Monaco Bridesmaids

Did anyone watch the Monaco wedding this weekend?  Despite being home very little, I did manage to catch some of it.  Honestly, the newly married couple would have done better holding off on the wedding until next year, since it just couldn't match the previous royal wedding in April.  Yes, yes I know that is quite a superficial statement.  However, I couldn't help but compare the two weddings, the later of which was missing some major magic.  What it did have, though, was super-cute bridesmaids!


The bridesmaids were wearing "traditional" Monaco costumes, which Princess Caroline directed and had the director of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo create.  Look at how cute they are!  Each one of the little 18th century candy-striper outfits took 120 hours to create.  Now stripes are usually the last choice of a bride for her wedding party (not to mention 18th century dresses) but I like the effect that they had walking behind Princess
Charlene. 

Another adorable thing about these little cupcakes is that they were not personally connected to the royal couple.  The girls are local girls from all around Monaco (all .76 square miles of it) and embroidered on each of their aprons they had the couple's monogram and the the area (neighborhood?) where the girl is from.  I think if I were a royal I would have these little maids follow me around all the time!

Setting Sail

I was thumbing through Tom and Lorenzo's photos from Bridal Week in Barcelona.  Ah lots of lace this season, big surprise...*gasp*...what's this!

Victorio and Lucchino opted to bring back the ship headress!  Both Georgiana and Marie Antoinette were known to have sported this most extravagant of poufs in their time.  I think it looks hot!  Perhaps I could walk down the aisle with one when the time comes; the ship in the hair look is the ultimate status symbol.

I am having trouble finding the whole collection but here are more pictures of it.  There are a lot of Jane Austen-esque empire gowns in the mix too!

Kate's Bouquet: Very Georgian

Lauren and I have been suffering from post-royal wedding fantasy-land mode, otherwise known as "princess land," a state of mind totally alien to us.  Please send us your Get Well Soon cards.

While many (myself included) will be talking about the dress for days I will take this time to point bring some attention to the simple and tasteful bouquet the bride carried.  According to the Official Royal Wedding the flowers in the bouquet all have symbolic meaning:
Lily-of-the-valley – Return of happiness
Sweet William – Gallantry
Hyacinth – Constancy of love
Ivy: Fidelity; marriage; wedded love; friendship; affection
Myrtle: the emblem of marriage; love.

Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf, 1775

Pshhh, symbolic meaning.  We all know why she carried Sweet William down the aisle!  Sweet William was a popular flower found in gardens in the 18th century, but that isn't the only historical significance buried in that bouquet:

The bouquet contains stems from a myrtle planted at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, by Queen Victoria in 1845, and a sprig from a plant grown from the myrtle used in The Queen’s wedding bouquet of 1947.

The tradition of carrying myrtle begun after Queen Victoria was given a nosegay containing myrtle by Prince Albert’s grandmother during a visit to Gotha in Germany [I am pretty sure this is Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf who was also Victoria's grandmother]. In the same year, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne House as a family retreat, and a sprig from the posy was planted against the terrace walls, where it continues to thrive today. 

 History romance coma! Isn't the whole thing just adorable?

Royal Wedding Twitter Party

Are you up? Are you ready? Are you prepared with your witty comments and fan to whisper them behind? More importantly, do you have your mimosa?  It's time for those young royals to be wed and we're going to talk throughout the whole ceremony without having to deal with any nasty looks from the people in front of us. Join in the gossip!


Follow me on twitter @GeorgianaGossip. I'm on the east coast and planning on arriving at the ceremony (virtually) at the same time as the queen: 10:40 GMT.  Don't have a twitter account? Leave comments, I'll certainly be up...unless my alarm clock fails me!

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Tart Weddings: Maria and George Prince of Wales

It's the day before the big day!  The festive occasion bring to mind another English prince who set his eyes upon a another commoner and decided to make her his wife.  Let's hope these latest royals at the alter have better luck!  At least they have the sovereign's backing!

Maria had two husbands under her belt when she first met George Prince  of Wales. The first, Edward Weld, died three months after the wedding; the second, Thomas Fitzherbert, died three years after the wedding.  Maria then went into a sort of state of retirement and began a socialite life in London, it was there that she met the young prince.  Prinny was almost instantly smitten with Maria and pulled out all his tricks to seduce her.  But Maria wasn't going to budge, she was not interested in filling the role of "royal mistress." The prince would have to resort to more desperate measures.

One night while Maria was kicking up her heels at home there was a sudden desperate pounding on her door.  It was two messengers come to tell her that the prince had stabbed himself almost to death. His dying wish was to see Maria.  She flew to her carriage but not before asking to make a stop on the way to Carlton House.  That stop was Devonshire House.  Georgiana was enjoying drinks on the balcony with friends when she was called away and explained that her presence was needed and it was of dire importance.  Feeling as though she had no choice in the matter Georgiana handed party-duties off to her sister and joined Maria on the trip to Carlton House.  There they found the prince covered in blood, dramatically begging for Maria's hand in marriage.  She accepted, but a ring was needed to seal the deal which Georgiana begrudgingly provided.  The next day, Maria realized the magnitude of what was done (the prince couldn't marry without his father's permission, especially a Catholic) and possibly realized that she had been duped.  She flew to France to hide out in hopes Prinny would forget about her in her absence.

In this case though, absence does make the heart grow fonder and Maria eventually gave in to her yearnings for her socialite life...or a royal husband.  The December 15, 1785 ceremony was sketchy.  The two were married in the drawing room of her London home by Prinny's chaplain whose payment was the £500 bond needed to get him out of debtors prison. Maria's brother and uncle served as witnesses.  Not quite the usual royal wedding.

Of course King Dad was not pleased at all when he found out.  However he considered the marriage null and void since it was illegally done.  That didn't stop Prinny from seeing Maria, especially after his marriage to Caroline of Brunswick.  Maria considered Prinny to be her rightful husband (and a bigamist) until the day she died.  When he died in 1830, he wore and was buried with, a miniature of her around his neck.

Tart Weddings: Elizabeth and Augustus Hervey

Now it happens to be this opinionated gossiper's humble opinion that no good can come of people marrying solely in order to sleep together without guilt.  Just take Elizabeth Chudleigh and her flavor of the week, Augustus Hervey for example; disaster!

Elizabeth was quite the catch of the court and the fact that she was one of the Princess of Wales' maids of honour only added to her allure.  She had many admirers.  One of those admirers was James 6th Duke of Hamilton, who at the time was a minor and couldn't marry without his parents' consent.  He left for the grand tour with promises to return and wed Elizabeth (he would go on to marry Elizabeth Gunning on a whim) but her hormones were too wild to be able to wait that long.  The next man to come along was Augustus Hervey and he really had nothing to boast of.  Okay in the looks department and a zero in the heir department, Augustus was the second son of John Hervey and therefore joined the navy knowing his peer prospects were grim.  It was lust at first sight when the two met at Lainston House and it was there they made the rash decision to marry ASAP. James Who of Hamilton?

The remains of the chapel

Sneaking into a medieval chapel on Lainston grounds under the cover of darkness Elizabeth and Augustus sealed their fate.  Ironically the chapel was rarely used except for a mausoleum.  A single candle was used in the secret ceremony and the amount of witnesses you could count on one hand.  Without wasting a moment the couple immediately set out to consummate the marriage...since that was the only reason they got married in the first place.

Three days after the ceremony and bunny-like bedroom activities, duty called Augustus back to the sea.  In this case, absence did not make the heart grow fonder and Elizabeth chose to forget that the marriage ever happened, firstly to keep her maid of honour job and then because she regretted her hasty decision.  Augustus was surprised by his wife's rejection at first and then just shrugged it off and forgot about it too.

Elizabeth almost got away with the forgotten marriage too since there was no paperwork documenting the event.  However the greedy Elizabeth royally screwed herself when, years later, she visited the dying reverend who performed the marriage in order to gain paperwork proving they were married.  Why did Elizabeth do this when she herself had it set in her mind that the marriage never happened?  The covetous tart heard that Augustus may actually have a chance at the Earldom of Bristol after all.  In the end her actions screwed her.  She married the Duke of Kingston so she didn't need that paperwork to earn her a title after all, however it did earn her a trial for bigamy.

Naughty Prenuptials

"If you are at Goodwin...I hope you will take a walk up to the Carne Seat, sit down in the little room and think of that you took with Lady Emily Lennox..."  

 -Emily Duchess of Leinster to her husband

Many aristocratic teen girls got married off quickly and some of those girls got their teenage kicks.  Lady Emily Lennox was barely a teen when she caught the interest of James, Marquess of Kildare.  Like most high school relationships, her parents weren't thrilled with their daughter's crush on a guy in his twenties, despite the fact that he was a rich peer.  James was Irish, and unlike many aristos of the Emerald Isle, actually enjoyed living there.  The Lennoxes saw him as a guy from the wrong side of the tracks.  Did this bad boy bring out the saucy side of Emily? Who knows; but what we do know is that after James proposed to fifteen-year-old Emily she gave in to her, shall we say, carnal desires.  After church, on Christmas day, Emily and James took advantage of his empty summerhouse to give in to their feelings for each other. 

Now some mothers will scare their daughters about giving it up so easily because then there is no lure for the husband.  This certainly wasn't the case for James.  Whatever Emily did to him in that "little room" that she fondly remembered sixteen years later, James liked, and wanted more of.  Lord Kildare was especially anxious to wed now!  Two months later at a magnificent ceremony the two were formally joined.  Emily also made a great impression on her husband on their wedding night: 

"I don't believe, if I was to lie at Whitehall, I could ever sleep, for thinking that in that house it was that I first took possession of that which for about fifteen years I have enjoyed."

The two were madly in love and many children followed.  Perhaps Emily wouldn't be the teenage role model your mother would pick out for you but then again it would seem as if her actions didn't mislead her.

Tart Weddings: Grace and Dr John Elliott

When Grace Dalrymple stood at the alter of St Pancras [Old Church] in 1771 she couldn't have been more opposite of her intended husband.  Dr Elliott was not just twice Grace's age but he was also shorter and fatter than his supermodel-like young bride.  And don't even get me started on the opposite personalities!

At the time of the engagement Grace was quite common and quite unknown.  Yet, being the daughter of an Edinburgh lawyer she had a strong upbringing which molded her for a marriage above her station.  Dr Elliott had made a good name for himself as a doctor which brought the marriage a certain amount of attention.  The Rambler's Magazine described the blushing bride as:

"...now on the verge of 17, tall and very elegantly shaped; her features beautiful, and not in the least marked by any degree of that provinciality which distinguishes the females from the north; her complexion was clear as the clouds of a May morning, and tinged with the roseate blush of Aurora; her disposition lively, her temper mild and engaging."

Can we be so surprised, then, that these same notable features, so stunning to those witnesses when Grace walked up the aisle in her best gown in 1771, were not just noticed by Dr Elliott?  It took Grace less than three years to grow bored of her workaholic and toad-ish husband and scandalize him with a highly publicized affair which received more than a fair amount of attention in the press.

Yay or Nay? Princess Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte

No dress-downers in this group!  Last week Lovisa Ulrika's wedding gown earned her a Yay although many people plead to the queen to add some jewelery.  The truth of the matter is, in other versions of the painting she wears a glitzy choker, sadly that version was of a yucky quality which is why I didn't feature it.  Speaking of which, what is it with yucky qualities and wedding gowns?  This week's selection is another wedding gown and you'll have to excuse the poor quality of image.

Alexander Roslin paints Princess Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte (1774) in her wedding gown. OH WAIT this gown STILL EXISTS (click the link to help make your judgement)! Yay or Nay?

[Royal Armory]

Tart Weddings: Mary and Thomas Robinson

Many of our tarts have commonalities in their marriages.  The first being they were usually miserable, the second being they were extremely young when the nuptials took place.  Such was the case with Mary Darby who would be most well-known as 'Perdita' to London society.

St Martin-in-the-Fields, more
crowded than at Mary's wedding

Mary had humble beginnings which began in Bristol.  In her teenage years she caught the attention of David Garrick who saw her star potential and sought to make her a great actress.  However her mother had different ideas and viewed Garrick as an eager agent filling a girl's head with visions of fancy.  She instead encouraged Mary to take the hand of Thomas Robinson an illegitimate son and accounting clerk.  Mary turned down her blooming acting career to become wife at the tender age of fifteen.

An example of a
Quaker gown

On 12 April 1773 at Saint Martin-in-the-Fields the Robinson marriage took place.  Although Mary's account written years later is shadowed with inaccuracies due to her bitter feelings toward her husband we can, however,  always depends on Mary to give us great deets on what she was wearing.  Mary walked up the aisle in habit of a Quaker despite not being a Quaker herself.  She felt the somber attire was appropriate for a child-bride in order to represent her purity.  But that attire was quickly shed after the ceremony.  For the modest reception (more of a breakfast) Mary changed into a muslin gown with a chip hat and satin slippers.  Let the party begin!

Yay or Nay? Lovisa Ulrika

The maternity-wear of Natalia Alexeievna set many people's sentimental hearts a-flutter.  The tartly and short-lived princess earned herself a Yay for the effort.  Well, I don't know about you but I can't help but be buzzing about a certain wedding this week.  You should all know how very difficult it is to find an era-appropriate portrait of a woman in her wedding gown!

Antoine Pesne's followers recreate the artist's 1744 painting of Lovisa Ulrika in what is thought to be her ivory wedding gown.  Yay or Nay?

The Wedding of George IV and Caroline

Royal weddings are the hot topic as of late. Nary a day passes without us hearing about the upcoming nuptials of a prince and his future princess.  Royal wedding ceremonies have been happening for centuries and some go off without a hitch but others, such as the Prince of Wales' in 1795, are quite infamous.

The prince was originally married to Maria Fitzherbert but that marriage was considered null and void by the Royal Marriage Acts.  The prince was quite in love with his wife but he was also extremely short of cash so he agreed to his father's terms of marrying someone of his choosing.  The king's choice was his niece, the prince's first cousin, Caroline of Brunswick.

Since George was only marrying Caroline in order to have his father pay off his massive debts, you can imagine how thrilled he was to marry the 26 year old German relative whom he had never met.  When the two did meet, Princess Caroline hugged her husband and he immediately wretched himself away and called for a stiff drink.  He considered her fat and of bad hygiene which turned out to be a mutual feeling.

Prints of the time disguise the truth of the marriage: a handsome, slender couple promenade arm in arm, a glorious royal wedding ceremony where the prince is lost in his bride's eyes- nothing could be further from the truth.  George felt the only means of getting himself through the ceremony was to become inebriated.  Instead of staring into his bride's eyes he was being held up by two men because he was too drunk to stand.  Caroline was so decked out in jewels and finery she could barely walk up the aisle, let alone stand.  It is little wonder she took to the simple empire-style gowns.

Caroline knew that if her wedding was this bad, the wedding night would be even worse.  George had already decided she wasn't a virgin and thought she could have used a bath which may have added to his decision to go through the wedding in a drunken state.  He claimed he only consummated the marriage twice, on the wedding night and the night after.  However that wouldn't be entirely accurate.  On the night of the marriage while a frightened Caroline waited under the sheets, her husband blacked out on the floor.  He most likely woke up in the morning in order to go about the process of creating heirs.  After the second intimate encounter with Caroline, George vowed he'd never touch her again.  He stayed true to his word and after Caroline gave birth to his daughter, the two were estranged.


Thanks to Margravaine Louisa who suggested we celebrate Will and Kate's engagement with stories of other royal weddings.  Let's hope this royal marriage goes much better!

Happy Birthday/Aniversary Georgie!

It's Georgiana's birthday today! I hope everyone is celebrating accordingly. For the past two years I've merely announced the 7 June holiday but lately I've been thinking about how I've neglected to mention 7 June also being her wedding anniversary. It's about time I discussed that festive occasion.

Now, the wedding between Lady Georgiana and the Duke of Devonshire was not supposed to be on the bride's seventeenth birthday, it was supposed to be two days afterward. However, like the high-profile celebrity weddings of today, there was much buzz about the Duke getting married. Georgiana was not even a celebrity yet, but the anticipation of her marriage to the most eligible (and rich) bachelor in England probably gave her a boost into celebrity-dom. To avoid the crowds, the wedding had to be earlier so no one would know. The Spencers spared no expense and Georgiana's trousseau was fit for a queen. No less than 65 shoes were included and I am confident that they were all fabulous.

The shoes Georgiana walked down the aisle with were silver slippers. Her dress was white and gold and she accessorized with pearl drops in her hair. Despite being dressed to the nines in full splendor, the wedding only had five attendees due to it being a "secret" rush marriage. The wedding scene in The Duchess may have been filmed in the chapel of Chatsworth but it was in the Spencers' Wimbledon Park parish church that the wedding actually took place. The couple remained at Wimbledon Park for ten days after the wedding (there's nothing as romantic as staying with your in laws) and then were presented to the court.

Now one can only wonder if Georgiana got twice the amount of presents on this day.