HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2024-09-06T14:41:49.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Could you make it through a London season in the Regency era?
items: The real story of Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte: from glittering courts to tragic decline
items: Was the Regency era a good time to be a woman? The truth not seen in Bridgerton
items: 7 weird and wonderful Georgian beauty treatments
items: From Nell to Meghan: 10 romances between actors and royals
items: The Duke of Cumberland and his valet: a bloody tale of attempted murder

Could you make it through a London season in the Regency era?
type: item
date: 2023-05-04T08:01:55.000Z
creator: Catherine Curzon
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: You’ve got a dowry, a ballgown, a dance card, and you’ve spent your life preparing to dazzle on the dancefloor during your first season. But armed with just your wit, your silver tongue and your natural wiles, do you have what it takes to bewitch the ton, or fall flat on your face?
encoded: View Riddle on the source website How did you score? Share your result on social media to see how your knowledge compares with other HistoryExtra readers! Don't forget to check back for our next quiz – and in the meantime browse our other history quizzes here

https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2023/04/QUEENCHARLOTTE103Unit00808RC-1-97c60ca-e1682518876357.jpg
width: 620
height: 414

The real story of Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte: from glittering courts to tragic decline
type: item
date: 2023-05-04T08:00:18.000Z
creator: Catherine Curzon
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
subject: Trends-Entertainment
subject: TV interest
description: Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz arrived in Britain as a teenager to marry King George III, and theirs would become a marriage of deep affection and domesticity, with celebrated Georgians flocking to their court. Yet hers was also a life increasingly blighted by tragedy. Following Golda Rosheuvel’s star turn as the queen consort in Netflix drama Bridgerton, Catherine Curzon shares more…
encoded: Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and King George III were married for almost six decades. Following their arranged marriage, no Georgian royals were more devoted to one another, but theirs was a love story that turned into a tragedy. Charlotte was born to the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg at the Palace of Mirow, in the small principality of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (now part of Germany), in 1744. Her education was mediocre, and though she learned how to manage a household, she was kept distant from the politics of royal life. Only when her brother succeeded to the dukedom on their father’s death did 12-year-old Charlotte enter court life, but Mecklenburg’s powerplays were nothing compared to the sharkpool of Georgian England. Charlotte’s future was decided in 1760, when the 22-year-old George III succeeded his grandfather on the English throne. This unassuming, diligent bachelor needed a queen – and an heir – as a matter of urgency. Eager to ensure the line of succession, politicians included Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on a shortlist of eligible and suitable Protestant ladies. She was reported to have no political ambitions and to be in all regards perfectly pleasant and ‘sweet-tempered’, which was exactly what George was looking for. He chose her to be his bride, thrusting the sheltered teenager into the spotlight. Charlotte was about to become queen of a land she had never visited, alongside a man whom she had never met. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2021/01/GettyImages-1198679755-a113a17-e1683106495286.jpg" width="620" height="412" alt="Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz" title="Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was included on a shortlist of eligible and suitable Protestant ladies who could be a potential bride for George III. (Photo by: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)" /> The wedding of Princess Charlotte and George III After a proxy wedding ceremony in Mecklenburg…

GettyImages-464443479-d5994d8-e1683106439713.jpg
width: 613
height: 412

Was the Regency era a good time to be a woman? The truth not seen in Bridgerton
type: item
date: 2023-05-04T07:56:09.000Z
creator: Catherine Curzon
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
description: Conforming to strict rules in order to find a husband, who then had control over her property and lifestyle; risking the loss of reputation for any societal indiscretion; and enduring painful pregnancies and childbirths: life for a Regency woman came with supreme challenges. Catherine Curzon explores the real world of Bridgerton
encoded: “Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor – which is one very strong argument in favour of matrimony.” So wrote the author Jane Austen, whose visions of Regency life have come to define the era, in a letter to her niece Fanny Knight, dated 13 March 1817. Austen was not wrong. Being a woman in the Regency era was far more than the balls, dresses and dashing gentlemen seen in her works, and a far cry from the world of Bridgerton. The intrigue, romance and glamour of the Netflix series has bewitched viewers across the globe with its Regency fantasia. There, two women deftly hold sway in different ways, one at court and one in society. Read more | Was there a real Lady Whistledown? The true stories of Mrs Crackenthorpe, Bridgerton’s scandal sheets and the golden age of gossip At the top sits Queen Charlotte, resplendent in wig and panniers as she presides over the ladies of the upper class, deciding their fate at court and the world of the elite with the merest of words. Lady Whistledown, however, exists as an anonymous writer whose must-read pamphlets sate the hunger for gossip among the ton. It has made for compelling viewing, but just what was it like for a woman at this time? What was the ton in the Regency era? The ton was the pinnacle of Regency society. The term was used to refer to the refined world of the upper classes, which was governed by a bewildering and unwritten collection of rules. Here, women had specific roles: to marry, become a mother and establish themselves as successful society wives, to whom no scandal or gossip could possibly attach itself. On the podcast | Bridgerton: ripping up the rulebook on Regency romance Of course, there are examples of women who kicked against these expectations, but they were the exception, and regarded by the ton as oddities. For the rest, from the moment of their birth little girls found themselves on a path that they would be expected to follow for their whole lives. What were upper-class women taught?…

GettyImages-1155876968-4fb5cba-e1682500690578.jpg
width: 618
height: 414

7 weird and wonderful Georgian beauty treatments
type: item
date: 2021-10-21T10:04:59.000Z
creator: Catherine Curzon
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: In the 21st century, beauty is big business: thousands of column inches are devoted daily to discussing the latest beauty trends, from the simple to the absurd. But, as historical writer Catherine Curzon reveals, the beauty regimes of the Georgian era could put even the most bizarre modern fads to shame
encoded: From porcelain white skin to huge hair, the Georgians cared greatly about their appearance. Indeed, the lure of a pretty face in make-up became so strong in the Georgian period, and was considered so irresistible, that parliament (seemingly) considered passing a law to protect men from being duped by painted ladies with designs on their purse: “An Act to protect men from being beguiled into marriage by false adornments. All women, of whatever rank, age, profession or degree, whether virgins, maids or widows, that shall, from and after such Act, impose upon, seduce or betray into matrimony, any of His Majesty's subjects, by the scents, paints, cosmetic washes, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool, iron stays, hoops, high-heeled shoes and bolstered hips, shall incur the penalty of the law in force against witch-craft and like misdemeanours and that the marriage upon conviction shall stand null and void.” Put forward in 1770 likely as a wry jab at fashion rather than a serious law, this amendment to the Witchcraft Act was never passed, nor did it make it into the debating chamber. Nevertheless, beauty treatments were abundant in Georgian Britain. Here we consider seven of the most weird and wonderful… White, white, white! Our obsession with acquiring the perfect sun-kissed tan would have utterly perplexed the Georgians. In the 18th century a suntan was a sure sign that one worked outdoors, whereas the polite, wealthy classes remained indoors and out of the sun’s glare. The most basic and perhaps famous Georgian fashion was porcelain white skin, for both men and women. Alongside horse manure and vinegar, the main ingredient in skin-whitening creams and powders was lead. Daubed liberally on the face and neck, these creams and powders helped to achieve that all-important ‘never been outdoors’ look. Whiteness was accentuated by using blue colouring to highlight veins, while lips and cheeks were tinted with yet more lead – this time coloured with carmine [a bright-red…

Georgian-beauty-2-46ba47f-e1634810895646.jpg
width: 418
height: 278

From Nell to Meghan: 10 romances between actors and royals
type: item
date: 2018-05-17T09:45:56.000Z
creator: Catherine Curzon
subject: 20th Century
subject: Edwardian
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Stuart
subject: Victorian
subject: Royal weddings
subject: Stuart kings and queens
subject: The royal family
subject: Valentine's Day
description: On 19 May 2018, the American actress Meghan Markle married into British royalty when she wed Prince Harry in a ceremony at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The wedding was the latest in a long tradition of romances between members of royal family and the acting profession. There are 10 such relationships from the 17th century to today, from all across the world – though not all of them ended happily…
encoded: Writing for History Extra, Catherine Curzon examines 10 famous relationships between actors and royals… Margaret ‘Peg’ Hughes (c1630–1719) Better known as Peg, Margaret Hughes holds the distinction of being one of the first recorded actresses to grace the London stage, appearing as Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello on 8 December 1660 at the Vere Street Theatre. Up until this point, women had been forbidden to act on stage at all, and it wasn’t until King Charles II issued a royal warrant declaring that female roles must be played by women in 1662 that actresses became a common sight, as opposed to young men dressed up to look like them. Peg was no young man though, and she not only bewitched her audience, but managed to steal the heart of Rupert of the Rhine, cousin to Charles II. Read more Royal wedding traditions through history: etiquette, menus and the dress code When royals marry 'commoners': a brief history <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2018/05/Elizabeth-II-wedding-2-5136340.jpg" width="1200" height="730" alt="The future Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Buckingham Palace following their wedding, 20 November 1947. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)" title="The future Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Buckingham Palace following their wedding, 20 November 1947. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)" /> After Rupert’s death in 1682, Peg gambled away much of his bequest to her and sold off many valuables, including a necklace which was bought by the infamous Nell Gwynne. Peg died in 1719, having never regained the lifestyle she once enjoyed. Nell Gwynne (1650–1687) Perhaps the most famous of all England’s royal mistresses, Nell Gwynne began her career selling oranges to the patrons of a theatre on London’s Brydges Street, Charles II’s royal playhouse. By the time she was 14 years old, Nell was treading the boards as an actress and she found h…

GettyImages-917704140-copy-afcf2b3.jpg
width: 3785
height: 4589

The Duke of Cumberland and his valet: a bloody tale of attempted murder
type: item
date: 2018-03-13T10:07:13.000Z
creator: Catherine Curzon
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Murder
description: In the early hours of a May morning in 1810, blood-curdling cries came from the darkened bedchamber of the Duke of Cumberland. The duke – who was the fifth son of King George III – would be at the centre of many lurid scandals that captured public imagination in Britain, though none would haunt him more than the mysterious, bloody death of his valet, Joseph Sellis. Writing for History Extra, historian Catherine Curzon shares the remarkable tale…
encoded: Every family has its villain, the rotten old branch on the family tree, a ‘black sheep’. The royal House of Hanover certainly wasn’t short of questionable uncles and eccentric aunts, but in the early 19th century, one figure towered above them all in the public consciousness. As far as the people of Great Britain were concerned, the thoroughly bad lot at the heart of the ruling house was Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1771-1851). The fifth son of King George III [r1760–1820] and Charlotte of Mecklenburg, Cumberland became known for his frightful visage, which were the result of battle injuries, and his torrid affairs. One day destined to wear the crown of Hanover [a German kingdom that existed between 1814-66, and which Ernest Augustus would rule between 1837-1851], Cumberland’s road to the throne was paved with scandal. Of all of the scandals that he weathered, however, one in particular would haunt him for decades. It was a supposed tangle of murder and sex, and it all began in the early hours of 31 May 1810. As St James’s Palace slumbered, a blood-curdling, agonised cry of “Neale! Neale! I am murdered!” was heard from the darkened bedchamber of the Duke of Cumberland. Yet what exactly had happened in the hours leading up to that cry? A mysterious attack Deep in the darkest hours of the night, sometime between 2am and 3am, an assailant crept into Cumberland’s opulent bedroom. Lit by a dark lantern, that assailant slid open a drawer and took out the duke’s own recently-sharpened sabre, soon to become a key piece of evidence in a most singular crime. Gripping the razor-edged sword, the assailant then crept to the bed and let the blade fall in what should have been a deadly arc. The first blow woke the duke and split his skull wide open, the wound so severe that it exposed his brain. With a cry, the duke stumbled from his bed as the blade fell again and again, until four wounds had been inflicted on Cumberland’s head. The duke’s life was saved by the luc…

HKMA03-d85d032-9767734.jpg
width: 720
height: 479