Georgiana - Duchess of Devonshire

Provides a dramatic portrait of the colourful life of eighteenth-century British aristocrat Lady Georgiana Spencer, her roles as a society and political hostess, and her disastrous and profligate private life. In 1774, at the age of 17, Georgiana achieved immediate celebrity by marrying one of England's richest and most influential aristocrats, the Duke of Devonshire. Her good works and social exploits made her loved by the multitudes, but Georgiana's public success concealed a private life that was fraught with suffering. The Duke, unimpressed by his wife's legendary charms, preferred instead those of her closest friends, a woman with whom Georgiana was herself rumoured to be on intimate terns. For over twenty years, the three lived together in a jealous and uneasy menage a trois, during which time both women bore the Duke's children - as well as those of other men. The descriptions of Georgiana's uncontrollable gambling, all-night drinkiing, drug taking and love affairs with the leading politicians of the day give us a fascinating insight into the lives of the British aristocracy in the era of the madness of King George III, the American and French revolutions, and the defeat of Napoleon...