The latest series of Bridgerton – Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story – has captured viewers with a reimagining of the monarch’s life. But who was the real Queen Charlotte? And what was her marriage to George III actually like? Dr Robin Eagles, editor of the Georgian Lords, discusses… At 1 o’clock on 17 November 1818, Queen Charlotte died at Kew after what the London Gazette … Continue reading ‘Almost an afterthought’: Queen Charlotte
Following the resignation of Liz Truss after 44 days in office, attention has turned to some of the previous figures to hold short tenures as Prime Minister. In 1782 William Petty, 2nd earl of Shelburne, became Premier and oversaw a shaky 266 days at the top, as Robin Eagles, editor of our Lords 1715-1790 project explores… Lord Shelburne is not much remembered now as a … Continue reading ‘A hotch-potch ministry’ – the brief but tempestuous premiership of the 2nd earl of Shelburne
2021 is the 300th anniversary of the birth of one of British history’s most controversial characters: William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, younger son of George II and the brutal victor of the battle of Culloden. Dr Robin Eagles, editor of the Lords 1715-1790 section, reconsiders Cumberland’s longer career and how he was – for a brief while – effectively the only royal ever to have … Continue reading William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, ‘the real Prime Minister’ and ‘the strangest cabinet in British history’
Accompanying the publication of a new collection covering 300 years of British Prime Ministers, the book’s editor compiled a list assessing the 55 premiers in order of their significance. Frederick, Lord North, who became Prime Minister in 1770 and is probably best known as the man who lost America, came towards the bottom of the pile at number forty. Dr Robin Eagles reassesses North’s early … Continue reading Asleep on the job? Prime Minister Lord North 250 years on
Today, on International Women’s Day, Dr Robin Eagles, editor of our Lords 1715-1790 project, looks at the life of Augusta, Princess of Wales. As mother of the heir to the throne, Augusta had great political importance- but how did she use this to her advantage…? In March 1771 James Townsend spoke in the Commons of his concerns of secret influence behind the throne. He insisted … Continue reading The Princess Mother: Augusta, Princess of Wales, the power behind the throne?
The latest blog from the Georgian Lords investigates the importance of dance in the eighteenth-century political process. Our guest author, Hillary Burlock, is a PhD student at Queen Mary, University of London, researching the politics of dance in eighteenth-century politics, and currently holds a BSECS/Georgian Papers Programme research fellowship. Eighteenth-century elections, rife with ritual and corruption, were not only responsible for electing MPs, but for … Continue reading Dancing into the Houses of Parliament: the role of balls in Georgian electoral campaigns
George I’s linguistic weakness was supposedly the reason for the preference shown to his German advisors over most English politicians, who were for the most part similarly limited in their knowledge of foreign languages. Continue reading Ich bin in meinem Herzen Englisch: Could George I speak English?
On 20 February 1772 a message from the king was conveyed to both Houses requesting Parliament to take into consideration the question of royal marriages Continue reading ‘Anxious for the welfare of his people’: the passage of the Royal Marriages Act (1772)
Last year the History published ‘The Story of Parliament: Celebrating 750 years of parliament in Britain’ to mark the anniversary of Simon de Montfort’s parliament in 1265. The book is a brief introduction to the full 750 years of parliamentary history, aimed at the general reader, and available to purchase from the Houses of Parliament bookshop. On this blog we are publishing some tasters of … Continue reading ‘The Story of Parliament’: Pitt and Fox
The History of Parliament 