Forgotten Royal Women: The King and I
Forgotten Royal Women tells the stories of 30 British royals who seldom feature in other history books. ‘British’ includes Irish, Welsh, and Scottish as well as English royals and of course a lot of English royals began life as French or German princesses.
With 30 women to cover in 108 pages, they average only 3 to 4 pages each. The time frame ranges from 1400 BC to 1817. Although in the main queens both regnant and consort are excluded, the sequence begins with Queen Scota, the ‘pseudohistorical’ founder of the Scots nation. The last chapter is about Princess Charlotte, who would probably have become queen regnant instead of Queen Victoria, had she outlived her father, George IV. For me the most interesting entry was about the non-royal Maria Fitzherbert, whom George IV regarded as his wife although the marriage was invalid, since his father, George III, had not given his consent.
Lawless describes her mini-biographies as ‘little tales’ and hopes that they whet her readers’ appetites to know more. They are delightfully written, and I would like to know more about some of them although I suspect that in many cases there is little more to be known.
