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The King and the Vice Queen: George IV's Last Love
Author(s): Tom Ambrose (Author)
- Publisher: Sutton Publishing Ltd
- Publication Date: 17 Mar. 2005
- Edition: UK ed.
- Language: English
- Print length: 256 pages
- ISBN-10: 0750934948
- ISBN-13: 9780750934947
Book Description
Although George IV’s affair with the Catholic widow Maria Fitzherbert is well known, few have even heard of his last great love, Elizabeth Conyngham; the woman many dubbed his ‘Vice Queen’. For a decade, as offical mistress, Elizabeth’s greed for jewels, her constant pressure on the king to promote her friends and family, and her determined political influence, caused a political conflict between the king and his ministers. Her presence at court provoked quarrels with the Duke of Wellington and led ultimately to the suicide of Lord Castlereagh. The satirical artists of the day made her the subject of over 300 scurrilous cartoons. Tom Ambrose sets out to chart the course of this scandalous affair from its early beginnings in the overheated salons of the Brighton Pavilion to the King’s declining years at Windsor. All the great characters of Regency England enter the story, from the Duke of Wellington to the blackmailing society courtesan Hariette Wilson.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Tom Ambrose read history at Trinity College, Dublin, and now produces and directs television documentaries. His first book, Hitler’s Loss: What Britain and America gained from Europe’s Cultural exiles (Peter Owen, 2001) was widely reviewed and acclaimed as ‘fascinating and eye-opening’ (Artsworld TV) and ‘brimming with vivid sketches and good anecdote’ (Boyd Tonkin, Independent). He lives in Ipswich.
