Georgian Series

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Georgian Series

Princess of Celle Vol. 1

1967 Robert Hale

Refusing the hand of the daughter of the King of Bohemia, George William of Celle passed on his birthright to his brother, Ernest Augustus, in exchange for his freedom. But then he fell in love with Eléonore, the beautiful emigrée from France. The result of this romance was Sophia Dorothea, the Princess of Celle.

The brothers ruled in rival courts at Celle and Hanover. In the center of the conflict was the beautiful Princess, thrust suddenly into the cruel reality of marriage with the sullen, vindictive George Lewis of Hanover, future King of England and first of the Georges.

Separated from the parents she adored, neglected as a woman despite her beauty and her virtue, Sophia Dorothea was desperate for love. And when that love came, in the person of the dashing Swedish adventurer Count Konigsmarck, it would bring her rapture greater than she had ever dreamed. And inevitable tragedy.

Queen in Waiting Vol. 2

December 1967 Robert Hale

The horrors of Saxony and the dilemmas of Hanover faded when Caroline of Ansbach came to England. Her husband, George Augustus, hero of Oudenarde, triumphed as Prince of Wales. Yet the more popular they became, the more George hated them.

The King was old and sour; his mistress ugly; his wife, Sophia Dorothea, imprisoned for over twenty years. Pitiless to the Jacobites, he never forgave an insult or an injury.

With her baby dead and her children taken from her care, Caroline determined to take revenge on the man who treated her so cruelly...

Caroline, the Queen Vol. 3

December 1968 Robert Hale

Never outwardly opposing the will of George II, her conceited choleric husband, Caroline endured constant humiliation for the sake of power. The Queen's tact and intelligence won the admiration of Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, as between them they strove for peace and prosperity.

The scandals of the Court added to Caroline's many problems -- astute politicians and personal enemies, a quarrelsome family united only in their dislike for Frederick, Prince of Wales, the concealment of her own ill-health, and a husband who not only boasted to her of his love affairs but asked advice on how best to accomplish some new seduction...

Prince and the Quakeress Vol. 4

January 1968 Robert Hale

The prince of Wales - later King George III - was riding through St. James Market when he first saw - in a window above a linen-draper's shop - the love of his life. Hannah Lightfoot was a ravishing beauty, but she was poor, a commoner, and a strict Quaker. It seemed impossible that she and the Prince should ever meet. But there were people who could make anything possible ... for a youth who was to be a King.

The bittersweet story of the Prince of Wales and his gentle Hannah unfolds against the luxurious background of George II's licentious court, where a ruthless and greedy nobility struggled to turn the Princes' secret love to personal advantage.

Third George Vol. 5

January 1969 Robert hale

George III was certain that the shadowy charm of Hannah, the vital beauty of Sarah, would cease to torment him once he was married to Charlotte. But Charlotte was unexciting, and he could not help his heart beating faster every time he saw a beautiful woman.

Surrounded by the great and the notorious, the King was beset by political anxieties, humiliated by the loss of the American colonies, and distressed at the scandals in the royal family.

The King's sister was tried for treason and adultery, but the greatest scandal of all was created by his eldest son -- the handsome, willful, pleasure-seeking Prince of Wales...

Perdita´s Prince Vol. 6

January 1969 Robert Hale

The seventeen-year-old Prince of Wales fell headlong in love with the dazzling beauty of Mary Robinson in her stage role of Perdita.

Their romantic assignations were of a consuming interest to the Whig enemies of George III and to such ambitious men as Fox, Burke, and Sheridan, the playwright. Under their influence a new world opened to the Prince -- gambling, prizefighting, horse-racing, bawdy, brilliant talk and beautiful hostesses vying for his company.

The Prince had been treated like a child by his father for too long. He had no intention of allowing Perdita to do the same...

Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill Vol. 7

January 1970 Robert Hale

Although the young widow Maria Fitzherbert is a commoner and a Catholic, her dashing suitor is none other than the Prince of Wales, whose unquestioned royal duty is to marry a Protestant Princess.

In an age well accustomed to royal mistresses, Maria is as virtuous as she is beautiful. Rather than succumb, she flees to France...only to be irresistibly drawn back to England and into the arms of her Prince - and a passionate relationship that may well cost the Prince his throne.

Set against the backgrounds of elegant London and fashionable Brighton, this turbulent, tender story of passion and politics unfolds, with all the great figures of a memorable age playing their appointed roles: The prolifigate playwright Sheridan, the shrewd William Pitt, enchanting Fanny Burney, mad King George III, and frightening Queen Charlotte, who is filled with vindictive hatred toward her rebellious son and his beloved.

Indiscretions of the Queen Vol. 8

October 5, 1970 Robert Hale

Princess Caroline of Brunswick was twenty-six years old and people were saying that she would never be married. But a grand destiny was about to unfold for the lively Princess, as a bride of England's handsome Prince of Wales, soon to be Regent and later King George IV of England. Unfortunately, although Caroline fell madly in love with her charming royal spouse, his own affections had been stolen years before by the beautiful Maria Fitzherbert - to whom, it was whispered, he was actually secretly married.

So, as a lonely, unsophisticated outsider in her husband's dissipated circle, Caroline determines to live her own life. Her reckless search for affection and revenge infuriates the King, shocks the court, delights the common people, and culminates in one of the most famous court cases in history - in which the Queen of England stands trial, charged with adultery.

Regent's Daughter Vol. 9

January 1971, Robert Hale

The marriage of the Prince of Wales to Caroline of Brunswick was strewn with private skirmish and public scandal, yet it did bear a daughter - Princess Charlotte, heiress presumptive to the English throne.

The regent still elegant, though moving swiftly into corpulent middle age; his wife Caroline always determined to shock and eccentric almost to the point of lunacy; old George III rambling on into the mists of his madness; and the stern Queen Charlotte at the head of her web of domestic spies...amidst them all sparkled Charlotte, lovable and enchanting darling of the court, the Regent's daughter.

Ever bewildered by her bizarre collection of royal relatives, Charlotte grew up honest, forthright and always sure of her destiny.

Goddess of the Green Room Vol. 10

January 1971, Robert Hale

Few people knew of the abuse and indignities that pursued enchanting Dorothy Jordon when she fled from Ireland to seek a new life in England. Even fewer suspected the troubles concealed by her glittering triumphs in Richard Sheridan's Drury Lane Theater.

But behind the success that brought the world to her feet, and her celebrated love affair with the Prince Regent's young brother, the dashing Duke of Clarence, lay heartbreak and a gallant struggle to provide for her family.

All the scintillating splendour of the Regency period sparkles in this tender new episode in this novel. But it is the poignant, private joys and sorrows of Dorothy Jordan - whom destiny thrust so close to the throne and so infinitely far away - that is so memorable. Young Mrs. Jordan is one of Jean Plaidy's most beguiling heroines.

Victoria in the Wings Vol. 11

March 9, 1972 Robert Hale

Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince Regent and heiress to the crown, had died in childbirth, and not one of the sons of mad George III had produced a legitimate heir. The Regent was bound to a wife who disgusted him; the Duke of York's Duchess had proved to be barren; William, Duke of Clarence was unmarried though the father of ten children by the late actress Dorothy Jordon; Edward, Duke of Kent was also a bachelor although he had enjoyed a liaison of long duration with his beloved Madame de St. Laurent. The position must be remedied without delay and marriages arranged.

So gentle Princess Adelaide and the buxom widow Princess Victoria were brought to England to become the new Duchesses, the marriages took place and the race for the crown began. To the Kents was born a 'plump little partridge' -- Victoria -- who, because of a prophecy, her parents believed would one day be the great Queen of England. But there were other eyes on the crown and in particular those of the sinister Cumberland. The Regent became George IV, still the man of good taste and great charm, but indulgence had made him gross and he suffered from constant and mysterious illnesses; everyone knew that he could not live long; York died; and Clarence, the buffoon, with a talent for making himself ridiculous -- and still without a legitimate heir -- was next in the succession. It seemed certain that one day Victoria would be Queen. But there were envious men and women alert for opportunity. A crown was at stake, and menace hung over the little girl at Kensington Palace.

The great Georgian age was coming to an end. At Windsor, the Pavilion and Carlton House the King, sighing for the return of Maria Fitzherbert but keeping Lady Conyngham at his side, lived alternately like a sultan and a hermit. It was a waiting period, the passing of an age.

Who would reach the throne? Fear crept into the Kensington apartments and Victoria's mother and the faithful Baroness Lehzen thought it necessary to guard the precious child who was not allowed to sleep alone or even descend the spiral staircase without a companion. So Victoria -- the object of attention, devoted and malevolent -- waited in the wings, preparing for the time when she would walk on to the stage and mount the throne.

George I George II George III George IV William IV Victoria

Ernest, Elector of Hanover married Sophia, (granddaughter of James I)

They had George I

George I married Sophia, Princess of Zelle

They had one son; George II and one daughter; Sophia

George II married Caroline of Ansbach

They had three sons; Frederick (father of George III), George and William, and five daughters; Anne, Amelia, Caroline, Mary and Louise

George III married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

They had nine sons; George IV, Frederick, William IV, Edward (father of Victoria), Ernest, Augustus, Adolphus, Octavius and Alfred

and six daughters; Charlotte, Augusta, Mary, Sophia and Amelia

George IV married Caroline of Brunswick

They had one daughter; Charlotte

William IV married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen

They had two daughters; Charlotte and Elizabeth

Victoria married Albert Saxe-Coburg

They had four sons; Edward VII, Alfred, Arthur and Leopald, and five daughter; Victoria, Alice, Helena, Louise and Beatrice