The Duchess: Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Amanda Foreman

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From the beginning of the marriage, the Duke of Devonshire, who was called "the Duke" by his family and friends, proved to be an emotionally reserved man who did not meet Georgiana's emotional needs. The spouses also had little in common. [3] He would seldom be at her side and would spend nights at Brooks's playing cards. [6] The Duke continued with adulterous behaviour throughout their married life, and discord followed pregnancies that ended in miscarriage or failure to produce a male heir. I have heard very little of him this Winter."46 Lady Spencer, on the other hand, was relieved that the Duke had not made a formal offer. Even though there could be no more illustrious a match, she did not want her

celebrated romantic sentiment and openly shed tears over Samuel Richardson's novel Clarissa. The Duke did not know how to be romantic; never having experienced tenderness himself he was incapable of showing it to Georgiana. Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire, The Sylph, ed. Jonathan David Gross (Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 2007),

so much of his goodness to me, that it is impossible I should not feel to the greatest degree that mutual happyness you speak of." But she could not help adding anxiously, "My only wish is to deserve it and my She did, however, enthusiastically embrace her husband’s politics and became an advocate of the Whigs.

these qualities and yet be so much on show. "The Duchess of Devonshire effaces all," he wrote a few weeks after her arrival in London. She achieved it "without being a beauty; but her youth, figure, flowing the opening of the new session, and ended in June with the summer recess. The two most popular nights of the week were Wednesday and Saturday, when Parliament was not in session and the men's attendance could be assured. With her instinctive ability to make an impression, Georgiana immediately caused a sensation. She always appeared natural, even when she was called upon to open a ball in front of 800 people. She could engage in friendly chatter with several people simultaneously, In less than a year Georgiana had become a celebrity. Newspaper editors noticed that any report on the Duchess of Devonshire increased their sales. She brought glamour and style to a paper. A three-ring circus soon developed between newspapers who saw

Graves, Henry, & Company. Engravings from the Works of Thomas Gainsborough, R.A.. London, c. 1880: no. 33 (mezzotint by R. B. Parkes, published 1870). In the first years of her marriage, she accumulated debts surpassing the 4,000 pounds that the Duke provided her annually as pin money. Her own mother disapproved and admonished her, unsuccessfully, to break her habit. After she had first incurred over 3,000 pounds in debt, Georgiana implored her parents to give her a loan as she absolutely would not inform her husband of her debts. Her parents acquiesced and told her to inform the Duke; he nevertheless found out beforehand and repaid them. [6] Rauser, Ameilia F. "The Butcher-Kissing Duchess of Devonshire: Between Caricature and Allegory in 1784." Eighteenth-Century Studies, 36 no. 1 (Fall 2002): 23–46.

While there is no evidence of when Georgiana began her affair with Charles Grey (later Earl Grey), she did become pregnant by him in 1791. Sent off to France, Georgiana believed she would die in childbirth. Despondent, she wrote a letter to her recently born son stating, "As soon as you are old enough to understand this letter, it will be given to you. It contains the only present I can make you—my blessing, written in my blood...Alas, I am gone before you could know me, but I lov'd you, I nurs'd you nine months at my breast. I love you dearly." On 20 February 1792, Eliza Courtney was born without complications. Georgiana's heart was broken yet again when she was forced to give away her illegitimate daughter Eliza to Grey's family. [3] [6] Georgiana would later be allowed to pay visits to her daughter, providing her with presents and affection, [6] and Eliza would grow up to marry Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Ellice and bear a daughter named Georgiana. [ citation needed] in as part of a political alliance.* However, it cannot be said that Georgiana had been free to make a proper choice. Unlike her mother she had not been out for several seasons before her marriage, and she had not accepted Her absence from English society and exile in France had isolated Georgiana and was a low point for her in every respect; she returned to England, a "changed woman". The Duke began suffering from gout, and she spent her time at his side nursing him. Along with a recent miscarriage, this circumstance with her husband brought about a softening and closeness between the two. She took a positive interest in science, took up writing again (producing two more works), and even continued her political activism while trying to rebuild the Whig party (to no avail before its end). [6] [7] Georgiana also came to meet and become friends with the wife of her former lover, Charles Grey. [6] The wedding took place on June 7, 1774, two days earlier than the official date. There had been so much publicity about the marriage that the Spencers feared the church would be mobbed with curious onlookers. They persuaded the Duke to leave the comfort in England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973, ancestry.co.uk, accessed 9 July 2021: “Name: Margaret Georgiana Thomas; Age: 23; Birth Date: 1866; Marriage Date: 11 Apr 1889;

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she, she read Lord Chesterfield's Letters to His Son; and knowing of his interest in history and the classics, she began several books on ancient Greece and on the reign of Louis XIV, "for as those two periods European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 164, repro.

The 1784 general election saw Georgiana take a surprisingly prominent role, campaigning in the streets and attending meetings. Unusually, this was not in support of a member of her own family, but instead, she was a figurehead for the entire party. The New Annual Army List and Militia List for 1854, the 17th annual volume, by Major Henry G. Hart, John Murray, Albemarle street, London, 1854. a b c d e f g h i j k Hastings, Chris (9 August 2008). "Princess Diana and the Duchess of Devonshire: Striking similarities". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 . Retrieved 26 June 2014. When her father assumed the title of Viscount Spencer in 1761, she became The Honourable Georgiana Spencer. In 1765, her father became Earl Spencer, and she Lady Georgiana Spencer. a carriage could come and go unseen, Charlotte Spencer, formerly a milliner and no relation to the Spencers, was nursing a newborn baby: his—their—daughter Charlotte.least regret" about anything. She wore a white and gold dress, with silver slippers on her feet and pearl drops in her hair. Eighteenth-century weddings were small, private occasions. There were only five people present At the time of her involvement, King George III (who detested the Whigs) and his ministers had a direct influence over the House of Commons, principally through their power of patronage. The Prince of Wales, who always relished going against the grain with his father, joined the Whig party when his friend the Duchess became involved. She was renowned for hosting dinners that became political meetings, and she took joy in cultivating the company of brilliant radicals. [6] "THE DEVONSHIRE, or Most Approved Method of Securing Votes," by Thomas Rowlandson, 1784 On her seventeenth birthday, 7 June 1774, Lady Georgiana Spencer was married to society's most eligible bachelor, William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire (aged 25). The wedding took place at Wimbledon Parish Church. [4] It was a small ceremony attended only by her parents, her paternal grandmother Lady Cowper, one of her prospective brothers-in-law, and her soon-to-be sister-in-law, the Duchess of Portland. Her parents were emotionally reluctant to let their daughter go, but she was wed to one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the land. Her father, who had always shown affection to his children, wrote to her, "My Dearest Georgiana, I did not know till lately how much I loved you; I miss you more every day and every hour". Mother and daughter continued to correspond throughout their lives, and many of their letters survive. [6]