Table of Contents
Acknowledgements viii
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction xi
Act I Sophia Dorothea of Celle 1
Love at First Sight 1
Adolescent Fancies 3
Encountering the Count 4
The Boy from Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 5
Making the Marriage 6
A Fatal Cannonball 9
Sophia Goes to Celle 11
Meeting the Husband 13
The Electoral Princess 14
Liaisons with Lassay 16
The Count and Clara 18
The Count Returns 19
A Fateful Glove 22
Towards the Future 24
Reunited 25
Discovery 26
The Cuckold 28
The Disappearing Count 29
Murder Most Foul 30
The Spider's Web 33
Goodbye to Hanover 36
Divorce 38
The Lady of Ahlden 39
The Return to Celle 41
The Cunning Count 42
The End of the Duchess 44
Act II Caroline of Ansbach, Queen Consort of Great Britain and Ireland 47
The Orphan of Ansbach 47
The Eligible Orphan 50
The Queen is Dead 52
Meeting Monsieur de Busch 54
Marrying Monsieur de Busch 59
Sons and Smallpox 60
Daughters and Mistresses 61
Succession 64
The Princess of Wales 65
A Catastrophic Christening 67
Separation 71
Claiming Custody 73
Reconciliation 75
The Scourge of Smallpox 77
A Happy Interlude 80
Hail to the Queen 81
Caroline the Illustrious 83
Farewell Henrietta, Hello Amalie 86
Battling Wales 90
The Porteous Riots 93
A Flight by Moonlight 95
The Queen is Dead 98
Act III Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 103
A Sheltered Childhood 103
Becoming a Bride 106
To England 108
Marriage by Moonlight 110
God Save the Queen! 113
The Prince of Wales 117
The Charitable Queen 119
Trouble at Home 122
The False Princess 123
Goodbye Augusta 125
The Lost Sons 128
The Regency Crisis 131
Marie Antoinette 137
The Madness Returns 138
The Nunnery 139
Breaking Hearts 144
Fading Away 146
Act IV Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of the United Kingdom 150
A Shuttlecock at Court 150
The Mad Princess? 152
A Lonely Princess 154
The (Not Quite) Princess of Wales 156
Marrying for Money 159
Meeting the Husband 163
A Wedding to Remember 167
Into the Bridal Bed 169
The Heir to the Throne 171
The Lady from Blackheath 172
The Delicate Investigation 174
Into the Public Eye 180
The Princess of Orange 182
To the Continent 184
An Italian Caller 186
The Death of a Princess 189
Back to Britain 191
A Queen on Trial 194
If Your Name's Not Down… 197
'I Be Tired of This Life' 200
Afterword 203
Bibliography 204
Index 215
