Privilege and scandal : the remarkable life of Harriet Spencer, sister of Georgiana /

The first biography of Lady Harriet Spencer, ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, and devoted sister of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Harriet Spencer was one of the most glamorous, influential, and notorious aristocrats of the Regency period. Intelligent, attractive, and eager to please, at nin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gleeson, Janet
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Crown Publishers, [2007]
Edition:1st U.S. ed.
Subjects:
Online Access:Table of contents only
Description
Summary:The first biography of Lady Harriet Spencer, ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, and devoted sister of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Harriet Spencer was one of the most glamorous, influential, and notorious aristocrats of the Regency period. Intelligent, attractive, and eager to please, at nineteen she married an aloof, distant relative; the only trait they shared was an unhealthy love of gambling. Harriet began a series of illicit dalliances, including one with the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Then she met Lord Granville Leveson Gower, handsome and twelve years her junior. Their years-long affair resulted in the birth of two children, and concealing both pregnancies from her husband required great skill. Harriet was an eyewitness to the French Revolution; traveled through war-torn Europe during the time of Napoleon; quarreled with Byron when he pursued her daughter; and became one of the leading female political activists of her day.--From publisher description.
Physical Description:xix, 419 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages [395]-398) and index.
ISBN:9780307381972
0307381978