Perdita's Prince

George, Prince of Wales (later George IV), rebels against his puritanical father as soon as he is able. He takes mistresses, eats and drinks to excess, gambles, and joins forces with his father, the King's, enemies, the Whigs. Soon, Charles James Fox and William Brinsley Sheridan are running his life. Then, one night at a performance of Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale", he sees Mary Robinson playing Perdita. She becomes George's first official mistress, among several in his lifetime.This book gives an accurate portrayal of aristocratic life in the eighteenth century. It also gives you an inside look to the lives of some of England's most celebrated personalities. Although many of the characters could hardly be called admirable, this book is an excellent choice for anyone interested in the time period or English history in general.

A study of family genealogy often explains the present-or in this case, the past. In late 1700s George, Prince of Wales, was every bit the scandalous Prince Charming, the lover of older, married women that his great-great-great nephew, the Duke of Windsor, was. George, who later became King George IV, even tossed over his mistress, Maria (Perdita) Robinson, in the same manner that the Duke of Windsor got rid of one of his mistresses. He wrote her a letter and refused to take her calls. In both cases, the princes had a morally upright, dull father who never cheated on his wife. Filial rebellion and serial adultery are long-standing traditions in the British royal family.In this book Jean Plaidy highlights the life of Perdita Robinson, George IV's first serious fling in a life full of flings. In it, she tells a lot about the character of George IV and sets the stage for "The Sweet Lass of Richmond" and "Indiscretions of the Queen." Plaidy does us all a service by writing easy to read, entertaining novels about the British monarchy.