From Cleavage to Crinolines

How is it that within the space of a generation, the sexual pendulum swung from revelry to repression? Did it happen overnight? What caused the enormous shift in societal attitudes towards sex and sexual behavior, not to mention the human body? While discussing these very complex questions, it occurred to me that it might be interesting to take a closer look at the early lives of the two monarchs whose reigns gave birth to so many of our favorite historical romances – the Prince Regent (later George IV) and Queen Victoria. Did the patterns for their influences begin early? Why did they develop into the personalities we know today?

Firstly, perhaps it would be helpful to take a look at the timeline involved here, and get a sense of which period was when!

1714-1830 – The Georgian Era. Covers the reigns of all the Georges, I through IV, of whom George IV was the Prince Regent from 1811 to 1820. Upon the death of George III (The Mad King) in 1820 the prince regent formally became George IV, and reigned until his death in 1830.

1830-1837 – William IV. George IV died without leaving an heir, so the crown passed to the next in line – his brother William, Duke of Clarence. Although William had lived for many years quite scandalously with an actress, Mrs. Jordan (by whom he had ten children) he had no legitimate heirs. The next in line for the throne should have been the next brother, Edward, Duke of Kent, but unfortunately he had died before his older brother, so the crown passed to his teenage daughter, Victoria. British rules of succession decree that the crown may be passed to the next legitimate heir, regardless of sex.

1837 – 1901 – The Age of Victoria. Ascending the throne at just 18 years of age, few realized that she would become a legendary queen whose reign would outlast every monarch before her, including Elizabeth I (who only reigned for 45 years). When Victoria passed away in 1901, all of England mourned; there were few who could remember a time when she had not been Queen. (The recent passing of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, would be similar emotionally for the British people – although I note that the Queen Mum only reigned at the side of her husband, George VI, for sixteen years.) Victoria’s 63-year reign was the stuff of legends.

At the tender age of 18, Queen Charlotte of England fulfilled her destiny by presenting her husband, George III, with a son, on August 12, 1762. An ecstatic, but idiotic, courtier rushed to inform the King that he had a daughter!!! Of course, the King learned shortly thereafter that his baby was the much-hoped for male child, but it seems that almost from the moment of his birth, the little fellow was at odds with his father! At his baptism a month later, the little prince formally became the Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick and Baron of Renfrew. (And probably still spit up on his nurses!!!)

The young Prince’s childhood was noted as a precocious one – he was very bright, learned to read early, and was made a Knight of the Garter at the age of 3-1/2!! He was often called a “proud imp”! However discipline was strict, and restraint and duty were emphasized. Young George and his siblings had lessons every day from 7:00am to 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Any deviation from acceptable behavior was punished by a beating, often given by the King himself.

There does not appear to be one isolated instance that indicated a rift between father and son; rather it was an accumulation of many small things, not the least of which was the rigid royal environment of the Hanoverian court from which his parents had emerged. It was practically impossible for the elder George to tell his children he loved them. Queen Charlotte expected her family to behave as she had when young – they were not permitted to sit in her presence, and for young George’s eighth birthday he received from his mother a note containing her hopes for his behavior in the future. Some present!!!

Basically, although very bright, the future Prince Regent’s youth was spent trying to do the impossible – live up to the rigid standards set for him by his parents, and being flogged when he failed. Luckily he did absorb an excellent education and the seeds for his lifelong love affair with the world of art were planted by one of his better tutors. Unfortunately, the prediction that he would be easily swayed by corrupt influences was true; even a period of confinement by the King failed to curb young George’s tendency to hang out with the wrong people!

He fell in love for the first time at 15, and was rebuffed – it was at this time that he first tried what would become a trademark seduction technique – the threatened suicide!! However, his first love was eclipsed by his second, an actress!! Promising her twenty thousand pounds (about a million dollars today) and her own house if she became his mistress, she agreed. (No kidding!!) The King was horrified, but George was now 18 and all that the monarch could do was reproach him in stern letters. To this, George replied with the 18th Century equivalent of “yeah, sure, whatever!”

Of course, the money had to come from somewhere – and when the actress was supplanted by another woman, the settlement to get her to keep her mouth shut had to come from somewhere too! The King was, if you will pardon the expression, royally pissed. He attempted to draw rein on his eldest son’s activities by restricting his friends and activities, but to little avail. By now, George was a free spirit, and enjoyed nothing more than drunken debaucheries!! Kept away from his old friends, George made new ones – and true to his character, they were not men of high moral standards!!

It is easy to see how this pattern of behavior would set in motion the society that would become the Regency proper. Frustrated at every turn by his parents’ impossible expectations and rigid restrictions, George allowed the hedonistic side of his personality free rein, moving from tempestuous love affair to debauched party, incidentally also setting the stage for his poor health in later years. Years of indulgence take their toll. Each more depraved liaison, each more scandalous event, caused greater and greater animosity between him and his family! No one was able to break the cycle! It only rubbed salt into the wound when George discovered politics and, of course, became enmeshed in the workings of the political parties who were opposed to the King’s appointed government!

As Regent, the Prince was notorious for the number and assortment of his mistresses, in direct contrast to his parents’ solid marriage. The enormous banquets to which he invited his friends were evenings of gastric indulgence taken to the point of absurdity – menus exist listing more than twenty courses. And not an Alka-Seltzer in sight!!! This complete abandonment to all things pleasurable would seem to be a direct result of the Prince Regent’s incredibly repressive upbringing.

As the leader of a thriving aristocracy, the Regent was the one the Ton looked to for its guide – to be a follower of the modest precepts of the old (and now quite insane) King, was to be considered old-fashioned, and unacceptable. The more licentious the behavior, the more likely it was to attract the notice of the Regent; fashions, influenced by the French court of Empress Josephine, became slimmer, lighter in fabric, and lower in front!! Muslins were dampened to reveal more of the female form, and, believe it or not, pantaloons were considered quite scandalous! Go figure!!!!

On May 24, 1819, word circulated through London society that the Duke and Duchess of Kent had celebrated the birth of a daughter. They wanted to name her Victoria, but the baby's uncle, George IV, had insisted on Alexandrina as a first name in honor of the Russian Tsar (and to score some political points!!). Little Victoria - as her parents insisted on calling her, was the apple of their eye, but this happy situation was doomed - the Duke passed away within eight months of her birth. It was at this tragic point in her young life that a man by the name of Sir John Conroy stepped into the picture. An ambitious and handsome Irish officer, he developed a "close" relationship with the widowed Duchess of Kent, and proceeded to act as if he was Victoria's father. There is little, if any, evidence of the exact nature of the relationship between Conroy and the weak and dependent Duchess of Kent. Both attractive people, rumors abounded that young Victoria's dislike of Conroy stemmed from her seeing "familiarities" taking place between him and her mother. What is documented is Conroy's attempts to mold Victoria into another totally dependent woman - he truly saw himself as the next Regent with the future of England in his hands. Victoria developed a deep dislike and distrust of this man, as did others around her. It was rumored that William IV bravely held on to life until Victoria had passed her eighteenth birthday - he did not want to die and leave Conroy as the power behind the throne.

One of Victoria's first acts as Queen was to banish Conroy from the Royal Court.

It didn't take long for the young Queen to find her royal feet. In this she had the full help and support of the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, on whom she rapidly came to depend (an acceptable father figure perhaps?). This meant that for the first time, the Crown was openly Whig in politics, with highly placed Whig supporters comprising the important members of Victoria's court. Her upbringing, restrictive though it had been, was seen as a good thing by her people, and when she began to realign the Court's activities with those of her subjects, many were thrilled, and hailed her reign as a rebirth of the British Empire. Visits to the theatre, opera and concerts were welcomed by the more respectable members of the aristocracy, who could now attend without fear of scandal. In these few years before her marriage, Victoria threw herself out of her childhood isolation and into her social and political activities. But it wasn't long before the Court surrendered to the inevitable gossip, rumor and innuendo, climaxing in one particularly distasteful and revealing incident.

It came to the young Queen's ears that Lady Flora Hastings, one of her ladies-in-waiting, had been seen getting into a carriage with our old friend, Sir John Conroy. When, within a few months, it became apparent that Lady Hastings might be pregnant, Victoria flew into a rage and immediately accused Lady Hastings of immoral relationships with Conroy. Steadfastly denying that she had had sex with Conroy or anybody, and loudly maintaining her virginity, Lady Hastings finally submitted to an embarrassing physical examination, at which time a tumor was revealed. Sadly, Lady Hastings had cancer of the stomach and died several months later. Word of this incident got out (gosh, imagine that - a leak at the Palace) and Victoria's newfound popularity plummeted, along with hopes of a new and moral Court for the British Empire.

It was the perfect time for the arrival of a young german prince - Albert of Saxe-Coburg. One look at this handsome hero and Victoria was head over heels in love. Yes, she is supposed to have told her daughter that the best way to handle marital relations was to "lie back and think of England" but I believe that story is largely apocryphal. After all this is a woman who gave her husband nine children over eighteen years - there's not THAT much to think about. All my research shows that Victoria and Albert were a genuinely loving couple who tried their best for their family and their country. Albert assumed the position of guidance that had hitherto been filled by Lord Melbourne although he encouraged Victoria's participation in the formation of English laws unlike Melbourne who had felt it his duty to shelter the young Queen from some of the more unpleasant facets of her subjects' lives. Albert and Victoria's relationship and attitudes shaped the Monarchy from then on becoming ever-more family oriented and still very critical of sexual misconduct. Lord Palmerston nearly lost his job as Foreign Secretary when Victoria learned that he had sneaked uninvited into the bedroom of Lady Dacre at Windsor.

After reading about the early lives of both the Prince Regent and Queen Victoria, it's not really hard to see how we ended up with the light-hearted, racy Regencies that we enjoy so much, and the Victorian tales of bold women, and brave, courageous men whose sexuality is often carefully and discreetly masked or carried on behind closed doors. It is interesting to note that for every year Victoria was on the throne (and there were 63 of 'em) British troops were fighting somewhere in the world. India, South Africa, Europe, all saw periods of unrest and military action - the British soldier was a guaranteed hero for a novel - he was quite willing to give his all for Queen and country!

In the Regency, life could be defined by "Tally Ho!" In Victorian England, it was "We are not amused!!" Thus we find our Regencies from Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn full of lively ladies and handsome Rakes pursuing them; members of the Ton hunting spouses at Almacks, and having mistresses at their beck and call. Victorian novels, however, like those of Susan Johnson and Robin Schone, show us the darker side of sexuality! Women can be taken on a whim, (sometimes without their cooperation), sex is considered a vice, and absolutely forbidden to women, while men applaud each other for their sexual abilities. Piano legs are covered lest they offend the delicate sensibilities of ladies, and fainting becomes an art form - not surprising given the tightness of the lacings every woman undergoes to get her corset just right!! These two distinct periods are clearly reflections of their leaders in every way. The Prince Regent was the original 'Good Time Charlie' and relished it; his niece Victoria embodied the 'virtuous maiden', and encouraged her subjects to follow her example of somewhat rigid morality.