Category Archives: Regency TV
Rehabilitating Old Naughty – my article in today’s Guardian
George IV: the rehabilitation of Old Naughty. Britain’s Most Useless Monarch deserves some credit for presiding over a transformative decade … Lucy Worsley in The Guardian, Monday 29th August Endless Jane Austen film adaptations have given us the idea that the Regency was a classy, pretty, palatable period of history. Notable for their muslins, tea
Continue ReadingThe Byronic look: overweight and unattractive, article in The Guardian
The Byronic look: overweight and unattractive. BBC series on Regency Britain paints an unflattering portrait of ‘self-regarding poser’ Lord Byron. Mark Brown in The Guardian, Saturday 27 August 2011 When a man is noted for his Byronic looks he is generally chuffed – dark, handsome, attractively unavailable. Slightly morose, it’s true, but in a sexy
Continue ReadingEight things you need to know about The Regency
From The Radio Times, 27 August 2011 He was the ‘fop at the top’, but the Prince Regent was more than a crude caricature, says historian Dr Lucy Worsley. Well, almost … 1. They called him the Prince of Whales… Today the word ‘Regency’ sounds classy and elegant: Jane Austen, tea parties, pretty gowns and
Continue ReadingThe naughty Prince Regent – read all about him in my article in today’s Sunday Express
The king ruled by his excesses. Historian Lucy Worsley examines the life of George IV, both Britain’s worst monarch and the man who brought showbiz sparkle to royalty. When English Heritage ran a poll to discover Britain’s Worst Monarch, the winner was George IV. Profligate, drunken and lazy, he sets us a shining example of
Continue ReadingI’m hanging up my red Regency dress…
…having finally finished filming for a new TV series about the naughty Prince Regent and his age. Back in January, when we started, I loved my red dress, a design which fortuitously turned out to be called ‘The Beau’ (as in Brummell). By July I was sick of the sight of it. (Before you ask
Continue ReadingI meet the Child Catcher
This is the view from the teetering tip-top of the Swingletree mail coach as we trotted through the Suffolk lanes the other day. I had the treat of a ride while researching Regency coach transport. John Parker, its owner and driver (you can see his foot to the right of mine), is a great and internationally
Continue ReadingMy day as a dandy
No, I’m not doing a Fred Astaire number, I’m all dandied up in preparation for a lesson in cravat-tying from the dandy historian Ian Kelly. Why did the high collar and the tight cravat become so popular in the Regency? Partly to hide the double chins of the Prince Regent, and partly as a result
Continue ReadingRegency Ladies
I have been spending time with a couple of Regency ladies over the last few days. Yesterday I saw Lady Caroline Lamb’s scrapbook (left) in the John Murray archive in Edinburgh, which I wanted to look at to understand her views on the waltz. She loved waltzing, and made lots of humorous drawings of waltzing
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