Lust, Lies and Monarchy: The Secrets Behind Britain's Royal Portraits

by Stephen Millar

Overview

One day in the 1860s, so the story goes, an ambitious up-and-coming female sculptor was making love to an older, married man in an art studio. It was complicated because the man was not only one of the most famous sculptors in the country, but the young woman's teacher and mentor. Things got worse when they were rudely interrupted by the woman's mother, accompanied by her faithful servant. The mother, shocked at what she had stumbled across, was dressed in black, still mourning the death of her beloved husband. She screamed at her daughter.

And on this occasion, the young woman screamed back, one of the very few people who would dare stand up to such a formidable figure. The daughter accused her mother of hypocrisy, of having an affair with the kilted servant who stood by her side, and threatened to expose her mother's affair to the wider world if she continued to menace her. (An excerpt from the Chapter XIII)

People have long been fascinated by the stories behind royal portraits. This volume takes readers inside royal families by way of great paintings, like Holbein's Henry VIII, van Dyck's Charles I, Millais' The Princes in the Tower, Freud's Elizabeth II, and more. Featuring incredible, little known stories of the royals and illustrates, this beautiful collection is illustrated with color paintings, photos, family trees and Royal London walking tours with maps.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781940842295
Publisher:	Museyon
Publication date:	05/01/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	288
File size:	13 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Stephen Millar is the author of London's Hidden Walks. He has written and provided photographs for a number of magazines and books including the Independent on Saturday.

Table of Contents

Introduction 8

Map 14

Chapter I The Princes in the Tower: Murder Most Foul

Where are the bodies? 16

Chapter II Henry VII: The Explorer King

Establishing England's claim to North America with John Cabot 26

Chapter III Henry VIII: The King as Subject

Hans Holbein paints the definitive royal portrait 36

Chapter IV Lady Jane Grey: The Nine-Day Queen

History's footnote, art's tragic heroine 50

Chapter V Elizabeth I: Gloriana

The Rainbow Portrait and the birth of MI5 65

Tudor Family Tree 74

Chapter VI Henry Frederick Stuart: The Forgotten Prince

The best king England never had 76

Chapter VII Charles I: The Three Faces of a King

Sir Anthony Van Dyck's masterpiece that wasn't meant to be 90

Chapter VIII Windsor Beauties: The King's Favourites

Sir Peter Lely paints mistresses of King Charles II 104

Chapter IX William of Orange and James II: A Battle Royal

Portraying victory and defeat 118

Chapter X Bonnie Prince Charlie: The Great Pretender

Allan Ramsay's lost portrait of the prince 132

Chapter XI George III: The Monarch Unhorsed

A noble equestrian statue falls to mob rule 146

Chapter XII George IV Libertine Prince, Bigamist King

Two wives, two portraits 156

Chapter XIII Princess Louise: Victoria's Artistic Daughter

Royal by birth, scandalous by nature 172

Chapter XIV Alexandra and Elizabeth: Saintly Royals

From pleasures and palaces to immortality in heaven 188

Chapter XV George VI: Family Man

Sir James Gunn paints the royals at their ease 196

Chapter XVI Elizabeth II: The Sovereign and The Bohemian

Her Majesty sits for Lucian Freud 206

Hanover-Windsor Family Trees 218

Timeline 220

Royal London Walking Tours 224

Index 253

Locations of the Paintings 262

Locations and their Homepages 266

Editorial Reviews

"There has been a lot of books written about royal history, and it is rare to find a new perspective. However, Stephen Millar has done just that. When I spotted this book on NetGalley, I knew that it would be a perfect summer afternoon read. (After pushing through several lengthy Queen Victoria biographies, this was a needed cleanse!) This book looks at different paintings showing different episodes in English/British royal history. You have the usual suspects like the Princes in the Tower and Hans Holbein’s portrait of Henry VIII. However, Millar also includes some interesting choices, like Lucien Frued’s Elizabeth II from the twenty first century, and a touching portrait of George VI and his family that you don’t often see. It is a wonderful mixture of well-known and lesser-known figures, and it reads very easily. The Royal London walking tours are a great bonus for anyone who finds themselves in London. (I should say, find themselves in London at a time when they are allowed to walk around!). It is a fast read, I would say it would take an afternoon or evening." —An Historian About Town

From the Publisher