The Daughters of George III Quotes

“The king and queen were devastated but for George there was one small, perhaps odd comfort. He loved his son, of course, but his favourite child was Octavius, and he wrote, ‘I am very sorry for Alfred, but if it had been Octavius, I should have died too.”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

“It won’t come as a surprise to learn that Princess Sophia, the fifth of the six daughters of George and Charlotte, had the same unremarkable upbringing as her sisters.”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

“If you did a double take, you could be forgiven. Queen Charlotte not hating the idea of one of her daughters marrying and leaving home? It was virtually unheard of.”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

“It is a mistake my living at Court; it was certainly intended that I should live in the Country, and been a younger brother’s Wife, for I do not understand Court quarrels; kiss and make friends should be one of the mottos for a Palace.’15”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

“In the years to come, Elizabeth would use her talent for illustration to benefit her favourite charities, producing books of illustration and donating the profits from their sale.”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

“In other words, the queen intended to make her daughters suffer. What better way than withdrawing into isolation to lick her wounds? Thanks, mum.”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

“On 5 February 1811, the Prince of Wales was appointed Prince Regent and Queen Charlotte was compelled to face the sad truth that the husband she had known and loved was gone forever. She drew her daughters closer than ever and their small, isolated cabal became the most exclusive female club in England. It was one to which nobody would want to belong.”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

“On a personal level, the king liked Spencer and even appointed him as an equerry. Now at least Spencer was nearby, if still unobtainable, and at some point, it seems that he and Augusta became lovers when she was in her early thirties. She called him ‘the secret of her heart’ and she knew that there could be no marriage between them, but it didn’t stop her from hoping.”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

“The thing with Augusta is that one could never tell what she was really thinking behind her placid smile. As her father once noted of her, ‘she looks interesting – she looks as if she knew more than she would say.’4 Such was the cabal of the Georgian princesses.”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses

“In 1775 she wrote to the governess of the children, Lady Charlotte Finch, and told her, ‘if every body is well behaved, at the Queens House of the Female party I should be glad to see my Daughters on Wednesday morning between 10 and 11.’20 Before your eyebrows hit your hairline, remember that this was the Queen of Great Britain. Even her children needed an appointment.”
― Catherine Curzon, The Daughters of George III: Sisters & Princesses