Maria Fitzherbert: The Secret Wife of George IV

The well-connected Maria Fitzherbert, twice widowed and still childless at 24, had all the qualities the future King George IV desired: she was older than he (by six years) and was widely traveled and experienced. There was just one problem: she was Catholic under a Protestant monarchy that considered Catholics Papist puppets. Drawing on historical fact and gossipy, entertaining firsthand accounts, Munson (Victoria: Portrait of a Queen) ably demonstrates that Maria wasn't exactly devout; she appeared more often at social gatherings than at Mass. Nevertheless, the British could never accept her into the royal family. Thus she and George had a tiny wedding on Dec. 15, 1785, and their marriage became one of the worst-kept secrets in British history, the subject of scandal sheets and parliamentary debates. Immature and impulsive, the prince was deeply in love with Maria, and she with him. But as heir to the throne, he had to have a consort, and in 1795 he reluctantly wed Princess Caroline of Brunswick. (Having not been officially married to Maria, he didn't have to divorce her.) In a strange twist, the new princess saw Maria as "the Prince's true wife." Pope Pius VII agreed, reaffirming in 1800 the validity of her marriage. Within 10 years, though, partly due to the prince's extramarital affairs, the relationship ran its course. Even without her prince, Munson shows, Maria went on to live a full, exciting life a life given lively treatment here. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (Dec.)Forecast: If the publisher can reach the readers who enjoyed Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire, this could do well, though it probably won't attain the former's bestseller status.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

In December 1785, Maria Fitzherbert, a twice-widowed Catholic, married the Prince of Wales, who would later become King George IV. Not only was this secret marriage considered scandalous, but, more significantly, it was illegal, violating several acts, one of which was the Act of Settlement, "whose aim it was to ensure a Protestant succession to the crown." Maria was unfairly labeled as a whore and often cruelly depicted in the papers during this "golden age of the caricature." Munson (Victoria: Portrait of a Queen) attempts to redeem this lovely and ordinary woman by revealing her complexities and showing her to be a "good friend to those in need." While she comes across as a loyal servant, her relationship with George IV is not terribly compelling, nor is it exactly the stuff of fairytales. Her devotion to the fickle king, a licentious and irresponsible lout who eventually abandons her, is baffling. However, Munson does a solid job of outlining the various elements that contributed to the complexities of this marriage, most significant of which was the virulent anti-Catholic sentiments in Britain at this time. While Munson refers to earlier works about Fitzherbert in his book, his is the only biography currently available on the subject. Recommended for larger public libraries. Isabel Coates, Boston Consulting Group, Brampton, Ont.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

If People or the National Enquirer had been around in the latter part of the eighteenth century, they would have had a field day with British king George IV (then Prince of Wales) and his "secret" amour and eventual wife, Maria Fitzherbert, who make Charles, Fergie, and the rest of the contemporary royal family look like seminarians. Munson, literary editor of Contemporary Review, relates Maria's story, which in some ways was that century's version of the twentieth-century's Edward VIII saga, except for divorced read Catholic. Maria was from a moderately wealthy family of Catholic recusants who were unable to partake of "official" English life because of the many anti-Catholic Laws of Settlement of the time. After being widowed twice (and thus adding considerably to her wealth), she met the Prince of Wales in 1780, beginning a passionate relationship that led to crisis in the monarchy. The mad George III--who frowned on his son's dissolution, profligacy, and chronic womanizing--could not allow Catholic genes to taint the royal bloodline. But the Prince of Wales could not face life without Maria (even if he wasn't willing to give up dozens of others). Many deals were struck, and a secret ceremony bound the two in matrimony--holy or otherwise. The relationship eventually foundered on the shoals of the prince's addiction to women, but it provided food for gossip for some four decades (the prince did not accede to the throne until 1820). Munson has written an excellent, entertaining biography-cum-history of this bizarre episode in the history of the English monarchy. Allen Weakland
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