Book Review: "Courtiers" by Lucy Worsley

For those of you who are sick of reading about my experience of various thriller and horror novels, then I have read another Lucy Worsley book. Previously, I have read a number of her books including Jane Austen at Home, Queen Victoria and If Walls Could Talk. I have really enjoyed her books and as you can see, if she's writing anything else soon then I'm probably going to read it. One thing about her works is that she tends to centralise women and even though this is true, I do also love her showing the frailty of man. And thus, we see the male-centred Georgian Court in all of its strange, fragile and volatile glory...

The book opens with the arrival of the German King George I at the royal court of England, the intrigue that surrounds his court and his apparent dislike for royal pomp. It also covers the hatred he seems to have towards his son. When Queen Anne has many, many miscarriages but no living children, she must give the crown to the House of Hanover who are more than confounded by this. Worsley tells us that at this time that House of Hanover was still a little less than important, understanding monarchy was an election for the role of Holy Roman Emperor. Hanover itself was not a greatly known city and yet, this was the family to inherit one of the global superpowers of the time: the British throne.

One thing I was really horrified by was the Great Christening Row in which King George I told his son, who would become George II and the prince's wife that he would be choosing the godparents and christening for the children of the prince and his wife. Honestly, I would be pissed off as well. But after this he also tells the prince and his wife to leave the royal quarters for a different location - a request that was made because of his political rivarly with his son. The only problem was, is that only the prince and his wife were told to leave - there was no mention of the children anywhere in the proclamation. The children were to be left in the care of people employed by the king. Separating parents from their very small children is practically cruel and unusual not to mention the fact that they are taking away the agency of a man who would become the next king of England. I'm sure that's not going to mess him up at all and throw England into political turmoil after the death of the king (she says sarcastically).

Unfortunately when King George II comes on to the throne, he repeats the cycle by casting out his son, Prince Frederick in the same way his own father cast him out. It isn't unusual for father and son in the kingship to have a political rivalry at court but one thing that Worsley highlights is that the further away from German traditions the kingship moves, the more the rivalry seems to intensify. King George I couldn't really speak English properly and didn't have a great command of the language. King George II could more so. Prince Frederick would have been able to speak, read and write in English so well that it would have shaped his world view more than the German language would have. Prince Frederick would of course, die before his father and then we would get the 'mad' king, George III.

You'd think therefore that George III wouldn't rule through the German influence then? Well, you would be wrong. He took such a heavy influence from his grandfather and great-grandfather that it honestly felt like England was moving backwards in time a bit. Lucy Worsley doesn't hold back on how she explains that. It's interesting but honestly, I would be exhausted if I lived in court at this time.

Lucy Worsley's books are always a joy to read and Courtiers is no exception even though I am surprised she chose this particular topic to write about. I genuinely hope that she writes a book about Victoria's children and their influence over Europe because in her tone and hand, I think that could be really compelling to read.