Women of a certain distinction

Two of the infamous uncompromising mistress of the regency era.

Mrs Dorothea Jordan she gave the Duke of Clarence ten illegitimate children and though she was a scandalous creature, she was praised enthusiastically by all the great romantic writers of her time from Byron to Lamb. She was a mistress generous to fault, returning to the stage between pregnancies in order to support herself, the children and her royal duke. The poor dear died a pauper in France while her duke went on to marry then later he became King William IV.


Harriette Wilson was a brilliant courtesan who, according to Sir Walter Scott, was ‘far from beautiful …but a smart, saucy girl with good eyes and dark hair and the manners of a wild schoolboy.’ Harriette was popular until she wrote her memoirs, but to be fair she did, ahead of the publication date of the scandalous manuscript, write everyone who could be incriminated making it clear that they would still save face for a mere £200. The Duke of Wellington, stupidly refused and she in turn wrote this by his name in the published text, “sighed over me and groaned over me by the hour,” but then she never thought much of Wellington who, she was quoted as saying, looked like a ‘Rat-catcher.’

Have a lovely week,

Simone