The unruly Queen - Flora Fraser

At the tawdry, extravagant heart of the Regency period - nine scandalous, politically fascinating years from 1811 to 1820 - lies the bitter mismatch between the Prince and Princess of Wales. The Prince Regent, later George IV, separated privately from Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales, later Queen Caroline, within a year of their marriage in 1795. They remained separated until her death in 1821, but the mockery of their marriage resisted the most strenuous and public efforts to dissolve it. Barred from the Regent's court, Caroline travelled through Europe with a small court of her own. At her divorce trial, the dignity and honour of the British Crown was in shreds and Britain on the brink of revolution. Queen Caroline's story is one of a long courageous fight by an extraordinary individual to see justice done to her in the face of an overweening and powerful authority. This detailed biography by an acclaimed historian is long overdue.