James Gillray and other satirists?

Not so much.

For example, there’s the 1786 hand-colored etching shown above. It features Queen Charlotte taking a pinch of snuff (apparently she was addicted to it) while completely bedecked in jewels.

There are diamonds in her hair, in her turban, dangling from her ears, around her neck, sewn into her gown and on her fingers.  So much bling!

It’s a satiric look at the queen’s greed and her conspicuous display of wealth, especially the jewels she and the king were gifted by foreign dignitaries.

A decade later, a correspondent of the Irish peer Lord Charlemont referred to the middle-aged queen as “the old Queen of Diamonds.” If this print is representative of how the Court of St. James saw their queen, it’s easy to see why he used that term.

Here’s another print, from 1798, again mocking the supposed avarice of the queen. She’s shown rather simply dressed for a royal, but her elaborate hairstyle, festooned with jewels, gives off definite Queen-Charlotte-as-seen-in-Bridgerton vibes.

The 1791 print below illustrates more or less on the same theme, the greedy queen and king. It was done by the most notable caricaturist of the time, James Gillray. In this picture the king and queen are receiving their son, the Duke of York, and his wealthy bride.

It’s not a flattering portrait of Charlotte, who’s depicted with coarse facial features, dressed like a countrywoman but with a crown on her head. She’s eagerly scooping gold coins from her daughter-in-law’s dowry into her apron.

 

But not all caricatures of the queen and king were savage. Here’s a more flattering picture of the couple, shown here in 1803 enjoying an after-dinner dessert and entertainment. They are watching the angry protests of a doll-sized Napoleon with amusement.

Perhaps some patriotism kicked in while the artist was drawing this political cartoon; he portrays the king and queen looking pleasant and even attractive as they toy with Britain’s great enemy.

In many of the satiric prints I saw, Charlotte is dressed as a farmer’s wife, a reference to “Farmer George” the nickname often attached to the king.

Here’s an example, a caricature of the royal couple created by Richard Newton in 1792:

 

The king and queen are shown as farmers about to milk a cow, but a pair of geese has beat them to it. The farm is a far cry from the luxury of their royal digs at St. James Palace, but at least they look happy. And not a diamond in sight!

 

 

A Royal Love Story

 

Are you waiting, like me, for Season 3 of Bridgerton? If so, don’t miss the series prequel, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, now streaming on Netflix. This collaboration between Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes offers an in-depth look at one of Bridgerton’s most intriguing characters.

However, don’t mistake this prequel for a documentary. In a prologue to the six-episode series, narrator Julie Andrews points out that Queen Charlotte is not a history lesson but rather “fiction based on fact.”

The story of this oft-overlooked queen’s life deserves a closer look. Her marriage contract signed before she even met the king, the 17-year-old Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz arrived in London on a September afternoon in 1761. Hailing from a remote province in Germany, she couldn’t even speak English.

Six hours later she was marrying her 22-year-old fiancé in a small ceremony in the Chapel Royal at St. James Palace. And two weeks after that she was at her husband’s side at their coronation in Westminster Abbey.

History tells us Charlotte and George conceived 15 children, 13 of whom lived to adulthood. They are the parents of the Prince Regent, later George IV, the man for whom the our beloved Regency era is named.

But what about the private lives of George and Charlotte? How did they relate to each other as a couple?

Queen Charlotte by Joshua Reynolds, 1779 (c) National Trust, Hatchlands; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

This is the focus of the series. It delves into how the teenage queen learns to love her husband and accept his mental illness. The themes of love, marriage and commitment are explored not only through the story of Charlotte’s life, but also though the experiences of Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgeton, matriarch of the Bridgerton clan.

The narrative alternates between the 1760s, when the young queen begins her reign, to the latter Regency years, when Britain is in the grip of a constitutional crisis after the heir to the throne, Princess Charlotte of Wales, dies giving birth to a stillborn son.

Faced with the prospect of no legitimate royal heir (although there were plenty of illegitimate ones) the aging Queen commands her adult children to marry respectable spouses and produce babies. Otherwise, George’s line will die with him, his legacy obliterated, and she’s determined not to let that happen.

It wouldn’t be Bridgerton without the conspicuous interracial mingling at the highest levels of society, and this prequel addresses how that situation came about. Here the king’s mother, Princess Augusta, refers to this racial mixing as the “Great Experiment,” and implies that her choice of Charlotte as Britain’s queen is a large part of it.

Unfortunately, this part of the plot is entirely fictional. The premise is based on the popular belief that Charlotte had African ancestry, and thus she introduced a Black bloodline into the royal family.

1767 pastel portrait of Charlotte with her eldest daughter, by Francis Cotes.

Though this hypothesis has been bandied about for years, it’s never been proven. The discussion of Charlotte’s racial heritage resurfaced more recently when Prince Harry married Meghan Markle, a biracial woman.

Regarding the king and queen’s private relationship, we do know that contrary to the conventions of the time they often slept in the same bed, at least until his madness overcame him. And, although she seldom saw him after his condition deteriorated irrevocably in 1811, Charlotte remained her husband’s guardian until her death in 1818.

In my opinion this prequel is a worthy addition to the Bridgerton saga. It’s well-paced with lots of drama and steamy romance, the acting is top-notch, and the settings, including the costumes, are magnificent, whether the story takes us to the mid-18th century or the latter years of the Regency.

Production details aside, Queen Charlotte is a touching love story. Two young people, strangers at their wedding, learn how to love and care for each other as they also learn how to perform their duties as leaders of their country.

Their path wasn’t smooth, especially at first. But as Violet Bridgerton says many years later over tea with Queen Charlotte and Lady Danbury: “Love can bloom from the thorniest of gardens, can it not?”

And the queen, though somewhat disillusioned by this point, has to agree.

King George III and Queen Charlotte, in the 1770s

Have you seen Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

***

For more information, see:

“Bridgerton fans, rejoice! The Queen Charlotte prequel series is just days away,”  by Hope Cook, The Tatler, April 6, 2023

“Was Queen Charlotte Black? Here’s What we Know,” by DeNeen L. Brown, The Washington Post, December 27, 2020, updated February  25, 2021 (reprinted in The Seattle Times)

“The Blurred Racial Lines of Famous Families: Queen Charlotte” by Mario de Valdes y Cocom, written in 1997 and  updated March 11, 2021,  PBS. org, for  Frontline

 

Georgian Cartoon for May

Some thoughts

George IV’s attempts to rid himself of his wife absorbed the king, the country, and the press for much of 1820 and 1821. I love the look on the face of the man on the far right holding a pitcher that says, “Trial.”

Abstract:

Print shows George IV, “a conning stoker,” of some “Mischief brewing,” stirring up the “Flames of Persecution,” with “vengeance,” saying, “If this trial fail I’l brew no more.” Behind him is a vat “Filthy composition” into which flows “a pure stream to expose the secrets” which spills on a couple in an embrace, “How do you like it – non mi Ricordo.” Passing an open door is Caroline, “The brewers wife.” On the right are three men, one says, “Be just in all your dealings.” Another, holding a pitcher labeled “a trial” says, “I can’t swallow this, it is all froth.” The third says, “I wonder at our commander engaging in such a business.” Physical description: 1 print : etching, hand-colored. Notes: Forms part of: British Cartoon Prints Collection (Library of Congress).; Paper watermarked on lower right corner: 1820.; Title from item. Library of Congress Catalog: http://lccn.loc.gov/2004670128 

Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Fancy Dress

As the crowning of King Charles III nears, I can’t resist sharing this image of George IV in his full coronation glory in 1821.

Prinny’s coronation robes were so ornate he needed help in his progress down the aisles of Westminster Abbey. This 1823 painting of the King George’s coronation by Edward Scriven shows the Master of the Robes and the eight sons of various Peers of the Realm who were chosen to carry George’s train.

Charles appears to have a simpler style, so I doubt he’ll opt for a robe that’s as elaborate as his predecessor’s.

In fact, according to a recent Vanity Fair Magazine article, Charles has complained about the weight of his coronation clothes, and there’s concern at the Palace that he may find walking while wearing his heavy robes difficult. There’s even talk of building a ramp to the thrones in Westminster Abbey to make it easier for him.

Will Charles need a small army of  courtiers to carry his train, the way George IV did? We’ll just have to wait and see  what the newly crowned king wears on May 6!

 

Source:

“Report: King Charles’s Coronation Robes Are Sowing Havoc for Planners,” by Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair Magazine, April 12, 2023

The RFW Conference is Coming!

 

2023 Regency Fiction Writers Virtual Conference

“Navigating the Regency Era One Story at a Time”  July 13-15, 2023

Hello!

On behalf of the RFW Board of Directors, we’re thrilled to officially announce our 3rd annual Regency Fiction Writers conference, “2023 RFW Virtual Conference: Navigating the Regency Era One Story at a Time.” It will be conducted virtually via Zoom on July 13-15, 2023.

This Year’s Keynote Speakers

We’re even more excited to share with you our amazing keynote speakers for the conference, two ladies who are legends in the Regency storytelling world: Julia Quinn, the NY Times bestselling author and creator of the Bridgerton series, and RFW member Cathy Maxwell, a multi-award winner and NY Times and USA Today bestselling author.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn loves to dispel the myth that smart women don’t read (or write) romance, and if you watch reruns of the game show The Weakest Link you might just catch her winning the $79,000 jackpot. She displayed a decided lack of knowledge about baseball, country music, and plush toys, but she is proud to say that she aced all things British and literary, answered all of her history and geography questions correctly, and knew that there was a Da Vinci long before there was a code. On December 25, 2020, Netflix premiered Bridgerton, based on her popular series of novels about the Bridgerton family. Season 2 premiered on March 25, 2022, and season 3 is forthcoming.

Cathy Maxwell has been in publishing for thirty years. Yes, that makes her a war horse, i.e. she has seen a lot of stuff.  Over the course of that quarter of a century, Cathy has written forty historical romances, hit the New York Times and USA Today lists, been nominated for or won some nice awards, made dynamite writing friends, and has had the time of her life. Her latest book is A KISS IN THE MOONLIGHT. You can find out more about her at her website, or, if you wish to stalk her, you can find her on Facebook. She usually yaks back.

We are grateful to both authors for accepting our invitation to participate in our conference.

General Conference and Registration Information

The RFW Board voted once again to hold our annual conference virtually as we have the past three years. Conference Chair Cecilia (Cece) Melton and her committee of volunteers are hard at work creating yet another conference to remember.

Preliminary Conference Schedule July 13-15, 2023

Day 1, Thursday, will be dedicated to industry workshops and the business of writing, while Days 2 and 3, Friday and Saturday, will feature historical, marketing, and writing craft workshops. Cathy Maxwell’s RFW Member Keynote will occur on Friday, and Julia Quinn’s Guest Keynote Q&A will happen on Saturday.

The conference will culminate on Saturday evening with our Soirée. The evening will include breakout rooms, the final hours of our Silent Auction, and fellowship. Never fear, CeCe’s got a few surprises for us, too!

Conference Registration is now open!

Please join us for three days of Regency learning, fellowship and fun! Early Bird Registration is back with a special opportunity for early registrants (see below for more!).

Registration is as follows:

  • Early Bird – Saturday, April 1st through Thursday, June 1st
  • Regular – Friday, June 2nd through Friday, July 7th

There will be no late registrations.

Early Bird Special Opportunity: Submit Your Questions for the Julia Quinn Keynote Q&A

Do you have a question you’ve been dying to ask Julia Quinn? Maybe you’ve wondered how she came up with her character names? Or who her favorite actor was in the Bridgerton series on Netflix? Or how her story process has changed over time? Well, here’s your chance to ask.

When you register before the Early Bird deadline of June 1, 2023, you can submit your questions for the Julia Quinn Keynote Q&A!

Of course, we can’t guarantee to ask her every question we receive, but we will do our best to give you a shout-out during the Q&A if we ask your question. Remember…only Early Bird registrants are eligible to submit questions.

We’ll send a registration reminder and link prior to kick-off, so start thinking about what you want to ask Julia.

Conference Fees and Financial Assistance

The fees for the conference are as follows:

  • Early Bird (RFW Member) – $99
  • Early Bird (Non-Member) – $175
  • Regular (RFW Member) – $125
  • Regular (Non-Member) – $199

Not a member, but want to take advantage of member pricing? It’s easy! Join RFW for $65, then register for the conference at member pricing, and you’ll get the conference and a year’s membership for $10 less than non-member conference pricing alone.

For more information about RFW and all the benefits membership offers, as well as to join, visit our Membership page.

For questions about membership please contact Darlene Marshall, our Membership Director.

Until then, be safe and happy writing!

If You Liked These Popular Regency Romance Novels, Read These Historical Non-Fiction Books

By Katherine Grant

One of the reasons I love reading Regency romance novels is the opportunity to learn something new. As a history nerd, I often find a topic mentioned in passing and dive deep into a research rabbit hole to find out more.

That’s how I have become an “expert” in things as diverse as curricles, the history of buttons, and the presence of lemons in England.

Even more than that, as an author, I love to dig into the larger socioeconomic trends that shaped the Regency world. How many families could afford to hire governesses? Were their gowns really transparent? What was it actually like living on a sailing ship?

For those of you who love to mix historical non-fiction with your historical romance books, read on for research recommendations based on five popular Regency romances!

If You Liked These 5 Regency Romance Novels, Read These Non-Fiction Books

If you liked…

Accidentally Compromising the Duke by Stacy Reid
When Adeline sneaks into a gentleman’s bedroom, she thinks she will be caught in bed with her secret crush. Instead, she is compromised with a duke – who has a reputation for being reclusive, grumpy, and possibly cruel. In their ensuing marriage of convenience, Adeline learns that much of his behavior comes from the deep grief of losing his first wife in childbirth – and fear that he might lose Adeline the same way.

Try…

In the Family Way: Childbearing in the British Aristocracy, 1760-1860 by Judith Schneid Lewis
This fantastic book uses journals and letters from real British aristocratic women to explore what pregnancy was like in Regency England (and how it changed from the Georgian to Victorian periods). You’ll learn everything from the care provided by accoucheurs to how couples dealt with infertility. Since her focus is exclusively on the aristocracy, the book works well for anyone interested in those dukes of the Regency.

If you liked…

The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh
Mary Balogh, one of the reigning queens of Regency romance, takes on the governess trope in The Secret Pearl. It is one of her darker stories, beginning with a somewhat disturbing encounter between a young woman and a wealthy stranger, who later come face to face again when he hires her as governess for his children. From there, they negotiate the waters of their growing attraction – and his so-called marriage – to find their way to love.

Try…

A Governess in the Age of Jane Austen: The Journals and Letters of Agnes Porter edited by Joanna Martin

This book combines a little of historical context with a treasured primary source. In the intro, Joanna Martin tells us about Agnes Porter and the family she worked for, the Earl of Ilchester (and later his daughter). She also gives us insight into how common governesses were in Regency England and what Agnes expected in terms of lifetime care from her employers. From there, you can explore Agnes’s world yourself with her journal entries and letters. It is a wonderful insight into the world of a noble family and their trusted servant.

 

If you liked…

The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham

The first installment of The Society of Sirens series, The Rakess tells the story of a Regency heroine who doesn’t behave well and doesn’t care what anyone has to say about it. Seraphina is determined to write her memoirs as part of her crusade for women’s rights, and Adam Anderson is just a handsome distraction. Of course, shenanigans ensue once they start catching feelings for each other, but throughout the novel, Seraphina remains a fiercely independent woman who is confident in choosing to live unlike any other.

Try…
Mad and Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency by Bea Koch

This book makes it easy and fun to learn about some of the stand-out women of Regency England. You’ll get quick biographies of everyone from the women who guarded Almack’s Club to the woman who wrote the first English-language Kosher cookbook. As the blurb says, “In Mad and Bad, we look beyond the popular perception of the Regency into the even more vibrant, diverse, and fascinating historical truth.”

If you liked…

A Duke, The Lady, and a Baby by Vanessa Riley
West Indian heiress Patience Jordan is gaslighted – and imprisoned – for questioning her husband’s suicide. To get her child back, she poses as a nanny for his guardian, a duke. Of course, they are both surprised by each other, and soon they are working together to unravel what exactly happened to Patience’s husband.

Try…

Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain by Peter Fryer
This is a read that will stay with you. It defines, defies, and tracks definitions of “Blackness” in Britain starting with Roman invasions through to the mid-twentieth century. It also gives important context for how Regency Britain was deeply involved in the slave trade, how its economy was propped up by colonial plantations powered by enslaved people, and how British society was already diverse by the turn of the nineteenth century.

If you liked…

The Duke and the Lady in Red by Lorraine Heath
Rosalind Sharpe catches the duke’s eye – and decides to make the most of it. When he offers her a ridiculous sum of money for a week in bed together, she agrees. Of course, there is more than just symbolic red between them; very quickly, their connection grows deep and meaningful. The only question is what comes next.

Try…

A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield
I picked this book up on a whim only to discover the history of the color red has a huge impact on the British economy and norms, even up through the Regency period. In this popular history book, you’ll learn how textiles were made before the industrial revolution, how they were dyed, and how the technology for dying clothes became matters of great political and economic consequence to colonial empires. It is a quick, easy, and fascinating read!

Of course, these five non-fiction Regency books are just scratching the surface. For any of the above books, I recommend checking out the authors’ notes or websites to see if they list other research resources!

As for me, reading each of the books listed above (novels and non-fiction) has inspired my own historical romance novels.

Katherine Grant writes award-winning Regency Romance novels for the modern reader.

Find out more about her books and research by subscribing to her newsletter at www.katherinegrantromance.com! 

The Coronation Chair

The Coronation Chair containing the Stone of Scotland, 1859 illustration from The History of England by D. Hume

 

On May 6, when Charles Philip Arthur George is crowned King Charles III in Westminster Abbey, he’ll have the best seat in the house – the Coronation Chair.

During the ceremony, both Charles and Camilla will sit on thrones especially made for them. But only Charles gets to sit on the centuries-old wooden throne.

At first glance the Coronation Chair isn’t very impressive. It’s beyond old – it’s ancient – and it’s scarred, nicked, marked with nail holes, and scribbled upon. Once gilded, painted, and inlaid with mosaics, the chair now bears only traces of its former glory.

The Coronation Chair as it looks today

When there isn’t a coronation taking place, the Coronation Chair sits behind glass near the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey. Well-guarded now, for many years it wasn’t as protected. In the 1800s tourists could sit in the chair by paying the verger a small fee. Souvenir hunters damaged the chairs’ posts, and visitors etched their initials into the wood.

There’s even a bit of Regency-era graffiti: “P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800” is carved into the seat.

But what makes this old chair special isn’t its appearance but rather its historical significance. It holds a unique place not just in English history, but Scottish history as well.

Since the 14th century, 27 British monarchs have sat in this chair while being crowned, including Queen Elizabeth I in 1559 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Built of sturdy Baltic oak, the six-foot-nine Coronation Chair was commissioned by King Edward I in 1296 to hold the Stone of Scotland. The stone was Edward’s trophy, seized when his army invaded Scotland.

The Stone of Scotland (also called the Stone of Scone and the Stone of Destiny) had previously been used for centuries at the coronations of Scottish monarchs. Now in England’s possession, the stone would henceforth be used at the coronations of English kings and queens, showing that the Scottish were under English rule.

Photo of the Stone of Scone in the Coronation Chair, taken circa 1875-1885

At first, English kings would just sit on the stone, placed on the seat of the chair, as they were being crowned. In the 17th century, a wooden platform was installed under the seat to hold the stone – a much more comfortable arrangement.

Understandably, the Scots resented having their precious symbol built into England’s Coronation Chair. And in 1950 a group of Scottish nationalists decided to do something about it.

That year four University of Glasgow students traveled to London on Christmas Day with a daring plan to break into Westminster Abbey and take back their national symbol. It was no easy task, since the massive piece of red sandstone stone isn’t exactly portable – it weighs about 335 pounds.

Though the stone broke apart during the heist, the students still managed to make it all the way back to Scotland with their prize. They hid the stone successfully for several months.

The bold students were celebrated as heroes by the Scottish, but the UK  government was not amused. British officials scoured Scotland for the stone.

The stone was finally found in April of 1951. It had been hidden on the altar of Abroath Abbey, which is where  the Declaration of Abroath was drafted in 1320, asserting Scotland’s identity as an independent,  sovereign kingdom.

The stone stayed in Scotland for repairs, but not for long. In February 1952, following the death of King George V, the stone was taken back to Westminster Abbey, in preparation for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.

Although the stone ended up back in London, the students, who were never prosecuted, had effectively made their point. After another couple of decades, in 1996 the Stone of Destiny was officially returned to its native land, 700 years after it had been captured.

Scotland got their prized national symbol back with one condition – that the stone must be returned to London and placed in the Coronation Chair for the coronations of British monarchs.

A couple of films have been made about this adventure, most recently 2008’s Stone of Destiny. Currently, you can rent or buy this film on Amazon or stream it on Google Play or Vudu. You can also watch it for free on Plex. I found the DVD in my local library.

In September 2022, after Queen Elizabeth died, the Scottish Government announced the stone would make a temporary return to England for the coronation of King Charles III.  With the Stone of Scotland firmly in place, on May 6 Charles will become the 28th monarch to be crowned in Westminster Abbey.

And if you’d like to view the Stone of Destiny in person and can’t make it to Charles’ invitation-only event, you can plan a trip to Edinburgh Castle, where the stone is on display along with Scotland’s crown jewels in the Royal Palace’s Crown Room.

 

For additional more information about the Coronation Chair, see:

  • “The Coronation Chair,”  Westminster Abbey.org
  •  “The Grand History of Westminster Abbey” by Peter Ross in the Smithsonian Magazine, April/May 2023. (You can also read this article online .)
  • “King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla will sit on brand new thrones at the King’s coronation in May,” by Kate Mansy for The Daily Mail, February 24, 2023.

To Crown a King

George IV’s coronation on July 19, 1821, in Westminster Abbey

 

Imperial State Crown.png
The Imperial State Crown of the United Kingdom

On May 6, only a few weeks away,  an historic event will take place in Westminster Abbey: the coronation of Charles III.

For Regency fans, comparisons between Charles’ big day and the coronation of George IV are inevitable. And even though a little more than 200 years separates these royal milestones, there are significant similarities – and differences — between the two  events.

My postings this month focus on these coronations. And I’ve decided to start at the top, with the monarchs’ crowns.

Large gold crown decorated with diamonds and red, green, blue, and purple gemstones
St. Edward’s Crown

Charles’ Crowns

Charles will be crowned with the historic St. Edward’s Crown, the original of which was first used when Edward III was crowned in 1220. It’s also possible, but not proven, that this crown was used even earlier King Edward the Confessor,  in 1023.

The St. Edward’s Crown the Archbishop of Canterbury will place on Charles’ head was created in 1661 as a replacement for the original crown, which was destroyed in 1649  when Parliament abolished the monarchy during the English Civil Wars.

This crown is set with over 444 precious and semi-precious stones, including a glittering array of aquamarines, amethysts, and sapphires.

Charles will also put on the Imperial State Crown towards the end of the ceremony. This dazzler features the Black Prince’s Ruby, the Cullinan II diamond, the rose-cut St. Edward’s Sapphire, and the Stuart Sapphire.

Prinny’s Crown

The Prince Regent had a crown especially made for his 1821 coronation. It had a gold and silver frame, with a blue velvet cap and ermine trimming. It also had over 12,000 diamonds. It must have looked spectacular. Sadly, it no longer exists.

Though Prinny desperately wanted to keep the crown after his coronation to wear for other state occasions, the government refused to buy it for him.  Prinny’s crown was judged too expensive to purchase, and was dismantled in 1823.

Queen Mary’s Crown with the Kohinoor diamond

Camilla’s Crown

One thing George didn’t have to worry about at his ceremony was a crown for his wife, Queen Caroline. He loathed her and did everything in his power to keep her away from his big day. Not only was she omitted from the ceremony, but she also wasn’t even allowed to attend. She tried to get inside Westminster Abbey through several doors, only to be denied entrance at every one of them.

In contrast, Camilla will be crowned Queen next to Charles at his coronation. She’ll have a beautiful crown, too, not nearly as old as her husband’s but certainly more controversial.

Camilla will be wearing the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, also known as Queen Mary’s Crown. This crown was made in 1911 for Mary of Teck when she was crowned queen next to her husband, George V, at his coronation. However, Camilla’s crown won’t look like her predecessor’s. It will be minus one very significant and controversial diamond.

The Kohinoor Diamond

No doubt about it, the centerpiece of Queen Mary’s Crown in 1911 was the fabulous Kohinoor diamond.

Replica of the Koh-i-Noor (cropped).jpg
The Kohinoor diamond

However, over the past 100 years Queen Mary’s Crown has undergone several changes. The arches were made detachable so it could be worn open, and its three conspicuous diamonds – the Kohinoor and the Cullinan III and IV — were swapped out for quartz crystal copies.

Last February, to prepare for Charles coronation, Queen Mary’s crown was removed from the Tower of London and modified to fit Camilla. Plans include resetting it with the two genuine Cullinan III and IV diamonds and adding another, the Cullinan V.

Yet the Kohinoor diamond won’t be restored to its original place of honor.  It will stay where it is, in the Tower of London with the other crown jewels.

The Kohinoor Controversy

According to some news reports, the decision to omit the Kohinoor was made to side-step controversy over how this magnificent stone came to be part of the UK’s crown jewel collection. That’s because Britain’s acquisition of the diamond during the Victorian era is still a sensitive subject today.

Weighing in at 105.6 carats, the Kohinoor is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world. Its origin is shrouded in legend, with little clear evidence of when and where it was discovered.  The diamond circulated among the empires of South and West Asia until 1849, when the British Empire annexed the Punjab province. At this point the British East India Company acquired the diamond and gave it as a gift to Queen Victoria.

India has sought the return of the Kohinoor ever since that country became independent of the British Empire in 1947. The governments of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and even the Taliban, have also claimed ownership of the gem and are demanding its return.

To some, the Kohinoor represents how indigenous resources were exploited and plundered under colonial rule. However, the stones being used in Camilla’s crown in place of the Kohinoor, the Cullinan diamonds, came from South Africa and are also criticized as symbols of British imperialism.

The 9 major stones cut from the Cullinan diamond

These diamonds were cut from the Cullinan Diamond, the largest rough-cut diamond ever discovered. It was mined in South Africa in 1905  while the country was under British rule, and eventually presented to King Edward VII in 1907.

So, no matter which fabulous gems end up sparkling in Camilla’s crown, they are sure to attract attention. We’ll just have to wait till Coronation Day to see what her crown looks like.

For more information on the controversy surrounding the diamonds in Camilla’s crown, click on the link to this NBC News story.

_________________________________________

Article by Maureen Mackey for the Quizzing Glass Blog