Mary Elaine L. (Laney) reviewed A Royal Affair: George III and His Scandalous Siblings on + 911 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
If you are interested at all in English history, this is a very interesting and immensely entertaining book.
While I only read for less than an hour (not being much interested in these undeserving blue bloods) Ms. Tillyard is very skilled in evoking their character and that of the 18th C. She has sought not only the contemporary letters found in England but also in Hanover and in Denmark. There actually not being an abundance of written evidence (many missives were burned long ago), she is clever at interpreting the sources of the stances taken by these people.
This book would be of especial interest for those who also enjoy historical novels about the lords and ladies of the 18th C. Index, endnotes, maps, illustrations, and family trees.
It is essential to read the Introduction.
The Glorious Revolution had curbed the powers of the Crown and George III tested those limits to vigorous opposition between his accession and the loss at Yorktown. Pesky journalists were coming into their own and enjoyed reporting and speculating on what previously had been private matters, while the king wanted the royal family to be decorous. "In the contest among the king, the press, Parliament, and an eager audience of readers who had awoken to the scandal and entertainment in stories about the private lives of famous individuals, the king's brothers and sisters were swept up in political drama and dragged into the public gaze."
The dividing line between affairs of state and the private lives of the royal family was not yet established in the 18th C. In defense of George III's brothers, Tillyard notes that they were given no public duties and sought to escape idleness. She notes that his three brothers wrote relatively few letters and left behind no trunks full of records and correspondence. "Most of the material for their lives comes from the letters and diaries of those who knew them, and from the newspapers, whose greedy editors gathered everything they could find about the royal family and published it with almost complete impunity (xix)." Hanover was a prosperous place and provided a better income to the Elector than he enjoyed as King of England, et.al. George I garnered 700,000 pounds sterling yearly from Hanover, commanded a standing army of 20,000 troops, had the nobles as part of his government, had civil servants, and no troublesome people who were richer than him or troublemakers in Parliament. "The relationships among the elector, his court servants, and his people seemed simply and satisfyingly hierarchical (xxi)."
The first of the seven chapters begins with George III's father, Frederick, who despite his best efforts was badly treated by his parents. This Prince of Wales, given no duties, became a demonstrative father and his family enjoyed country living.
I found the last chapter to be of interest, with Great Britain facing the end of the war in America. In her preface, the author said that studying the king's relations with his siblings had led her to conclude that the hurly-burly affected the decisions made in America. Ms. Tillyard writes that there was considerable support for king and country in the early years, but that by the time of the loss at Yorktown it had ebbed. "The pool of goodwill was drained, leaving the government husky and dry, led by a broken man who no longer believed in his task. Ferociously attacked in Parliament and petitioned from outside by reformers who were beginning to demand for themselves some of the rights they saw being won by the Americans, North knew the end was inevitable (296)." The king himself was contemplating leaving the throne and retiring to live as the Elector of Hanover. She criticizes George III for the needless deaths on both sides as the war went on for two more years.
The chapter ends with a well-written description of the emotional meeting on June 1, 1785, with George III having to receive that troublemaker, John Adams, as the first ambassador to the Court of St. James. The United States had no king, the colonists were not his 'children' any longer.
This book would be of especial interest for those who also enjoy historical novels about the lords and ladies of the 18th C. Index, endnotes, maps, illustrations, and family trees.
It is essential to read the Introduction.
The Glorious Revolution had curbed the powers of the Crown and George III tested those limits to vigorous opposition between his accession and the loss at Yorktown. Pesky journalists were coming into their own and enjoyed reporting and speculating on what previously had been private matters, while the king wanted the royal family to be decorous. "In the contest among the king, the press, Parliament, and an eager audience of readers who had awoken to the scandal and entertainment in stories about the private lives of famous individuals, the king's brothers and sisters were swept up in political drama and dragged into the public gaze."
The dividing line between affairs of state and the private lives of the royal family was not yet established in the 18th C. In defense of George III's brothers, Tillyard notes that they were given no public duties and sought to escape idleness. She notes that his three brothers wrote relatively few letters and left behind no trunks full of records and correspondence. "Most of the material for their lives comes from the letters and diaries of those who knew them, and from the newspapers, whose greedy editors gathered everything they could find about the royal family and published it with almost complete impunity (xix)." Hanover was a prosperous place and provided a better income to the Elector than he enjoyed as King of England, et.al. George I garnered 700,000 pounds sterling yearly from Hanover, commanded a standing army of 20,000 troops, had the nobles as part of his government, had civil servants, and no troublesome people who were richer than him or troublemakers in Parliament. "The relationships among the elector, his court servants, and his people seemed simply and satisfyingly hierarchical (xxi)."
The first of the seven chapters begins with George III's father, Frederick, who despite his best efforts was badly treated by his parents. This Prince of Wales, given no duties, became a demonstrative father and his family enjoyed country living.
I found the last chapter to be of interest, with Great Britain facing the end of the war in America. In her preface, the author said that studying the king's relations with his siblings had led her to conclude that the hurly-burly affected the decisions made in America. Ms. Tillyard writes that there was considerable support for king and country in the early years, but that by the time of the loss at Yorktown it had ebbed. "The pool of goodwill was drained, leaving the government husky and dry, led by a broken man who no longer believed in his task. Ferociously attacked in Parliament and petitioned from outside by reformers who were beginning to demand for themselves some of the rights they saw being won by the Americans, North knew the end was inevitable (296)." The king himself was contemplating leaving the throne and retiring to live as the Elector of Hanover. She criticizes George III for the needless deaths on both sides as the war went on for two more years.
The chapter ends with a well-written description of the emotional meeting on June 1, 1785, with George III having to receive that troublemaker, John Adams, as the first ambassador to the Court of St. James. The United States had no king, the colonists were not his 'children' any longer.
