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Article: Weekend: Books: One for the Royal family album; George IV. By E A Smith (Yale University Press, pounds 25). Reviewed by Christine Barker.(News)
- Article from:
- The Birmingham Post (England)
- Article date:
- June 12, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When George IV was 30 - in 1792 - he sat for a portrait by the artist Richard Cosway. Elegantly dressed and cravated, with the Order of the Garter on his chest and a buckled black hat set at an elegant angle on his fairish hair, it shows us a foppish young man who looks barely 21 with the famous Hanoverian blue eyes and a rosebud mouth.
Undoubtedly it was designed to flatter. There were many sycophants at court who poured praise as thick as treacle on the young king.
But the majority of the courtiers, along with the mainstream politicians, were generally ...