princess georgiana, the granddaughter of queen charlotte, makes her third annual trip to london for the season since her unhappy marriage to a future european king. they despise each other yet everyone wants their marriage to work except the husband...
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spring was a time for new beginnings and projects, whether it be hosting balls or the sweet bliss of courtship for some. a promenade in st james's park was a quintessential feature of the social calendar and was no exception for the royal ladies.
a way to meet people and observe a large majority of the ton all at once, not too far from the palace, it was where they had found themselves time alone amidst a busy start to the season.
positioned carefully under a canopy, cornered away from the rest of the ton, georgiana and the queen sat together with feather filled cushions made of gorgeous damask silks and velvets littered around them.
unbeknownst to princess georgiana, the queen of france had written a letter to queen charlotte expressing her 'disappointment as a fellow queen consort at who stood to inherit her position'.
ingratitude to an extent, due to her privilege, was another flaw of georgiana's. many a woman would delight in becoming queen and living the life of a royal in france but being born a princess already, the role of a queen consort appeared less than desirable with its responsibilities and restrictions.
renè and georgiana had committed to a circus of publicity; their eventual coronation, blasphemous to think about, the heirs they would present to the kingdom, state dinners, patronage events, tours, hosting foreign courts; required to always appear together when neither wanted to be close.
tasked again with a scheme, no small or easy one this time, charlotte who knew georgiana better than anyone attempted to think of the best ways of coaxing georgiana into embracing her duties rather than running from them.
privately to her eldest son charlotte had confided her concerns. petitioning as best she could, charlotte explained delicately to george that georgiana was, an opinion entirely drawn from her own experiences, not fully suited to the lifestyle demanded of a queen consort.
in breeding, education and manners she was perfectly suited. fluency and an almost perfect french accent had been taught by an ambassador from paris, a great scholar taking residency in london. the same ambassador, found himself charmed into debates with the clever young princess thus passing on ideas concerning politics, history and anthropology. 'her royal highness is most inquisitive, perhaps beyond the extent her station inherently permits' he wrote in a letter to a close confidant back at versailles.
painting was her forte, creating rather beautiful canvases that only grew more skilled with age. as was expected, she could play instruments, sing [which happened to be her least favourite], dance and her horsemanship was advanced.
but georgiana just as she did now dreamed too often, a habit seemingly inherited from her grandfather. enjoying dreaming of freedoms, many beyond her reach, georgiana found it difficult to reconcile her hopes with reality at times.
love was something the child wanted and no one was more aware than her grandmama. never having officially debuted, married off earlier than most women of the ton, georgiana felt as if she'd missed out on many occasions of happiness.
