Aristocrats - books on, or by

[Humera]

I was wondering if anyone here has read the book "Aristocrats" by Stella Tillyard. The book is based on the correspondence between Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, great-grand-daughters of Charles II of Great Britain and his mistress Louise de Keroualle, and daughters of the 2nd Duke of Richmond.The four sisters wrote literally thousands of letters to each other and Stella Tillyard's book mainly draws from this rich correspondence. The book was also made into a sumptuous mini-series a couple of years ago.
There's also an illustrated companion book to the mini-series. I bought it a couple of days ago and its truly amazing.
I'd recommend it to anyone who loves history like myself. Both the book and the illustrated companion are full of details about daily life, fashion, and social customs of the eighteenth century.

 

[Julian]

Hi Humera, did you have a chance to see the television series that was based on this book? It was a British made series (big surprise! and came out about four or five years ago and was excellent. The saddest part of the series was the story of the doomed son of the Duchess of Leinster, he took part in the Irish rebellions and was ultimately sentenced to death. The Duchess could not save him even though she pleaded desperately for his life.

 

[hillary_nugent]

Sounds interesting....what is the TV series called?

 

[Julian]

hillary, the tv series is the same name, "Aristocrats". I can't remember who was in the cast, other than the actress who played the Duchess of Leinster in her later years, and that was Sian Phillips who used to be married to the great Peter O'Toole. I haven't searched for the details but you can probably find them if you browse on the entertainment info website imdb.com

 

[hillary_nugent]

thanks Julian ^____^

 

[Humera]

yeah I saw the TV series a couple of years ago. Im dying to get it on DVD.
It was absolutely sumptuous with all the magnificent gowns and jewels!
And the reason I especially loved it was because its all based on history, on people who actually lived during the 18th and 19th centuries, people who became famous figures of history, like the Duchess of Lienster's son Edward Fitzgerald, and her nephew Charles James Fox.
If anyone gets their hands on the Illustrated companion to the series, I'd highly recommend it. Its not full of recycled material from the book, nor is a typical "making of" guide. Its actually got tons more information about the lives of the Lennox sisters, daily life in the 18th century and gorgeous pictures of the sisters' homes etc.

 

[semisquare]

humera

i agree completely, i loved both the book and the tv series. its was wonderfuly done and the costumes were breathtaken. as with history- no extra drama is needed as the tv series shown.

 

[Humera]

Its a shame that so many of the sisters' letters were destroyed, either by their descendants or as in the case of Louisa, at her death in accordance with her will.

 

[rchainho]

Russian Aristocrats

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2102-1739000,00.html

Biography: The Princess and The Politicians by John Charmley
REVIEWED BY ADAM ZAMOYSKI

THE PRINCESS AND THE POLITICIANS: Sex, Intrigue and Diplomacy, 1812-40
by John Charmley

Viking £20 pp350

NI_MPU('middle');Princess Lieven has had more than her fair share of books written about her. And not surprisingly. This exotic Russian aristocrat intrigued and slept her way through an extraordinary array of statesmen, including Metternich, Wellington, Aberdeen, Canning, Grey and Guizot, and was the first non-royal woman in history to attain a central position in European politics and diplomacy.

 

[tiaraprin]

Thank you for telling us about the book Rchaino!! It is much appreciated!!

 

[Skydragon]

Last Curtsey: The end of the debutantes, by Fiona MacCarthy

How shy Di killed off the debs

'We had to put a stop to it. Every tart in London was getting in." In these words, the late Princess Margaret, with her customary blend of regal hauteur and sod-you directness, described one of the reasons behind the decision, in 1958, to bring an end to the centuries-old tradition of the presentation of debutantes to the Queen.

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/article1919252.ece

 

[Alastair_r]

High society

Any good books out about high society, aristocrats and nobility ? X

 

[GlitteringTiaras]

A book that is simply fantastic, by a historian with whom I greatly admire, David Cannadine, is The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy. You might also want to read Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire; however, the book is more about "how class was the engine for Empire..." compared to The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy.


The above mentioned books may be a good jump start, but if you are looking for something more specific, i.e. the aristocracy today, you might want to buy the video of the four part documentary entitled, The Aristocracy. Released by the BBC a couple of years ago the series is invaluable soruce for those who are seriously intereseted in the history British aristocracy as well as their place in today's society (which questions their relevance; as the late 11th Duke of Devonshire noted "...they are a spent force...")

Good luck in your search

 

[Warren]

Another recommendation:
Aristocrats by Robert Lacey (based on his BBC TV series of the same name)
First published 1983. ISBN 0 09 154290 1

The book covers six families:
• Duke of Westminster (the Grosvenors)
• Duchess of Medinaceli (the most titled woman in the world)
• Thurn und Taxis (the late Prince Johannes)
• Frescobaldi (long-term friends of the Prince of Wales)
• Marquis de Ganay
• Liechtenstein (the late Prince Franz Josef II)

 

[marmi]

What is this book like? I caught a glance of my aunt reading it while she was visiting us but never had a chance to ask her.

 

[scooter]

Was Diana even born then? How could she kill off something before she was even alive?

 

[PrinceOfCanada]

Was Diana even born then? How could she kill off something before she was even alive?

Diana was -3 years old in 1958.

 

[scooter]

Dont think so, she was born 1 1/2 years before me and I am born in 1963. I distinctly remember when she was engaged to C and I was a high school senior at the time.

 

[scooter]

And 'no doubt' it was all Diana's fault whether she was 3 or not even born, vraiment?

 

[sirhon11234]

Diana was born in 1961 so this article is pretty lame and funny IMO.

 

[Elspeth]

Was Diana even born then? How could she kill off something before she was even alive?

Erm - read the article that was linked to, and you'll see what the author meant. Strikes me as a real stretch, but I'm sure that subtitle will get people to read the article who otherwise wouldn't, and that, no doubt, was the point.

 

[Elspeth]

How shy Di killed off the debs

'We had to put a stop to it. Every tart in London was getting in." In these words, the late Princess Margaret, with her customary blend of regal hauteur and sod-you directness, described one of the reasons behind the decision, in 1958, to bring an end to the centuries-old tradition of the presentation of debutantes to the Queen.

Last Curtsey: The end of the debutantes, by Fiona MacCarthy - Reviews, Books - The Independent

Have you read the book, Skydragon?

 

[PrinceOfCanada]

Dont think so, she was born 1 1/2 years before me and I am born in 1963. I distinctly remember when she was engaged to C and I was a high school senior at the time.

-3. Minus 3. As in, 3 years before she was born.

 

[EmpressRouge]

I think the author was trying to say that symbolically, Diana killed any hope of reviving the idea of the traditional debutante with her tell-all 1995 interview. After the presentation ceremonies ended in 1958, the idea of the virginal, proper, docile deb were dying out in the 60s and 70s with all those scandals. Diana's virginal, proper, docile image in the early 80s was seen as a potential return to the traditional image of the pure deb. Think about how her wedding (and specifically her dress) was a throwback to the big, traditional, romantic wedding from the rebel counterculture chic of the 60s and 70s. However, Diana turned out to be the most rebellious deb of them all. She took lovers, divorced, most importantly, spilled her her guts out on her lovers and divorce in Morton's book and on TV. That the woman thought to be epitome of old-fashioned mores turned out to be the modern of them all, is what killed the idea of the a return to tradition. Thus, it buried the hope of ever reviving the court presentation ceremonies and all they represented.

 

[charlottestreasures]

I think the author was trying to say that symbolically, Diana killed any hope of reviving the idea of the traditional debutante with her tell-all 1995 interview. After the presentation ceremonies ended in 1958, the idea of the virginal, proper, docile deb were dying out in the 60s and 70s with all those scandals. Diana's virginal, proper, docile image in the early 80s was seen as a potential return to the traditional image of the pure deb. Think about how her wedding (and specifically her dress) was a throwback to the big, traditional, romantic wedding from the rebel counterculture chic of the 60s and 70s. However, Diana turned out to be the most rebellious deb of them all. She took lovers, divorced, most importantly, spilled her her guts out on her lovers and divorce in Morton's book and on TV. That the woman thought to be epitome of old-fashioned mores turned out to be the modern of them all, is what killed the idea of the a return to tradition. Thus, it buried the hope of ever reviving the court presentation ceremonies and all they represented.

From reading an excerpt of this book, it struck me for the first time that Diana after a year or so must have been really truly been a shock to Britain and the Royal Family, as she had grown up in an aristocratic family and really turned her back on that way of life. Wonder how come, as her sisters and brothers did not.

 

[scooter]

I think it was more than a year or two before she turned her back on the old way of life. Frankly, I give her a lot of credit, being as unhappy as she was, for sticking it out quietly as long as she did. As for her siblings not doing so, perhaps their adult life/spousal relationships were more fulfilling, leading her siblings to be more satisfied with the status quo. If you're happy, you're not going to be looking to change things. If you're miserable, you start looking around for ways to 'improve' your life.

 

[randomlyKeira]

I haven't read the book, though I would be interested to, but from the way it sounds, I think that there is almost a sense of nostalgia and irony to this book. Right, there are no formal ceremonies to present children to the Queen, but there is a sort of informal debutant season still going strong in the UK, as I've seen first hand with many of my relatives. Trust me, Debutants are not as extinct in the UK as some assume, and eve les so in greater Europe.

I agree with EmpressRouge that the author was most likely hinting to the fact that Diana in a way put a cabosh on the idea of a "pure, white, and shiny" Aristocratic Englishwoman, but I thikn she also cemented the idea that to find that pure sort of person you must not be as socially prejudice as the Blue Bloods once were, Kate Middelton is a fine example.

I think that in a way this article highlights everything that we all love and hate about the status quo, while really only highlighting what the entire world was living through in those time. Sex adn so forth were elements of the 60's and 70's,and were natural for any teenager to be mixed up in, because socal status doesn't exempt you from certain heartaches and peer-pressure as some may believe.

But as a grandchild of one of the Debs that came out at the last presenting, there may be more to this story than anyone would be willing to offer, as it really is just a secret society that everyone wants to fight there way into.

 

[RoyalProtocol]

I've read this book, its OK, it has some interesting information about the 1958 season and the court presentations, it's a good social history and looks at later attempts to revive the season, it also looks at what happend to the gals who curtsied in 1958, The Diana bit just says how after the Panorama interview the deb died and that the traditional idea of a deb could never be revivied. The 1960s is also blamed as part of this end.

Best Quote "We had to end the presentations, every tart in London was getting in" attributed to HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

 

[ysbel]

There is another book, The Last Dance, about the London debuntante season of 1939, the season many claimed was the season of the last true debutantes.

Of course it was right before WWII so the atmosphere prior to war was given some attention.

 

[Menarue]

I have a lovely photograph of a cousin (long dead) wearing the traditional white feathers and white dress when she was presented to Queen Mary. It was a nice custom but must have been a rather expensive one, even Wallis borrowed a dress when she was presented.
Then, there were the garden parties. Invitations were applied for and a letter of recommendation from some "bigwig" usually got the person in. I don´t even know if they still have these or are they a thing of the past.