Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III

Flora Fraser daughter of Lady Antonia Fraser, is making no attempt at all to walk in her revered mother's footsteps. For which, I say, "thank god". Flora (named for Flora MacDonald the Jacobite heroine, do you expect anything less from the Frasers??) writes of the daughters of "Mad King George" with sympathy, yet with a bluntness than is refreshing. Never skirting around Sophia's trangressions as a young woman, and even admitting that St. Amelia may not have been all too saintly, she blows away the sugar coated Victorian myths of these last of the Georgian royals, who had a hard time becoming Victorians and helps us to understand what formed these wonderful women who had a hard time watching an adored father go insane, and an adored show more mother close her mind to anything she didn't like. Fraser touches on the daughter's relationship with Charlotte the beloved niece, who died so tragically young, and then later, the young unformed Victoria, kept so distant by a domineering mother and misguided guardians. Many forget that the last of the sisters lived until 1857, spanning decades of history and crossing two great thrones of history.

Fraser does a stunning job in this book, and while I do find a few spots weak, it is excellent and the first full coverage of the sisters. I am a little dissapointed at all the emphasis on Charlotte, who was not a sister but in fact a niece, and of course, wish the book had been a bit more detailed in some areas. Overall however Fraser is a more than a ble researcher and historian. show less

This book, while it concentrates on the lives of the six daughters of King George III of England, does take in quite a bit of King George and his consort Queen Charlotte, as well as the princesses' brothers, including the future George IV. One problem, which Fraser largely battles successfully, is keeping the massive cast straight, inclusive of the fact that many personages have the same or similar names. The family tree in the front of the book certainly gets a workout! The biggest problem is that Fraser isn't really able to make the princesses interesting; you get the strong impression from the book that they led crashingly dull lives. Most of the drama seems to have come from various illnesses that they suffered, mixed here and there show more with largely failed romantic efforts. Fraser thus seems to have put an enormous amount of effort into a work that, in the final analysis, doesn't really shed a great deal of light, save for some of the dysfunctions of the Hanoverian royal family. Worth it if you're a fan of the royal family; not so much if you're not. show less

The “madness of King George” has been fodder for plays, movies and numerous books, but the fate of his fifteen children is rarely discussed. FIFTEEN children. This is a well-written, well-documented examination of the lives of the king’s six daughters, none of whom were allowed to marry during his lifetime. As a result, they remained cloistered in their palaces until their forties, at which point he died and they married left, right and center.

A wonderful biography of King George III's many daughters. This book takes a look at the lives of a most unfortunate group of princesses. The ladies were subject to their parents' moods and fancies. Their father seemed to never want them to marry, and their mother was happy to have them near her. As they grew older, some of them acted out, causing scandal. Indeed, there were rumors of illegitimate children, lovers, and secret marriages.

The book delves into the relationships that the princesses had with many of their relations, including their numerous nieces and nephews. Among the most talked about are Princess Charlotte of Wales and the future Queen Victoria. The sisters looked on their siblings' progeny as the children that life show more denied them.

A fascinating look at Georgian life and a wonderful biography of these six women. show less

Ho hum...... on & on & on & on about everything surrounding the Princesses in minute detail. So much so, I gave up, because I don't care that one of the Nannies was a drunk, they really were not allowed to eat much meat, the King's brother married a Whig "Commoner"..... Needless to say I was very put off.

Also the writing style and tone was as if the author was writing back in the 18th Century, very affected.

I wanted to know about them, and I just didn't have the patience to wade through the history of George III, his family, England & the poorly behaved Colonies.

What I did find interesting was that George III & wife were very family oriented & preferred to spend much time w/ their children rather than court.

The book would have been show more better had she followed the writing style of: "Victoria's Daughters" by Jerrod Packard. show less

More than I really wanted to know. Their father was the one who went mad and was replaced by his son, resulting in all those Regency novels. Most of them had unhappy lives because their father didn’t allow them to marry.