What do you think?
Rate this book
Forbidden Wife: The Life and Trials of Lady Augusta Murray
On the night of 4 April 1793, two lovers were preparing to compel a cleric to perform a secret ceremony. The wedding of the sixth son of King George III to the daughter of the Earl of Dunmore would not only be concealed – it would also be illegal.Lady Augusta Murray had known Prince Augustus Frederick for only three months but they had already fallen deeply in love and were desperate to be married. However, the Royal Marriages Act forbade such a union without the King’s permission and going ahead with the ceremony would change Augusta’s life forever. From a beautiful socialite she became a social pariah; her children were declared illegitimate and her family was scorned.In FORBIDDEN WIFE Julia Abel Smith uses material from the Royal Archives and the Dunmore family papers to create a dramatic biography set in the reigns of Kings George III and IV against the background of the American and French Revolutions.
378 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 3, 2020
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 1, 2020
I do love a good history book 😊 Forbidden wife is a story of the life of Lady Augusta Murray, long forgotten about in our history.
Julia Abel Smith writes using factual evidence to support her account of Lady Augusta’s life. It does make me wonder how different our monarchy might have been if truth had been accepted, rather than having been buried. I suspect there are many many similar tales hiding within our history.
Julia Abel Smith writes using factual evidence to support her account of Lady Augusta’s life. It does make me wonder how different our monarchy might have been if truth had been accepted, rather than having been buried. I suspect there are many many similar tales hiding within our history.
March 30, 2021
Those whacky royals & their female wives will never learn! Crazy how history really does repeat itself.
June 8, 2021
Would have been a great book. Just too many facts not relevant to the story line. All of a sudden, there were facts about Q Victoria signing somethig or whatever. Like, “ok, how is that connected here”. The book tried too hard to be both historical and biographical, but could not meld.
May 16, 2021
Lady Augusta Murry's father was Britain's last Governor of Virginia and Augusta spent many of her early years there prior to the revolution. This part of the book gave me a fascinating look into colonial life in America and the final days of The Thirteen Colonies: it was worth it for that alone.
The author then moves onto Augusta's debut into society and the challenges of being a well travelled young woman in the late 1700's. Then onto her clandestine marriage to Prince Augustas Frederick and the ensuing scandal and Augusta's exile from the ton.
Unfortunately, I must admit that I found the section of the book that is set in The Regency era to be quite dull and could have cheerful skipped over it but that is in keeping with Augusta's life: a promising start and quite a dull end and it's certainly not the author's fault.
The final chapter on her children was interesting and rounded the book of quite nicely.
In spite of my lack of interest in the end of Augusta's life I can say without any reservations that this is an utter joy of a book and one that is well written and well researched.
The author then moves onto Augusta's debut into society and the challenges of being a well travelled young woman in the late 1700's. Then onto her clandestine marriage to Prince Augustas Frederick and the ensuing scandal and Augusta's exile from the ton.
Unfortunately, I must admit that I found the section of the book that is set in The Regency era to be quite dull and could have cheerful skipped over it but that is in keeping with Augusta's life: a promising start and quite a dull end and it's certainly not the author's fault.
The final chapter on her children was interesting and rounded the book of quite nicely.
In spite of my lack of interest in the end of Augusta's life I can say without any reservations that this is an utter joy of a book and one that is well written and well researched.
September 25, 2020
Lady Augusta Murray was the unrecognised wife of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex. Their marriage in 1793 was in contravention to the Royal Marriages Act 1772, and so it was considered to be invalid. Augusta was not recognised as his wife and could not be styled as Her Royal Highness Princess Augustus Frederick (Augustus wasn't created Duke of Sussex until 1801). Nevertheless, Augusta and the Prince went on to have two children together before he left her. The children were given the last name d'Este, while Augusta was eventually granted the last name De Ameland. After a lengthy battle, she was ultimately granted a pension as well. Augustus did not remarry until after Augusta's death.
Forbidden Wife: The Life and Trials of Lady Augusta Murray by Julia Abel Smith traces the life of this would-be Princess in great detail and with flair. Augusta comes to life as an enigmatic and strong woman, who fought for her marriage until Augustus wanted to separate. Not much was known about Augusta's life, and this book certainly fills the void. I'd highly recommend it.
Forbidden Wife: The Life and Trials of Lady Augusta Murray by Julia Abel Smith traces the life of this would-be Princess in great detail and with flair. Augusta comes to life as an enigmatic and strong woman, who fought for her marriage until Augustus wanted to separate. Not much was known about Augusta's life, and this book certainly fills the void. I'd highly recommend it.
April 5, 2020
An interesting account of the marriage of lady Augusta Murray and prince Augusts one of George 3rd's younger sons. They married in secret in Rome against the royal marriage's law the king had introduced, which stated that no member of the royal family could marry without his permission. When the couple returned to England the marriage was investigated and found to be illegal. Their children were declared illegitimate. While Augusts eventually returned to society, lady Augusta paid a high price for their secret marriage. Cast out by society and her children illegitimate she spent the rest of her life regretting her hasty decision. Great read.
June 5, 2021
When Lady Augusta Murray married the sixth son of the then King of England she was in big trouble. They were both in violation of the Royal Marriage Act and the fact that she was 32 and he was only 20 didn’t help matters. The marriage was never recognized by the crown and their two children were considered illegitimate. A sad story.
July 6, 2021
I read a lot of historical fiction and this was really well written.
The 1700’s subject matter—the love affair of one of the sons of King George III and the daughter of the last British governor of Virginia—was completely unknown to me and therefore very interesting.
I look forward to reading more of this author’s work.
The 1700’s subject matter—the love affair of one of the sons of King George III and the daughter of the last British governor of Virginia—was completely unknown to me and therefore very interesting.
I look forward to reading more of this author’s work.
September 19, 2021
As good as it gets
A wonderful biography of an educated woman who married illegally a son of George III of England and spent the rest of her life trying to regain her place at Court. With exceptional access to Lady Murray’s diaries, the author shows us the lives England’s upper class. Great read.
A wonderful biography of an educated woman who married illegally a son of George III of England and spent the rest of her life trying to regain her place at Court. With exceptional access to Lady Murray’s diaries, the author shows us the lives England’s upper class. Great read.
August 20, 2021
A Great Read
This should prove extremely in testing to anyone interested in late 18th century/ early nineteenth history, it is well written and extremely hard to put down.
The sense of time and place are captured through out Europe.
This should prove extremely in testing to anyone interested in late 18th century/ early nineteenth history, it is well written and extremely hard to put down.
The sense of time and place are captured through out Europe.
December 22, 2020
One of the best books I have ever read.
Read
March 29, 2021We’ve come a long way!
April 21, 2021
Woman 's History
I never heard about this marriage before. This proves that through is stranger than fiction. My heart goes out to the family.
I never heard about this marriage before. This proves that through is stranger than fiction. My heart goes out to the family.
June 6, 2021
Easy read. Very interesting. Appreciated the photos and paintings included.
July 15, 2021
Augusta is a very strong woman. However, the Royal Family needs family therapy. In reality, King George did suffer mental illness and Augustus and Augusta were the scapegoats
July 20, 2021
What an odd story about irresponsible royal behavior
August 8, 2021
A little dry but extremely interesting. It's a piece of history I had never encountered before!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews