The Georgian Princesses

by Van der Kiste

A chronological account of the princesses and consort Queens of the Georgian era. From Sophia who died shortly before she would have become Queen as heir to Queen Anne, to Adelaide, consort to William IV whose failure to provide an heir ensured the succession passed to his niece Queen Victoria. During this period, an array of colourful personalities came and went - George I's ill-fated wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle who was imprisoned for adultery for over 30 years until her death; the equally tragic Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and sister of George III who married an incipient schizophrenic, saw her lover put to death, was divorced and imprisoned, released after pressure from her brother, only to die of typhoid or scarlet fever aged just 23; George IV's notorious consort , his cousin Caroline of Brunswick, who danced naked on tables and was refused access to his coronation; and their daughter Charlotte, whose death in childbirth in 1817 necessitated the hasty marriages of several of her middle-aged uncles in a desperate race to provide a legal heir to the throne.

Genres: History, Biography, Royalty, Nonfiction, British Literature, Georgian

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2000

Reviews

[Emilija · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and informative read. However it was incredibly dry, and it jumped topics quite a bit, which made it difficult to follow.

[A.L. Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and moving book about the princesses of the Georgian period, from the elderly Electress of Hanover who was the heir of Queen Anne to Queen Victoria. Being a princess was often a lonely life, oft married to cousins and in some cases totally unsuitable consorts in order to gain political allies many had sad and unfortunate lives, sickness, often made worse by the union of cousins multiple miscarriages and in some cases imprisonment or banishment. Even worse for some was the lot of the spinster sisters and daughters who were lonely, put upon and sad.

Well written with a good background for the princesses, sympathetic but not overly so and a fascinating insight into the royal women of the period as opposed to the more common books about the kings and princes. A good read for anyone interested in British royal history or the history of women.

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is okay and somewhat informative.
Mostly about the Queens as the Princesses and daughters of Kings seem background players unless they too marry a King.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up because I am interested in the time period of British history (early Georgian era, specifically the reign of George the 1st and 2nd). I found this rather humdrum, like a rehash of multiple Wikipedia articles. I have read other biographies on royal figures from this period so I would recommend Flora Fraser's The Six Daughters of George III or Lucy Worsley's Courtiers instead. There wasn't much new here, nor was there anything that hasn't been described and detailed better elsewhere.

[Sarah Nimmo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but largely misnamed; it is more focused on the Georgian queens

Enjoyable but really more about Electress Sophia and the various wives of the Kings and their heirs; the girls growing up as princesses in the Georgian world are really skimmed over.

[Mairead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, informative

[Vincent Solomeno · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Van der Kiste delivers once again in this monograph detailing the lives of Georgian princesses in early nineteenth century Great Britain.

[Liza · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book talks about the princesses and queens of Hanover in Europe.
I came to find that the chapters talk about everything else except the main subject. For example, I want to read about Charlotte Princess of Wales but I find myself reading about everyone else expect her. it intertwines everything and makes it rather long and boring.

i found this book incredibly tedious. I only finished it because I am trying to read as many books as possible for this Goodreads challenge. Other than that, this book is useless. I can actually find all these information on Wikipedia and its not as boring as this book.

[Carole P. Roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that separates all the lovely Georgian princesses and puts faces to the names. I never knew their were so many of them, and if they were alive today, they would grace every magazine cover. Interesting back story on the way they were manipulated, married off and forced into the background to waste their lives in a "Georgian Nunnery".

[victoria Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was full of detail and very informative but also a dry read. There were some continuity errors and also a few grammatical errors. I was disappointed that the kindle version only had location markers and no outrage markers and also there was no X-Ray facility which due to the nature of the book would have been helpful to save constant searching to help with referring back

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My main interest in British history is from Anglo-Saxon to 1603, so I did not know a lot about this period. I learned a great deal and this book was very pleasant to read. It was quite informative, well written and I enjoyed it.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must for anyone interested in the Georgian Monarchs, especially since women are much less documented in history. van der Kiste's books, as always, are well researched and informative.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read about the mainly spinster daughters of george III

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there was some better way to distinguish the princesses. So many of the same name. It needed a dramatis personae!