Customer Reviews:
 The bigamous Duchess May 28, 2006
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a thorough biography of Elizabeth Chutleigh, detailing her long life with a lot of quotes from her own letters. The book's cover names her "beauty, wit, vitality" and "zest for life", but, throughout the book, Elizabeth doesn't really come to life. As Miss Chutleigh, she received marriage proposals from several Dukes, so she must have been a vivacious lady, but somehow Gervat has managed to make her somewhat boring.
Still, Elizabeth's life was an interesting one. For years, she was a maid of honour to George III's mother. She secretly married lustful Augustus Hervey, younger son of the Earl of Bristol, but they didn't see much of each other and grew apart. In later life, she married her great love the Duke of Kingston. After his death, she was charged with bigamy and became a social pariah among the British. Stubbornly sticking to her title of Duchess, she traveled all around Europe and became acquainted with the Dowager Electress of Saxony and Catherine the Great of Russia.
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