Two Duchesses

The tale of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire - an ancestor of Princess Diana - is one of the most intriguing in the history of the British aristocracy. Georgiana was born in 1757, the daughter of Earl Spencer. At the age of seventeen she was married off to the Duke of Devonshire, one of the richest men in England. The marriage was not a success. The Duke - cold, dull and not too bright - was the direct opposite of his brilliant young wife. Furthermore, he was about the only man in the country who did not seem to find her attractive. Georgiana nonetheless goes on to become one of Society’s leading lights, known for her impeccable fashion sense, her beauty, charisma, wit – and her compulsive gambling. But after sixteen years of marriage she had failed to produce an heir. Enter glamorous but impoverished widow Elizabeth Foster. Georgiana, ever kindhearted, befriends this lady and invites her for an extended stay. The presence of Bess makes life with her cold husband more bearable. But it turns out that Bess succeeds where Georgiana has failed – and before long she is pregnant by the Duke. As the story unfolds it becomes more and more bizarre. Somehow the presence of Elizabeth leads to Georgiana finally conceiving, and successfully producing offspring. Ultimately, the three end up living as a menage a trois. Despite the humiliation inherent in the situation, Georgiana and Elizabeth retain a bond. This is a fascinating tale of decadence, debt and betrayal in the licentious 18th Century, first unearthed by Arthur Calder-Marshall and recounted here with style and humour. Georgiana’s story was filmed as The Duchess in 2008, with Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes. Parallels have been drawn between the situation of Princess Diana and that of her ancestor Georgiana. For both, there were ‘three in this marriage’. And in the end, just like her present-day counterpart Camilla Parker Bowles, Elizabeth does marry the Duke, thus becoming the second Duchess of the title. The affairs of this triangle-by-consent may seem shocking, but to spend a few irresponsible hours with the adorable Georgiana, the dopey Duke and the seductive Bess, to move in their swinging company from London mansion to splendid country house, from Bath to Naples to Versailles, is wonderful fun indeed’ – Goodreads ‘It is Calder-Marshall's thesis that hers was a bed-warming duty, that only with his eroticism aroused by Lady Liz was William able to impregnate his wife. A sad story, one to make a housemaid weep for the sorrows of the great’ – Kirkus Reviews Arthur Calder-Marshall (1908 – 1992) was an English novelist, essayist, critic, biographer and screenwriter. He lived at the heart of the literary elite, his coterie including Stephen Spender, Evelyn Waugh, Isiah Berlin and Julian Maclaren-Ross. He moved briefly to Hollywood with his glamorous wife Ara, also a writer, where the couple were courted for projects by Orson Welles and James Mason. Calder-Marshall wrote a number of novels and biographies, including a much praised memoir The Magic of My Youth , which revolves around encounters with the so-called magician Aleister Crowley. He had two daughters, Clare and Anna. Anna Calder-Marshall is a successful actress and her son is the actor Tom Burke.