Privilege and Scandal: The Remarkable Life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of Georgiana: Janet Gleeson

In a world filled with celebutantes and jailbird-socialites it's hard to remember that public fascination with the rich and beautiful is hardly a recent phenomenon.

As far back as the 18th-century, newspapers were filled with scandalous gossip about the doings of the peerage. In the 1780's the Prince of Wales caused havoc in the ballrooms of London with his celebrated affairs and the social circle gathered round him included many of society's most influential ladies, including Harriet Spencer Bessborough. Harriet, along with her sister Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, lived a life filled with balls, gambling, politics and barely-secret affairs. The ramifications of their actions would follow them throughout the courses of their entwined lives.

Harriet was born the second daughter, and the third child, of Earl and Lady Spencer. This low place in line caused her to receive less direct pampering and attention than her sister Georgiana or her brother George, but Harriet never minded. She was a sweet, highly intelligent child who was eager to please. Politics were an oft-discussed issue in the household and so Harriet received an early and vociferous education in the workings of the English Parlimentiary system. It was to be something that would serve her well into her advanced years.

As Harriet reached her late teens the question of marriage was raised time and again but Harriet showed no real inclination to be wedded to anyone. Added to this was the pressure to marry "well"; in other words, she needed to marry someone with money who wouldn't mind her family's lack of money. Though the Spencer-Cavendish family was a great lineage, Earl and Lady Spencer had a fondness for gambling that had driven them into debt more often then not. Added to this was the fact that Georgiana was married by this point and had begun a gambling habit of her own. Harriet finally settled on Frederick Ponsonby, Lord Duncannon and later 3rd Earl Bessbourough. Neither Ducannon nor Harriet seemed terribly eager to wed but they knew it was expected. What Harriet's family didn't realize until after the marriage was that Duncannon's family finances were not much better than theirs.

Over the course of their forty-one year marriage Harriet would push Duncannon time and again. Both of them gambled heavily and incurred severe debts because of it. Harriet moved in and out of salons and ballrooms with her sister Georgiana, meeting and flirting with men to a scandulous extent. Though she produced four children for Duncannon, at least one of them, her daughter Caroline, may not have actually been Duncannon's. Rumours at the time placed Harriet in the bed of playwright Richard Sheridan around the time of conception. In addition Harriet bore two other children to her long-term lover, Lord Granville Leveson Gower, who would later go on to marry Harriet's niece, also called Harriet. These two children wore birthed in secrecy and raised away from Harriet, never to be acknowledged as hers.

When Harriet died in 1821 she left behind a copious amount of letters to friends, family, and lovers. Her sons, wanting to avoid scandal on the family name, decided to burn the majority of documents still in her posession when she died. Thanks to the diligence of the author however, and the packrat habits of individuals and families all over England, Harriet's remaining correspondence has been gathered together and knit into a story that reads like a Regency-era soap opera. What makes it so alarming is that it's true. Pound for pound, word for word, these people lived, loved, flirted, gambled, drank, and behaved as if the world was theirs. It's truly a fascinating picture into a time long past.
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Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Crown (June 5, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0307381978
ISBN-13: 978-0307381972
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