Customer Reviews

The Secret Wife of King George IV

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In 1784 London, the Prince of Wales is attracted to the newly arrived widow, Maria Fitzherbert. Though he declares his undying love for Maria, she refuses to believe the notorious philanderer. Additionally, Maria knows that as a Catholic, she is unacceptable by the Anglican Church as a wife of the next king.

George vows his love and secretly marries Maria. However, duty to the sate comes first for the regent and he openly weds Princess Caroline. Though Maria remains his only love, George worries he might lose her due to her unhappiness over hiding their relationship, which the Catholic Church would recognize as the binding one.

THE SECRET WIFE OF KING GEORGE IV is an excellent historical fiction that provides an in depth account of the loving but clandestine relationship between Maria and George IV. The story line is filled with intrigue and real personage that make the late eighteenth century seem vividly alive, a feat few writers can do well. George,s conflict between love of country and love for a woman is well written and turns the Regent into a flesh and blood person, not the caricature typically seen in his cameo appearances in Regency novels. With her wealth of detail cleverly interwoven into a fabulous plot, Diane Haeger has written a triumphant tale that will provide much delight to fans of historical fiction and Regency romance.

Harriet Klausner

This is the story of the ultimate damsel in distress. When Maria Fitzherbert came to London in the 1784, she knew little about the infamous son of the King, George IV, heir to the throne, other than his reputation. George lived a profligate life as a gambler, womanizer and drunkard. In his early twenties, a few years younger than the widow Fitzherbert, he became obsessed with her, demanding that they marry, although she was a fervent Catholic, abhorrent to the Crown at that time because of her religion. Swayed by the intensity of their mutual passion, the couple secretly married and she was issued a Papal degree of the validity of the union before God.

Rumors were rife: either they were married and breaking the law, which put Maria and her family in jeopardy, or they weren't. But Prince George would make no statement one way or another. Son of the Mad King George III, the impetuous Prince had been feuding with his father for years in a power struggle he, George IV, believed would end soon, upon the death of the King. Frequently ill and raving, it seemed impossible that the King could live very much longer. With this in mind, George IV gambled his future and the success of his marriage, planning for his wife to become his Queen. But there was such antipathy toward the Papists in England at the time that there was no question of a Catholic as Queen.

The couple was extremely happy, although they never had children, and George was able to put his wild youthful ways behind him. Unfortunately, the one constant working against them, time, was immutable. The mad King did not die, but stubbornly continued on until 85 years of age. Meanwhile, George IV temporized his positions in order to appease everyone and keep his wife. He made promises that he was later forced to break, and Maria valued his word above all else. They separated twice, and were unable to reunite, although each mourned the loss of the other over the years.

The story is based on historical fact, but most of the dialog and scenes are pure fiction. Haeger is well known as a Romance writer, and in some areas of the novel, she slips into "Romantic-speak". At these times, the novel loses any sense of believability, although doubtless well researched on appropriate details. But there are frequent asides (in italics), as Maria thinks to herself: "And God help me" she thought."I know I shall never stop loving you". Tightened up and unflounced, this could have been an engaging story of love gone wrong.

Let me get straight to the point, this novel is fantastic. I was well-informed about the interesting and somewhat sad life of the secret wife of King George IV, so I wasn't too sure how I would feel about reading a novel about her. I mean, I thought I might be bored. I was wrong. Diane Haeger is a talented author, with an ability to create characters that are believable and larger than life. I especially liked her take on Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Most historians paint her as this wonderfully independent woman - see Amanda Foreman's fantastic biography - but Haeger really brings out a bitchy side of Georgiana that made for a great read.

Anyone who likes historical fiction or historical romance will enjoy this novel.

I'll start with the good stuff first. I had never heard anything about King George IV having a secret wife, or much about King George IV in fact, so this was a first for me. This book was very good at "taking" one to England in the setting of the late 1700s, and it was also very good at bringing Maria and George to life and conveying their emotions, making one see them as real living people. This is a rather sad, emotional book, and it made me cry at the end. Whether or not Diane Haegar accurately told the story, this is historical fiction, so it doesn't have to be 100% accurate, it is just Haegar's portrayal of what happened, which I might add is very poignant and touching.

The downside to this book is that it is just a tad bit slow, and I have a feeling that it idealizes the romance between George and Maria. When I was through reading it, not knowing very much about the period, I looked into it a bit. There weren't many positive things written about George IV. He is basically always referred to as a womanizer, among other things. It is usually implied that he did love Maria (he wore her locket until his death, so that says something), but he still had affairs with other women. I don't know if this is just a lot of bad press on his side, but one has to think that there is something to all of this bad press if it comes up constantly. This isn't a flaw, but this book is told from George and Maria's point of view so one doesn't really get to see that many sides of some of the characters, such as Queen Caroline, who was a very tragic figure in her own right. But for the purposes of this book she is portrayed very badly (some of it probably rightly so).

If anyone is interested, there is another historical fiction novel dealing with George and Maria by Jean Plaidy. It is called THE SWEET LASS OF RICHMOND HILL. It gives a different perspective on the whole romance, unfortunately not as favorable.

(This is a repeat of a previous review-somehow a friend's name got on the original so I am repeating it and correcting my identity).
I only read historical fiction and especially enjoy anything focusing on English history. I have to admit that I knew nothing about the secret relationship of George IV and Maria Fitzherbert and I knew I would have to read this book when I found it on the shelf.
The style of the book was just a step above your typical "romance novel." I could have done without the constant mushy, sugary-sweet romantic dialogue and the overly done descriptions of their romantic encounters (although they were not vulgar). While the intensity of their relationship was clearly conveyed with this type of format, it seemed alittle overdone at times.
I can't say that the book was gripping or that I was unable to put it down, but the author's easy-to-read and fast-paced writing style made reading time go by fast.
All in all, this was a pleasant book about an interesting topic. I am glad that I read it and recommend it to anyone interested in learning alittle more about the secrets of the British monarchy.

This book is a wonderful throw-back to the well-researched and impeccably written historicals by Irving Stone. I was "there" in England, thanks to Ms. Haeger! The story of Maria Fitzherbert is a sad yet true look at British aristocracy and the limitations and heartbreak they impose upon themselves, even to current day. So much of this story reminds one of what happened with Princess Diana and Prince Charles. I loved every page.

Once again, Diane Haeger has written a wonderful novel that combines the best of history and romance and draws the readers back to Georgian and Regency England. Her insights into the personal relationships of the Prince Regent and his secret wife Maria Fitzherbert bring a fresh approach and vision of the time period and the people.

I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed the first book I read by Diane Haeger -- Courtesan. I recommend it highly!

The book is historical fiction, historical ROMANCE to be exact, and I was not the least bit disappointed. You shared Maria's mixed emotions when George first tried to get to know her, and quickly fell in love with George when he truly gave his heart completely to her. This book is very well written, and has enough detail to make you feel part of this period of time without confusing you with too many details. I thought all the characters were completely believable, and some reminded you of people you know. It makes me very curious to find out just want was fact and what was fiction. But I don't want to spoil the illusion. This was a wonderful love story, definitely a 5 hankie!

After reading quite possibly every book ever written about Henry VIII and his wives, and Charles II and his wife and mistresses, I decided it was time to move on to a different branch of the Royal family. This was my first introduction to George IV and Maria Fitzherbert. Because of this, I can't comment on the accuracy of this story, but given that it's Historical Fiction I'm sure there's a lot of 'fluff' thrown in to make the story more enjoyable.

'Fluff' aside, I really enjoyed this book. This is my third or fourth Diane Haeger book, and she has yet to disappoint me. She made Maria and George come alive this book, and I really had a clear understanding of just how deeply they cared for one another. It was frustrating at times that Maria didn't seem to understand that George did the things he did to protect her. I know he promised never to deny their marriage outright, but the King (his father, George III) gave him no options. He HAD to give a definitive yes or no answer as to whether or not he and Maria were married. Yes meant almost certain arrest for Maria since it was illegal for them to marry (due to her being a Catholic), and no meant breaking his promise to Maria. It got a little irritating at times that she constantly played the 'wounded dove'. You'd think she would be a little more understanding considering all that George had done and risked for her.

By the end of the book though, I had to side with Maria. George never seemed to learn that all Maria wanted was for him to talk to her. Instead of constantly going behind her back and scheming to protect her, if he had just come to her with their problems, they could have worked together to solve them. It was very sad to see an end to such a great love affair.

My only complaint with the book was time. It was very difficult to distinguish how much time had passed between chapters, which made some important events have much less of an impact. For instant, during their first separation, I thought they'd only been together for a couple years...turns out it was closer to 10 years. Well...that makes Maria's extreme grief a little more appropriate. Ms. Haeger got better about it towards the end of the book, but the first 2/3 your kind of on your own, which is difficult for those such as myself who are unfamiliar with the story. I always wonder why authors of historical books can't just put the current year at the beginning of each chapter...is adding those four little numbers really that difficult?

Overall though, I really enjoyed this.I think I'm gonna try Ms. Plaidy's 'Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill', as recommended by another reviewer. I'd like to read a second opinion of this this fascinating story of the Prince of Wales and his secret Catholic wife.

As a British history teacher, I have always found George IV to be fascinating. Here we find the ultimate desirable man with unfortunate Daddy issues. And I've always been fascinated by Maria Fitzherbert. How does a seemingly intelligent woman find herself in such an idiotic situation as an illegal and unacknowledged marriage to the heir of the British crown? Did she consider her marriage to be the real thing or did she just go along with the facade to soothe her Catholic guilt? How seriously did George take the "marriage?" What happened when he came home and announced he would be marrying Caroline? Really fascinating stuff.

Unfortunately, at the hands of Diane Haeger, the really fascinating stuff becomes typical overblown, flouncy, purple-prose romance novel drivel. I'm not sure why I'm surprised - I felt the same way about Courtesan, her novel about Diane de Poitiers and Francis I of France. In fact, you could pretty much swap out Diane/Francis and Maria/George in most of the books' scenes and have the same story. She did a much better job with Nell Gwynne in The Perfect Royal Mistress - perhaps because I doubt anyone could write Nell or Charles II as anything but lusty forces of energy. Anyway, if you enjoy books were the protagonists are cruelly used by everyone in the world at every turn, and eyes are constantly watering with tears, and every conversation between the lovers is one of such romantic and poetic sensibility that they would make make Cowper look like a stoic, then this is a book for you. I, personally, found myself wanting to slap Maria everytime she opened her mouth after about the first 30 pages. As is typical with Haeger's heroines, Maria is awfully Mary Sue-like - always right, always tasteful, always self-sacrificing. If I were George, I think I'd welcome a marriage with the unpredictable and volitile Caroline after a few years with such a paragon of virtue, restraint, and refinement. What a waste of such mouth-wateringly juicy material! This is not historical fiction at all. This is historical romance - which, I must admit, is very well written for what it is. Just don't expect any real passion or emotion or true sense of the real couple behind all of the sensational events of this relationship.