The Prince and the Quakeress: The Fourth Volume of the Georgian Saga

by Jean Plaidy

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399131914
• ISBN13: 9780399131912
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Little Known Chapter of History

This is one of my favorite Plaidy books! I had never heard of Hannah Lightfoot before this, so I read this book to find out more about her.Frederick, Prince of Wales dies, and his son George (later George III) takes the title. He is slow, but tries very hard. He is also kind and gentle, but not thought of as much. One day, while riding out in the street, he gets a glance of Hannah Lightfoot. He instantly falls ion love with her. When one of his mother's ladies in waiting tries to win favor with him, he jumps at the opportunity of meeting Hannah. They meet secretly a few times, and both fall in love. When Hannah is to be married, she decides to run away. She is whisked off to a secluded house where she and George secretly live as man and wife. After a while, they are even secretly married. When Lord Bute, his mother's lover and leader of the household finds out, he finds Hannah and she mysteriously disappears. George is told she is dead. He begins to realize how dangerous it would be to the monarchy if she had lived, so he is in a way grateful. The King George II, his grandfather, dies, and George III is king. Once again, he falls in love, this time with Sarah Lennox. She isn't really interested in him, and Lord Bute discourages him, so he decides to marry the German princess he is expected to marry, Princess Charlotte.

THE EARLY LIFE OF KING GEORGE III, WHEN PRINCE OF WALES...

Jean Plaidy, beloved author of historical fiction, is known to her millions of fans world wide as Victoria Holt. A masterful storyteller who can weave a tapestry of little known historical facts into an engrossing and well written novel, she tells the story of a young Prince of Wales, who would later go on to become King George III, and a that of a young quakeress named Hannah Lightfoot. When their paths crossed one day, theirs would be a romance that would transcend royal protocol.This novel, set against a backdrop of political intrigues and aristocrats jockeying for power, tells the story of a young, idealistic Prince of Wales and his deep and abiding affection for a beautiful, young quakeress, Hannah Lightfoot, who happened to catch his eye one day while he was riding through the streets. She, a commoner, would go against all her beliefs for his love, and he, a future King of England, would flout those who would try to control him in order to be with this woman whom he loved with the ardor and devotion of the very young. Their bittersweet romance provides a birdseye view into the upbringing of the Prince of Wales, as well as a peek into the sybaritic court of George II. Their love is set against a backdrop of manipulative and self-seeking courtiers who would attempt to use their knowledge of the Prince's secret romance with this young quakeress for their personal gain. Theirs would be a love that would disappear into the footnotes of history, until the author wove it into this absorbing and poignant account of a forbidden, first love that would have historical implications.

Some more light on the mystery

Much of Miss Plaidy's historical novel is in line with historical facts collected by my family over the years - we all still have the name Mackelcan, which is referred to on page 233. It is interesting to note that John Mackelcan, Hannah's son, was baptised at St Mary's, Newington, Surrey on 12th April 1759 and at the age of 15, under the wing of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. In 1795 at the age of 36 and without having seen active service he was promoted to full General. In a Will dated July 1778 Hannah wrote "Provided I depart this life, I commend my two sons and my daughter to their Royal father, my husband." The cover-up began in 1866 when a Mrs Ryves sought to establish her direct descent from George III's brother, the Duke of Cumberland; the case was heard by the Lord Chief Justice and the Baron Justice acting with a special jury. Acting for the Crown were the Attorney General, the Solicitor General and the Queen's Advocate. On the back of what appeared to be a certificate relating to a marriage between Cumberland and Mrs Ryves was the following certificate "This is to certify that I lawfully married George, Prince of Wales to Hannah Lightfoot on 27th May 1759 and that two sons and a daughter are the issue of that marriage " It was signed by J Wilmot ( a Doctor of Divinity and a friend of the Royal Family in the 18th century) and witnessed by Chatham and J Denning. The LCJ forbade Mrs Ryves to speak in Court; no other witnesses were called and the case was put straight to the Jury who found for the Attorney-General. Even as recently as 1997 officials at the Public Records Office told a researcher that the documents were not avaialable but they did eventually produce the impounded marriage certificate. Miss Plaidy's book puts the relationship between George and Hannah into a very readable context but perhaps the sequel is just as fascinating?

Hanna Lightfoot Did Exist

I have read this book by one of my favorite historical fiction authors, Victoria Holt. Did the future George III of England actually marry in secret, a Quaker girl called Hanna Lightfoot? Ms Holt believes so and I agree. There is much evidence to prove it is true and after George I found out about it, he was upset as any grandfather of a Prince of Wales would be. Young George was not a good pupil, had problems interacting with people and Hanna Lightfoot helped him thru this. Then came Charlotte, a real royal marriage took place, and Hanna fell by the wayside and the secret marriage was null and void. But he never forgot her. That much is true, according to this book and the way I interpreted it. Later in life, he became George III, loser of the Colonies and had bouts of confusion and mental illness. That was his legacy, he lost the Colonies.

A Mystery Wrapped in a Romance Novel about History

The author gives a plausible telling of the tale of the mysterious first wife of George III, Hannah Lightfoot Axford. 100 years after the death of George III, suit was brought in an English court by people who claimed to be descendants of the King and the Quakeress. Their documents were declared by handwriting experts to be real, yet the documents were impounded by the monarchy for another 100 years--a strange way of handing documents that were dismissed by the courts as forgeries. Joshua Reynolds, the renowned painter of the period, also painted a portrait of Mrs. Axford, the Quakeress, in a style of dress not normally associated with Quakers. Reynolds was not known to paint the portraits of persons other than the aristocracy. Hannah is one of the intriguing mysteries of history, but one brought to life by the author in this easy-to-read novel.Jean Plaidy does a service to readers that writers of historical biographies seem unable to do. She tells a good story and makes the people seem real. Biographies of royalty tend to be stilted, heavily burdened with the intricacies of politics and remote from the person and character of the royal. They are not fun to read. Plaidy's novels are fairly close to historical fact without being tediously so.