Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency
By: Saul David / Narrated By: Sam Devereaux
Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
From whence all my beloved Regency romances came… The debauched yet kindly “Prinny”
Lemme just say that, tho’ I was totally devoted to the subject matter, 16+ hours could indeed become an absolute Snooze Fest in the hands of a narrator not as skilled as Sam Devereaux turned out to be. I was hitherto unfamiliar with the man, but seriously: If I see any other lengthy work of Nonfiction that Mr. Devereaux narrates and it is even only somewhat appealing? I’m oh so there! Because this book, The Prince of Pleasure, covers it ALL.
And that could conceivably be a bad thing. I went into this audiobook excited to learn about the man behind the Regency, Prinny, and got everything about the era. This book not only covers his extraordinary love life and his utter extravagance, but also politics and some battle-by-battle accounts of the Revolutionary War with those upstarts, Americans, and of the Napoleonic Wars.
You want action? Check out this book. You want salacious details? Check out this book? You want tales of notorious rakes and their antics? Yup, check it out, all here. Whigs and Tories! Secret marriages and unabashed flings and extended liaisons, along with a respectable marriage here and there which devolved into tawdry spectacles involving denouncements and court appearances. Decent brothers turned into scoundrels, uncles who taint and teach debauchery. Special footmen whose sole job it is to pick up a dead drunk Duke without fuss, fanfare, notice of any sort (Who then would use that opportunity to wash the drunken lout as ‘twould appear that man haaaaated soap and bathing).
Speaking of bathing, we’re treated to Princess Caroline’s aversion to soap and good hygiene (Which, given the time period meant: >Meh< I’ll bathe a few times a year… maaaybe), even as, in her role as spurned wife of the it-turns-out bigamist Prinny, conducts many a practically in-your-face love affair. I mean, obviously those men didn’t find her as disgustingly stinky as the Prince did… on the day they met… when she was disgustingly unwashed and clothed in well lived-in garments… to the point where he was able to consummate the marriage three times… and never again… and said he felt faint and needed a good jolt of booze…
What I liked was that this was an obviously impeccably researched work, but it also had commentary and additions made from the author based on what’s known today (The madness of George III probably came from what would be diagnosed as porphyria today. And he passed it on to Prinny, and to Princess Charlotte, Prinny’s daughter), and based upon his own personal opinions (The Queen being acquitted of adultery—Sure she did it, but considering how ghastly and FLAGRANT the Prince/King’s own infidelities were… cut the woman some slack!).
I was so thrilled listening to this and then going back to my current Regency romance book and going back to think upon all I’ve listened to. NOW I know more about the Prince’s marriage to Princess Caroline with his first marriage to Mrs. Fitzherbert. Now I know of how much his pavilion in Brighton cost taxpayers, and why he loved going there in the first place. And now I know of what soldiers in the Napoleonic Wars went through, those who turned up so often in some of Jane Austen’s best (Captain Wentworth of Persuasion, anyone?).
Other reviewers dinged this book for being faaaar more, dully, about the political shenanigans and positioning/maneuvering of the time, and yes it is that. But I liiiiiike that cuz I like History. Plus, there’s plenty of the scandalous to go with it all.
Seriously. I mean, like, PLENTY.
If you’re into Regencies only for the romance, you might find this work a tad dull and drawn out. But if you like ‘em cuz it was a time of great change, from the abstemious reign of George III to the explosion of appreciation for literature and the arts, complete with extreme decadence even as the impoverished, lower-classes suffered?
You’re in for a reeeeeal treat!
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