Almost two books in one, A Right Royal Scandal recounts the fascinating history of the irregular love matches contracted by two successive generations of the Cavendish-Bentinck family, ancestors of the British royal family. The first part of this intriguing book looks at the scandal that erupted in Regency London, just months after the Battle of Waterloo, when the widowed Lord Charles Bentinck eloped with the Duke of Wellington’s married niece. Over two decades later and while at Oxford University, Lord Charles’ eldest son fell in love with a beautiful Romany girl, and secretly married her. When his alliance was discovered, he was cast adrift by his family with devastating consequences.
A love story as well as a brilliantly researched historical biography, this is a continuation of Joanne Major and Sarah Murden’s first biography, An Infamous Mistress, about the eighteenth-century courtesan Grace Dalrymple Elliott, whose daughter was the first wife of Lord Charles Bentinck. The book ends by showing how, if not for a young gypsy and her tragic life, the British monarchy would look very different today.
A love story as well as a brilliantly researched historical biography, this is a continuation of Joanne Major and Sarah Murden’s first biography, An Infamous Mistress, about the eighteenth-century courtesan Grace Dalrymple Elliott, whose daughter was the first wife of Lord Charles Bentinck. The book ends by showing how, if not for a young gypsy and her tragic life, the British monarchy would look very different today.
