Dynasties of Europe. George IV: biography

George III's attempts to eradicate the vices of the Hanoverian dynasty and raise his son in the spirit of high morality did not have the slightest success. The poet Leigh Hunt described Prince Regent George as "a man who cannot keep his word, a libertine, up to his neck in debt and dishonesty, who does not value his loved ones at all, and surrounds himself with gamblers and ladies of dubious conduct." As a result, Hunt was accused of libel and sentenced to a fine of five hundred pounds and two years' imprisonment.

Following royal family tradition, the Prince of Wales lost his virginity at age sixteen with the help of one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting. Soon his mother learned that her son was spending time “in bad company” at night. At first, the object of his love was Mary Hamilton, the twenty-three-year-old daughter of the Duke of Hamilton. When the girl rejected the prince, he fell in love with a much more accommodating person - Mary Robinson, an actress with a dubious reputation originally from Bristol. Her father, an Irishman, left the family and founded a trading post on the coast of Labrador, where the Eskimos lived. Mary married a clerk in Robinson's law office. They had a daughter, but then hard times came for the family, and she and her husband ended up in debtor's prison. Having freed herself, Mary decided to become a star on the London stage and, without choosing any means, achieve success in life.

Portrait of George IV of the United Kingdom

Georg saw her for the first time in the role of Loss in The Winter's Tale. Intoxicated by the flaring feeling, he sent Mary a lock of his hair and asked her to come to him in the costume of a young man. She resisted the prince's wishes until she found her husband in bed with a maid, returning home earlier than usual. In revenge, Mary decided to sleep with Georg. All pangs of conscience were forgotten as soon as the prince promised to give her twenty-one thousand pounds on her twenty-first birthday.

They were often seen together, but this connection soon ended. All that Mary had left of her was a bundle of very sensitive letters addressed to “Loss” and signed “Florizel.” She threatened to publish them, and the king had to pay off with five thousand pounds of lump sum and five hundred pounds of annual allowance. He severely condemned his son for being in such a “shameful position” at the age of eighteen.

Portrait of George IV, when Prince of Wales

Mary went to France, where she became the mistress of the Duke of Orleans; she later returned to her homeland and lived with a member of parliament from Liverpool, Colonel Tarleton. In her declining years, she suffered from paralysis, and Georg often visited an old acquaintance.

Despite the king's reproaches, George continued to lead an absent-minded life. He had a brief affair with Elizabeth Armistead, who later married politician Charles Fox. His next mistress was Mrs. Grace Elliott, a very rich lady who was divorced. She stated that the father of her daughter was Georg, and named the child Georgina Augusta Frederica in his honor, although one of the other two men who were in contact with her at that time could just as well have been responsible for the birth of the girl.

It is also possible that George's son was Lord Melbourne, the future prime minister, although his mother claimed that the child's father was Lord Egremont. In addition, the prince's mistresses were: a plump singer named Elizabeth Billington; daughter of the Duke of Argyll, Augustus Campbell; Countess of Salisbury, a fox-hunting enthusiast who was twelve years older than George; the Duchess of Devonshire, a famous organizer of evenings with political figures; as well as many other less prominent women, including actresses, singers, respectable matrons, maids, ladies of the court and courtesans.

Charlotte Augusta of Wales - only legitimate daughter

When the prince was eighteen years old, he met the wife of the Hanoverian ambassador, Countess von Hardenburg, a woman of “divine beauty.” Georg saw her playing cards, and “a fatal, albeit sweet passion, arose in his soul.” Seized by a passionate feeling, Georg “broke all other ties and devoted himself entirely to this angel in the guise of a little woman.” A similar demonstration was made to the said little woman devotion and love made a strong impression. And yet she continued to keep her distance. Then Georg pretended to be sick, and out of compassion she gave herself to her young admirer. “It was unearthly bliss,” said the delighted prince.

Count Karl August von Hardenburg learned of his wife's infidelity from the gossip column in the Morning Herald and wrote the prince a letter full of stinging reproaches. The count's wife also wrote to Georg, reminding him of his vows and saying that she agreed to run away with him that night. In desperation, Georg confessed everything to his mother. She raised such a cry that the poor young man fainted. The king was forced to take practical measures to remove the von Hardenburg family. It is not surprising that the count soon left his diplomatic post. He was assigned to Prussia, where he played a prominent role during the Napoleonic Wars.

Trying to save his son from shameful acts in the future, the king wrote a long lecture “on the recklessness” of the prince. This had no effect. George began to make friends with Charles Fox, a radical politician and the main opponent of the royal ministers.

Spending his time looking for entertainment, the prince turned into a playboy. He gained weight from excessive eating and drinking. In Vauxhall Gardens and other places, George engaged in drunken brawls. In 1789, at a thanksgiving service in St. Paul's Cathedral, George and the other princes ate cakes, talked loudly and generally behaved quite cheekily. The king said bitterly that almost every day he finds “very unpleasant references to Prince George” in the newspapers. The Times, for example, wrote that the heir to the throne “under any circumstances prefers a bottle and a girl to politics and prayer.” The Duke of Wellington called the prince "the heaviest millstone around the neck of any government that can be imagined." Georg himself, however, spoke more kindly about himself. “Yes,” he used to say, “I like to drink and have fun with a lady.”

Portrait of Maria Fitzherbert (1756-1837)

Having calmed down, Georg created even more problems. In 1784 he met Maria Fitzherbert, a rich, beautiful woman six years his senior. The prince fell in love instantly and with all ardor - he even tried to stab himself when Maria rejected his advances. A very pious lady, Maria was frightened by the prince’s persistent offers to become his mistress and went abroad.

The Prince of Wales “rolled on the floor sobbing, banged his head, tore out his hair, screamed hysterically and swore by all the saints that he would renounce his crown, sell his jewelry and silverware, and use all the funds raised to run away with his beloved to America.” . Despite these antics of George, Maria remained firm. She stated that she would return only if the prince gave his word to marry her.

According to the law, this, of course, was impossible. George understood that he would not be able to ask for his father's consent, as provided for in the new Royal Marriage Act. Mrs. Fitzherbert has been divorced twice before. To make matters worse, she was a Catholic, and according to the Act of Succession of 1701, the heir to the throne was strictly forbidden to marry a person of the Catholic faith.

Therefore, George, for five hundred pounds, rescued an Anglican priest from debt prison and promised him the rank of bishop, so that he would perform a meaningless ceremony and hand over to Mary a marriage document of equally little value. She later admitted that she “gave herself to him without setting any conditions, relying only on his honor and not attaching importance to the ceremony that the prince insisted on.” They began to live together, and soon George’s marriage to “Princess Fitz” was no longer for anyone was no secret. He loved her until the end of his life, and she bore him ten children.

Mary's house

However, their relationship was not at all cloudless. The prince remained very immoderate in food, drank a lot, and had increasingly frequent attacks of rage. One night, Maria had to hide behind the sofa while he looked for her with a drawn sword. In addition, Georg was a pathologically unfaithful husband.

He had an illegitimate child with Lucy Howard and an affair with Anna Crouch, who shone in John Gay's Beggar's Opera. For several nights spent with George, Anna received ten thousand pounds and some jewelry. In addition, George had to pay off her husband, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, who threatened to bring a case of adultery in court. This cost the prince another four hundred pounds. The love letters he had the imprudence to write also caused a lot of trouble.

Lady Jersey. She managed to maintain good relations with the future king and his mother. It is believed that it was she who persuaded him to marry Caroline

Next was Georg's relationship with Lady Jersey, lady over forty...

During the so-called “Regency period”, two women who bore this title were noted in high British society. More famous and influential was Sarah Child, nicknamed “silence” for her love of chatter, but her mother-in-law, Frances, received the attention and bed of the prince. She met George in 1793, when she was already 40 years old, and she was already the mother of ten children and even grandmother. The prince was far from the first adulterer of a prolific aristocrat.

Less than a year after they met, she managed (temporarily) to take Mary Fitzherbert's place. She used all her influence on the heir to the throne to convince him to marry Caroline of Brunswick. King George III was not particularly sympathetic to Milady Jersey, she was friends with Queen Charlotte, and the king’s opinion did not interest her too much. She ruled the prince’s personal and social affairs with an iron fist for almost 10 years, remaining his “official” mistress until she was removed from her position by Lady Hartford.

By the way, all this time she officially remained married, and morals at that time were such that no one was particularly surprised. Lady Jersey was famous for her outstanding abilities to seduce people of both sexes. After all these exploits, the prince owed half a million pounds. Mrs. Fitzherbert had to pawn her jewelry so that the bailiff would not come to the house. In this situation, George had no choice - he had to get married.

Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

George III chose a bride for his unlucky son, and, realizing that the marriage would entail an increase in the amount of his support, the Prince of Wales agreed to go through a solemn marriage ceremony. Unfortunately, the choice of the king turned out to be very unfortunate. Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, cousin of the Prince of Wales, was “extremely dissolute” even by German standards, “and German ladies at that time were not distinguished by sophistication.”

Lady Jersey was determined from the very beginning to prevent this marriage in any way. She delayed the royal carriages so that upon arrival in Greenwich Caroline would be left without transport. Even worse, the bride and groom disliked each other at first sight. “For God’s sake, give me a glass of brandy,” said the Prince of Wales. “I feel sick.” For her part, Caroline felt that the prince was “too fat” and “not at all as handsome as in the portrait.”

Wedding of George and Caroline. Gainsborough Dupont, 1795/1797

To tell the truth, the bride herself was not a beauty, and her cleanliness left much to be desired. The British envoy who accompanied her to the prince had to insist that Caroline wash herself and put on fresh underwear. Whatever charm she might have possessed was hidden under many layers of rouge and powder, as well as under very unfortunate outfits - no doubt the work of the cunning Lady Jersey, who had contrived to occupy the position of maid of honor to the princess.

On the wedding day, George declared: “All my life I will love only Mrs. Fitzherbert.” He arrived at the ceremony late and drunk, and during the service he amused himself by keeping his eyes on Lady Jersey. The prince slept on his wedding night on the floor in a state of extreme intoxication, with his head in the fireplace. Surprisingly, despite such an inauspicious start to the marital relationship, Caroline gave birth to a daughter, Charlotte, almost exactly nine months later.

Caroline soon realized that her maid of honor, Lady Jersey, was her husband's mistress. With feelings of bitterness and humiliation, she demanded that George dismiss the Countess of Jersey. However, George reasoned that after the birth of his daughter he had fulfilled his duty regarding the succession to the throne, and directly told Caroline that he no longer intended to share a bed with her.

Caroline with her daughter. Thomas Lawrence, c. 1800

Naturally, the marriage broke up. The upset king wrote to his son: “It seems that you look at the union with the princess as an ordinary marriage between private individuals and completely lose sight of the fact that the marriage of the direct heir to the throne, which you are, has public significance and affects the interests of the entire kingdom.”

George also turned away from “that Jezebel,” Lady Jersey. He longed to be reunited with his “true wife,” Mrs. Fitzherbert. The prince even changed his will, delegating his fortune to Mrs. Fitzherbert and making a note: “To her who is called the Princess of Wales, I leave one shilling.” It took him four years to regain Mary’s love. She even wrote to the Vatican, asking for papal confirmation that the Church had no objection to her resuming her marital relationship with George. The Pope assured her that in the eyes of God she was the true wife of the Prince of Wales

1829, of King George IV

George lost weight in an attempt to make a favorable impression on Mary and spent considerable money on Carlton House and the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, although the treasury was depleted by the Napoleonic Wars. True, the prince’s own participation in these wars was limited to training a small detachment of soldiers in Brighton.

Reconciliation with Mrs. Fitzherbert did not distract George from hunting for other women. The Prince admitted to being the father of William Francis, the son of a certain Miss Davis, and also of George Seymour Crowe, the son Ms Crow, lived on Charles Street. Fortunately, his relationship with a Frenchwoman, the wife of Lord Masserine, did not produce offspring. Georg also had a short affair with the dancer Louise Hillisburgh, and from time to time he paid nightly visits to Madame de Meyer's house.

Isabella Ingram-Seymour-Conway, Marchioness of Hertford

As a middle-aged woman, Mrs. Fitzherbert was philosophical about the prince's antics with younger women. However, she was worried about his attachment to Isabella Seymour, Lady Hertford- one of those ladies who already had grandchildren, but were well preserved, to whom the prince was very attracted. Princess Lieven described it this way: “A lot of luxurious flesh.”

Hoppner - Isabella, Viscountess Beauchamp, later Marchioness of Hertford

George wrote long love letters to the venerable matron, which contained the following pearls: “Truly I feel like a young foal released into a green meadow, cheerful as a lark and light as a feather.” And he added: “I beg you, tell Lord Hartford (with my best wishes) that I will be completely satisfied if, when you meet me, you experience at least half the joyful feeling that I experience when I meet you.”

Napoleon must have laughed when he learned of this affair.

Grace Elliott. She was the mistress of an Irish viscount, then a British crown prince, then a French duke, miraculously escaped the guillotine and helped French aristocrats get to England. Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough

Grace Elliott is the only mistress of George IV, whose life was much more interesting and fuller than his own.

In fact, the affair with the prince took a very short time in her life, but Grace left a daughter from him. It is curious that although the prince took responsibility for the child, he did not actually consider himself the father. Grace was the daughter of a poor and humble Edinburgh lawyer. She had no money, no position in society, but she was beautiful. So beautiful that a famous and rich doctor fell in love with her, whom she married. She then met the Irish aristocrat Viscount Valentia, who became her lover. My doctor husband did not like this. He obtained evidence of adultery and divorced his wife.

In the absence of money and reputation, poor Grace had no choice but to move from wife to courtesan. She moved to London, where she had a quiet and short affair with the prince.

Portrait of Olga Zherebtsova (1766-1849)

But then the fun begins. To be fair, it has nothing to do with the British monarchy, but it deserves a little digression. Prince George of Wales introduced her to the Duke of Orleans. The Duke transported the beautiful Englishwoman to Paris, where she became his official mistress.

It was then that the French Revolution and the Jacobin terror that followed found her. On the one hand, Grace was the recognized mistress of the Duke of Orleans, who accepted the revolution and even began to be called Philippe Égalité. On the other hand, it was well known in society that her sympathies were on the side of the royalists. She became a transmission link in secret correspondence between the British government and the French government in exile.

Several times she risked her life by hiding in her house aristocrats fleeing revolutionary terror. For example, Grace laid the wounded Marquis de Chamcenet between two mattresses on her lush bed, and she herself lay on top, pretending to be seriously ill. So the revolutionary guards who searched her house were left with nothing.

She also managed to organize safe passage to Britain for several aristocratic families. She was eventually arrested, but the terror subsided in 1793, and Grace managed to escape the guillotine. They say that the very young Napoleon Bonaparte became interested in her and, it seems, even wanted to marry her, but she refused. She spent the rest of her life in prosperity and peace and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.

The prince, and then King George IV, had three other mistresses: the actress and poet Mary Robinson, the Marchioness of Hartford and the Marchioness of Cunningham.

Mary Robinson, actress and poet. She introduced a new style of dress into fashion, which became known as “Perdita”, named after one of her best roles. Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough

Perhaps the most interesting of them was Mary. She was not too eager to take advantage of her alcove royal conquest and introduced into fashion a new style of dress, which was called "Perdita" after the heroine of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", whose role was one of the most successful in her career.

Meanwhile, Georg did not ignore the portly Lady Bessborough, the prince's love since his youth. Lady Bessborough later recalled: “He would fall to his knees, take me in his arms and, before I could recover, begin to cover my neck with kisses. I screamed with indignation and fear. But he continued to overcome my resistance, and sometimes he sobbed and swore that he would break up with Mrs. F. and Lady X.”

Mee, Anne - Isabella, Marchioness of Hertford

Lady Bessborough did not know whether to laugh or cry at the sight of “a huge and absurd figure, seated partly on the sofa, and partly on the floor, and assuming the most bizarre poses.” When the old king retired and George became regent, he gave preference to Lady Hartford, and he removed the faithful Mrs. Fitzherbert, telling her coldly: “Madam, there is no place for you here.”

Georg boldly suggested Lady Hartford live with him openly. Her husband, of course, had evidence “that His Royal Highness is on too intimate terms with her,” but preferred to refrain from any action, since Lady Hartford’s influence over the prince allowed him to take the post of Lord Chamberlain and gain a place at court for their son.

William Blake: Mrs. Q. (Mrs. Harriet Quentin)

When the royal marriage fell apart, Caroline moved to Blackheath, where she indulged in unrestrained flirtation at parties and often “secluded herself with young men” - that is, according to the general belief, she led a lifestyle open to “the most unfavorable interpretation.” She also angered her neighbors for her friendship with Lady Douglas, who was by then ostracized by local society. It was believed that Lady Douglas had once had an affair with her husband's former boss, Sir Sidney Smith. It is possible that Lady Douglas and the princess were not just close friends. In Lady Douglas's diary there is the following entry about the princess: “She came up to my bedroom, kissed me, embraced me and said that I was very beautiful ... She showered me with such compliments that women never exchange.”

Caroline proudly told Lady Douglas “that she could have a partner in her bed whenever she wanted, and that there was nothing more healthy,” and once admitted to her friend that she was pregnant. When their friendship came to an end, Caroline sent Sir John Douglas obscene drawings depicting his wife and Sir Sidney Smith in each other's arms.

In 1806, a special commission was tasked with looking into Caroline's indecent behavior. The “delicate investigation,” as it was called, did not leave out any of the most disgusting details of Caroline’s intimate life, including her relationship with Captain Manby, a naval officer who often came to Blackheath.

The results of the commission's work were summarized in a poem by one satirical poet of the time:

Oh Caroline, don't sin
And hurry up to leave us,
And if you don’t give up fornication,
Fornication, at least, is not here.
That's what Caroline did. She went on a grand tour of Europe and traveled in the company of “completely indecent companions.”

Lady Bessborough saw her at one ball and described their meeting this way: “Her face was crimson, her white girlish dress left her shoulders, back and neck open, her disgusting neckline reached the middle of her stomach... and her head was decorated with a wreath of bright roses. Suddenly she nodded and smiled at me. Not recognizing her, I took this woman for madness, but then William Bentinck nudged me and said: “Don’t you see that the Princess of Wales is greeting you?”

Caricature by George Cruickshank of the supposed relationship between Caroline and Pergamy

Caroline settled in Como with Bartolomeo Pergami, a former quartermaster of the Italian army. When Princess Charlotte, a virgin raised strictly by her chaste aunts at Windsor, came to visit her, Caroline attempted to ruin the girl's reputation by locking her in the bedroom with Captain Hesse. He was said to be the illegitimate son of George's brother, Duke of York, and one of Caroline's own lovers. Subsequently, Charlotte married a poor German prince and died of childbed fever.

When the old king died and George IV came to the throne, he made one last attempt to get rid of the unwanted queen. George offered her an annual allowance of fifty thousand pounds in exchange for a promise never to return to England. At the same time, the government prepared a “bill of penalties”, according to which the marriage was dissolved due to Caroline’s adultery.

The House of Lords studied in great detail all the intimate details of these arguments. Numerous witnesses were interviewed. They showed that Pergami was present in the queen's boudoir while she was dressing and could see her bare breasts. In the presence of others, he caressed her breasts and stroked her thighs. They slept cuddled in the carriage during the journey. He was seen in the queen's bedroom - in clothes, without clothes, in underwear, in only a shirt. She took a bath in his presence. They slept together in a tent. There was no end to these types of accusations.

Trial against Queen Caroline. George Hayter, 1820

Caroline came to attend the hearing, and Pergami considered it best to remain in Italy. However, gradually the accusing party turned into an object of ridicule. After all, the king himself remained a libertine all his life, and he should have been judged by the same standard. In London, a crowd stopped the Duke of Wellington on the street and demanded that he shout: “God save the queen!” The Duke was not taken aback. “Well, gentlemen,” he said, “if you insist, let it be your way. God save the queen - and may your wives be like her.”

Caroline, Princess of Wales. Unknown artist, ca. 1820

In the end, the government had to withdraw its bill, but George was already making plans for revenge. It was decided that Caroline would not be able to be crowned with the king in Westminster Abbey. Arriving at the ceremony, she was not allowed inside because she did not have an invitation card. When rumors of Napoleon's death reached London, the king was informed that his greatest enemy was dead. “My God,” replied the king, “is she really no more!”

Portrait of Lady Conyngham, 1801, Sir Thomas Lawrence. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham.
Elizabeth Conyngham (née Denison), Marchioness of Conyngham (31 July 1769 – 11 October 1861), was an English courtier and noblewoman. She was the last mistress of George IV in the United Kingdom

Caroline died in 1818. George celebrated this event by taking a new mistress, Lady Conyngham. This portly lady was the wife of a respected Irish peer and had five adult children.

The portrait of Lady Elizabeth Conyngham, daughter of the Marchioness, is usually misidentified as the Marchioness herself. Portrait painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence in the early 1820s, located in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon

A poem appeared in a tabloid sheet, immortalizing the meeting of such large - in weight and size - persons:

Very pleasant leisure activities -
He'll scratch his friend's fat thigh,
They will wash down the cake with a bucket of claret,
And there are no thoughts in their little eyes.
To create such bodies,
The heavens have worked hard
And if the king sleeps with such a girlfriend,
He no longer needs a pillow.
It seemed that this strange relationship gave the king new strength. Lady Cowper testifies that, according to George, “he has never loved so much before and now feels ashamed of his boyishness.” Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary George Canning was instructed to send Lady Conyngham's former lover Lord Ponsonby to Buenos Aires.

“I have never seen a man so in love,” wrote Princess Lieven, although—not surprisingly—Lady Hartford viewed the affair with less enthusiasm. In her opinion, “the king’s new love is absurd and ridiculous, considering the age of both lovers.” (It should be said that Lady Coningham and Lady Hartford were the same age.) At the same time, she admitted that, “knowing the king very closely, she never took the liberty of starting a conversation with him about his mistresses.”

Georg's behavior has not improved over the years. In July 1821, when the Archbishop of York delivered a sermon in Westminster Abbey on the duty of the sovereign to protect his people "from the baleful influence of vice and unbelief", the sovereign himself "nodded, blinked, sighed and devoured" Lady Conyngham.

Anna Maria Crouch (1763−1805)

The king lost influence over the government and lost the respect of the people. When Lady Hartford left the royal bed, and her husband said goodbye to the post of Lord Chamberlain, George was no longer able to appoint the husband of his new favorite Lady Conyngham to this post. Lord Holland later admitted: "We encouraged all kinds of satire directed at him and his mistresses."

In his later years, the king, who had completely degenerated, added drugs to his drinking. This was one of the reasons for the unusual frankness of the obituary published in 1830 in The Times: “We are unlikely to find anyone who is less regretted by his relatives.” Such was society’s cruel verdict on its depraved monarch. However, this inglorious and shameless prince regent retained something bright in his soul. This is what he asked in his will: “Let the portrait of my adored wife, my Mary Fitzherbert, hang from my neck by a cord, as I wore it in life, and let it be placed exactly on my heart.” When Mrs. Fitzherbert heard of this posthumous testimony of love, "great tears rolled from her eyes."

The four Georges ruled England for over a century, from 1714 to 1830. None of them were especially mourned by their compatriots, and the poet Walter Savage Landor wrote this caustic epitaph:

Let's talk about the four Georges -
Praise be to the Creator for stopping their baking.
Some say (and their fervor is understandable),
That the worst of Georges the First was.
But sometimes we can distinguish a voice,
What was worse than the First George was the Second.
Well, is there a person in the world,
What good word would you say about the Third?
But the Fourth said goodbye to us,
And the line of Georgs, thank God, ceased.

To be continued

• Prince Regent (German Prinzregent, English prince regent, etc.), in a number of European states - a prince who performed the duties of the monarch due to incapacity, early childhood, or the latter's long absence. The most famous historical examples of prince regency are:

  * Philip II of Orleans, who ruled France (1715-1723) under the young Louis XV;

  * George IV, who reigned in Great Britain (1811-1820) due to the mental illness of George III;

  * Luitpold of Bavaria, who ruled the Bavarian kingdom (1886-1912), first due to the incapacity of King Ludwig II, and then due to the mental illness of King Otto I;

  * Ludwig III, who ruled the Kingdom of Bavaria in place of Otto I (1912-1913).

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Prince Regent George IV, 1820–1830

Before the Prince of Wales officially ascended to the English throne in 1820 (taking the throne name of George IV), he effectively ruled the country for eight years as Prince Regent. When the British talk about their King George IV, they most often remember his terrible marriage and excellent artistic taste. By nature, George was endowed with beauty and charm, but the prince’s exorbitant appetite played a bad joke on him: very soon he turned into a repulsive fat man, a kind of mountain man. Unlike his thrifty, even stingy father, Georg had a penchant for a luxurious life, so he always lacked money. By 1796 the king had unpaid debts worth an astronomical sum of 600 thousand pounds. Georg's relationships with women were also very complicated. In 1785 he secretly married the Catholic widow Mrs. Fitzherbert. His marriage was later annulled and declared invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772. Despite this, Georg lived with his chosen one for ten whole years before a new marriage was approved - this time with his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick. When he first saw his bride, poor George said: “I feel bad... I beg you, give me a glass of brandy.” His confusion is easy to understand: Caroline was not particularly clean - she hardly changed clothes or washed herself before going out, and besides, she foul-mouthed desperately. In order to somehow survive his marriage in 1795, the Prince of Wales had to get drunk. Over time, everything only got worse: the couple never found a common language, and Caroline sided with the political opposition. It seems that George breathed a sigh of relief when the queen died in 1821, and he was relieved of this unbearable burden.

Brighton Pavilion

George IV was a man of good taste: he preferred not to follow fashion, but to shape it. Before him, English monarchs lived in old-fashioned palaces, rude and uncomfortable. The new king began to work hard on remodeling and renovating Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Among all the architects, he distinguished John Nash (1752–1835), who laid out for him two luxurious London parks - St. James's and Regent's Park. Perhaps the most unusual and bizarre creation of John Nash is the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

All the whims and caprices of King George were embodied here: to this day, the viewer’s eye is delighted by the exquisite domes and minarets, not to mention the rich interior decoration and candelabra in the image of a dragon.

Inheritance

After the death of George IV in 1830, the fate of the throne was in doubt. His only child, a daughter, died in 1817, and his second brother died childless in 1827. The closest heir was the next brother - William, Duke of Clarence. He became the English king in 1830. Before this event, he lived happily for many years with a certain actress, Mrs. Jordan, but as soon as it came to inheritance, William had to marry Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen in 1818. She became his wonderful wife, but, unfortunately, both of their legitimate daughters died in infancy. This unfortunate fact opened the way to the throne of Queen Victoria's dynasty.

author Lebedev Yuri Vladimirovich

From the book History of Russian Literature of the 19th Century. Part 1. 1800-1830s author Lebedev Yuri Vladimirovich

From the book History of Russian Literature of the 19th Century. Part 1. 1800-1830s author Lebedev Yuri Vladimirovich

From the book History of Russian Literature of the 19th Century. Part 1. 1800-1830s author Lebedev Yuri Vladimirovich

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Prince Regent Cake- the most Bavarian cake. Of course, it does not contain the famous Bavarian white sausages, crispy salted brezels, or excellent Bavarian beer. But judge for yourself.

Firstly, the name of the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort) reflects the history of Bavaria. Its full name may sound like this: a cake in honor of His Royal Highness Prinzregent Luitpold Karl Joseph Wilhelm Ludvig Wittelsbach von Bayern. The Wittelsbachs, one of the oldest dynasties in Europe, ruled Bavaria for almost seven and a half centuries. From 1180 on, dukes, electors, and kings changed, until November 1918 came with its revolution.

But the most popular ruler in Bavaria turned out to be Prince Regent Luitpold. The son of King Ludwig I, he became regent after his nephew, King Ludwig II, was declared mentally ill and tragically died in the cold waters of Lake Starnberg. The regency continued after the coronation of Otto I, the younger brother of Ludwig II, due to his “spiritual grief.” As a result, Prince Luitpold ruled as regent from 1886 until his death in 1912.

The times of the Prince Regent (Prinzregentenzeit) and his liberal government were marked by the prosperity of the Bavarian economy, cultural and artistic growth. Munich developed into a significant cultural center in Europe, which Thomas Mann called "Munich Shining".

In the spring of 1911, all of Bavaria celebrated the 90th birthday of Prince Regent Luitpold. Since then, almost every self-respecting Bavarian city has received its own Prinzregentenstrasse, Luitpoldstrasse, Prinzregentenplatz or Luitpoldplatz. Theaters and concert halls were named in honor of the Prince Regent.

Confectioners also tried: one of them invented the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort). True, evil tongues make vague hints, supposedly the name of the cake indicates the name of its inventor. But really, the head of state is a passionate pastry chef much better than a ruler obsessed with the “phantoms of the Napoleonic complex.”

Secondly, the structure, if you like, the design of the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort) fully corresponds to the administrative division of Bavaria into districts. During the time of Prince Regent Luitpold, the Kingdom of Bavaria included 8 districts:

• Upper Bavaria,
• Lower Bavaria,
• Upper Palatinate,
• Upper Franconia,
• Lower Franconia,
• Middle Franconia,
• Swabia,
• Rhine Palatinate.

Accordingly, eight cake layers were then prepared for the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort), which formed the basis of the cake.

But time passed, the strongest winds and hurricanes of history swept over Bavaria, changing a lot. By the middle of the 20th century, all of Germany was torn into occupation zones. In the French occupation zone, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate was formed in 1946. This is where the Rhine Palatinate district went. Since then there have been seven districts in Bavaria. And if you want to maintain decency and tolerance in interstate relations and, especially, do not have any territorial claims to neighboring countries, then you must bake seven cake layers for the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort), according to the current number of Bavarian districts.

So, we agreed!

We have no territorial claims against anyone, we are tolerant, we observe international decency, we prepare a Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort) of seven layers.

Ingredients for the Prince Regent Cake (Prinzregententort)

To prepare dough for seven cakes, we will need:

• 8 eggs;
• 200 g flour;
• 250 grams of powdered sugar;
• 7 sheets of oiled paper (glassine, tracing paper, if anyone remembers what that is), approximately 30 x 30 cm in size.

To prepare the required quantity cream necessary:

• 500 ml milk;
• 3 egg yolks;
• 50 grams of starch;
• 100 g sugar;
• 1 vanilla pod (or a pinch of vanilla);
• 30 grams of cocoa powder;
• 120 grams of powdered sugar;
• 300 g butter;
• 300 grams of dark chocolate bars (for example, “Babaevsky - extra”);
• 20 grams of margarine (or better yet butter).

As you can see, the most difficult thing here is the cream.

Let's start cooking.

How to make cake layers for the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort)

To begin with, we find in our kitchen some kind of lid from a pot or frying pan, or another round shape with a diameter of Ф26 cm, which could serve as a pattern when performing the most complex work of a draftsman. The older generation of mechanical designers still remembers such a profession, whose people filled the huge halls of various design bureaus, worked at drawing boards, their tools were rulers, patterns, pencils, drawing boards, compasses and other antediluvian things. Now everything is stamped on a computer screen from ready-made blocks, and the drawings are drawn by a printer. Progress and acceleration of routine operations until they are fully automated, releasing the creative potential of the creator of new designs, devices and objects! But in our case of a single production of the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort) this will be too expensive and although some freedom of creativity is quite acceptable here, it is limited by the requirement of strict adherence to the accepted recipe and its subtleties.

We take the pattern, put it on paper, draw circles, seven sheets in total, seven circles.

Let's draw and sing a song:

Four
Chernenkikh
grimy
little devil
Drawings
Black
Ink
Drawing.

We approach the oven, preheat it to 200 degrees. WITH.

Let's take the eggs. Separate the yolks from the whites (the operation is standard and does not require any special description).

Pour 250 grams of powdered sugar into a vessel with egg whites and beat.

Add the yolks there too.

Add 200 grams of sifted flour there. Mix well.

Prince Regent Cake (Prinzregententort). Mix well.

Take a sheet of paper with a drawn circle and carefully, trying not to protrude beyond the line of the circle, spread the prepared mixture onto the sheet.

You get beautiful yellow semi-finished round cakes. The layer should not be made too thin, but it should not be too thick either. Everything should be in moderation. Approximately 3 - 4 tablespoons of the mixture will be needed per circle.

Carefully transfer each sheet to a baking sheet (separately and one at a time).

This operation is best done together. In general, the whole process of baking the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort) goes best when the whole family participates in it. There is something for everyone, and in addition to getting a great Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort), the collective creative process is fostered and strengthened!

So, put the baking sheet with the dough circle in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees. C, to the lower level and bake for 6 minutes, no more. And in this way, seven cakes in turn.

Place the baked cake with paper on the wire rack – paper side up! Let it cool down.

Prince Regent Cake (Prinzregententort). Place the baked crust on a cooling rack.

Once it cools down, so does the next one. Carefully tear off the paper from the finished cakes. It's not difficult, it comes off easily without leaving any marks.

Place the finished cakes in a stack, lined with paper, and press down with a light weight. Let them level out.

Now the delicate work is the cream.

Preparing the cream for the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort)

1. Throw 3 yolks into a saucepan, pour in 100 grams of sugar, 50 grams of starch, pour in a little milk. Mix well.

2. Pour the remaining milk into another pan, add cocoa powder, vanilla, and bring to a boil. Leave it alone for about five minutes.

Melt 150 grams of chocolate (for example, in a water bath).

Prince Regent Cake (Prinzregententort). Melting chocolate.

Slowly pour the hot milk (step 2) into the yolks (step 1) and bring to a boil. Add melted chocolate to this.

Beat 300 grams of butter at room temperature with 120 grams of powdered sugar.

Rub the chocolate cream through a sieve and add small doses to the butter, one spoon at a time, continuing to whisk.

The next operation is assembly. It is similar to an ordinary assembly of multilayer non-metallic structures. Place the cake layer and spread a layer of cream. Place the next cake layer and spread the cream. And so on until the seventh cake. We don’t smear it with anything yet. Calculate the thickness of each layer of cream accordingly. We put the assembled design of the Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort) in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, let it cool down from excessive excitement and calm down. As they say, “cool it before drinking”, although for a different reason and about a different product (vodka).

While the structure is cooling, prepare the chocolate glaze. To do this, melt the remaining chocolate (150 g) with 20 g of butter until liquid. Having removed the seven-layer Prince Regent cake (Prinzregententort) from the refrigerator, pour liquid chocolate over it, carefully smoothing the sides. Cool again a little.

The famous Prince Regent cake is ready!

Life is now completely chocolate! But unfortunately only for a very short time, until Prince Regent cake can still be seen on the holiday table. Then he disappears somewhere unnoticed and without a trace....... like any fairy tale!

What was it?!

The Prince Regent cake (German: Prinzregententorte) is a traditional classic Bavarian cake that consists of a precise number of sponges - there must be eight of them. Chocolate cream is used as filling. The top of the Prince Regent cake is covered with chocolate icing.

This wonderful cake can be bought in Bavarian pastry shops all year round, and on holidays in Bavarian families this dessert is always served with coffee.

Prince Regent Cake - the history of the dessert

The Prince Regent cake contains in its name and content all the drama of the history of the Free State of Bavaria. The sweet attribute of the festive feast was named in honor of His Royal Highness Prince Regent Luitpold Karl Joseph Wilhelm Ludwig Wittelsbach of Bavaria (German: Prinzregent Luitpold Karl Joseph Wilhelm Ludvig Wittelsbach von Bayern), the third son of King Ludwig I.

The Wittelsbach dynasty ruled Bavaria for about seven hundred and fifty years, from 1180 until the unexpected revolution of 1918. Of all the Wittelsbach representatives, Prince Luitpold (1821-1912), who was regent from 1886 until his death in 1912, was most concerned about the prosperity of Bavaria.

The son of King Ludwig I, Prince Luitpold became regent after the tragic death of his nephew, King Ludwig II, in Lake Starnberg. Further, after the coronation of Otto I, the younger brother of Ludwig II, Prince Luitpold continued the regency, since the new king could not rule “due to spiritual grief.” During the time the Prince Regent was in power, the Bavarian economy developed rapidly, and there was a rise in the cultural sphere.

Munich, the capital of Bavaria, received a new title - Thomas Mann called it “Shining Munich” in honor of the fact that the city took its rightful place in the cultural life of Europe. The times of prosperity that Bavaria experienced even received a special name - Prinzregentenjahre.

In the spring of 1911, in honor of the 90th birthday of Prince Regent Luitpold, streets and squares named after the popular Bavarian ruler appeared in every Bavarian city - Prinzregentenstrasse, Luitpoldplatz, Luitpoldstrasse, Prinzregentenplatz. Confectioners also contributed to the celebration of the historical event - one of them invented the Prince Regent Cake (Prinzregententort).

The design of the cake, consisting of eight sponge layers, symbolizes the administrative structure of Bavaria during the reign of Regent Luitpold. Each biscuit is like one of eight districts: Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Upper Palatinate, Upper Franconia, Lower Franconia, Middle Franconia, Swabia, Rhine Palatinate.

Unfortunately, after the end of World War II, the Rhineland-Palatinate was transferred to French territories - the state of Rhineland-Palatinate was formed. To be fair, it must be said that the Rhine Palatinate was once given to one of the rulers of Bavaria - Ludwig I Wittelsbach - as a vassal by the King of Germany, Frederick II Staufen (1197-1212).

Currently Bavaria has seven districts. However, local residents remember what their state once was like and cherish this memory with nostalgia, capturing it even in the design of the Prince Regent cake.

Prince Regent cake ingredients

Biscuit

• chicken eggs - 6 pieces
• sugar - 160-180 g
• flour - 160-180 g (half can be replaced with corn starch - this will make the cake even fluffier)
• baking soda - a pinch
• vanilla sugar or lemon zest
• butter 80 g (optional)

Chocolate cream

• butter - 250 g
• powdered sugar - 150-180 g
• egg yolks - 2-3 pcs.
• dark chocolate - 100 g (melt in a water bath)

Cake icing

• dark chocolate (chocolate icing) or chocolate mousse

Prince Regent cake classic recipe step by step

Biscuit

1. Separate the whites from the yolks, add a tablespoon of water to the yolks and start beating. Add some sugar, beat until foam appears. Add flavoring - vanillin or lemon zest. Add oil if desired. Once the yolks are beaten to stiff peaks, add the remaining sugar.
2. Stir the mixture and add it to the pre-beaten egg whites.
3. Sift the flour, add soda, carefully fold the resulting mixture into the protein-yolk mixture.
4. Divide the resulting biscuit dough into eight parts and bake eight thin layers of sponge cake at 200°C for six to eight minutes.
5. The baking dish should be well greased and then sprinkled with flour. The diameter of the mold is 26 cm, the biscuits should be baked until golden brown.
6. As soon as the biscuit is ready, it must be immediately removed from the mold and set aside to cool. Repeat the steps with each of the eight biscuits.

Chocolate cream

1. Heat the chocolate for the chocolate cream in a water bath until liquid, then cool slightly.
2. Beat the butter until fluffy, add powdered sugar and yolks in parts, continuing to beat. The creamy mass should be quite foamy.
3. Next, you need to gradually introduce softened chocolate into the cream.

Assembling the cake

• Spread each of the seven sponge cake sheets with chocolate cream and place on top of each other. Place the last, eighth sheet on the surface of the cake.
• Coat the edges of the cake with the remaining chocolate cream.
• Gently spread softened dark chocolate on top of the cake to serve as chocolate glaze. To ensure even application, use a pastry brush.
• Decorate the edges of the cake with frosting.