Mrs Fitzherbert - Mistress or Wife of the Prince Regent?

For some reason we are all very interested in famous royal mistresses. The love lives of kings and princes is endlessly interesting to us, and much of our British royalty throughout history has kindly fed this interest by having fascinating and complicated love lives. One of these historic personages who enjoyed liaisons with many different mistresses was George, Prince of Wales, who would go on to become the Prince Regent and then King George IV. It has to be said that the Prince of Wales, who was known as 'Prinny' to his friends, was no shrinking violet when it came to the ladies and had many well-documented love affairs, but probably his most enduring love was for Mrs Fitzherbert, a respectable and well-connected Catholic widow. Maria Fitzherbert had, in fact, been widowed twice and met Prinny when she returned to High Society after she came out of mourning for her second husband. The Prince of Wales pursued her ardently, and Mrs Fitzherbert even fled to the Continent at one stage, after taking fright when Prinny presented her with a ring. She was eventually persuaded to return, and it is believed that the lovers went through a secret marriage service in the drawing room of Mrs Fitzherbert's elegant Mayfair home. The couple set up home in Brighton, and Prinny started building his famous Royal Pavilion, but the couple eventually parted when the Prince bowed to pressure to marry a German princess, Caroline of Brunswick, and pay off his debts. So why would Prinny and Mrs Fitzherbert have to keep their marriage secret and were there any children born form this unorthodox royal union? And do you think that Mrs Fitzherbert a famous royal mistress or a secret royal wife?

Mrs Fitzherbert