Courtiers

An eye-opening portrait of an enthralling group of royal servants, Courtiers throws new light on the dramatic life of George II and Queen Caroline and their court at Kensington Palace. In the eighteenth century, the palace''s most elegant assembly room was in fact a bloody battlefield. This was a world of skulduggery, politicking, wigs and beauty-spots, where fans whistled open like flick-knives... Ambitious and talented people flocked to court of George II and Queen Caroline in search of power and prestige, but Kensington Palace was also a gilded cage. Successful courtiers needed level heads and cold their secrets were never safe. Among them, a Vice Chamberlain with many vices, a Maid of Honour with a secret marriage, a pushy painter, an alcoholic equerry, a Wild Boy, a penniless poet, a dwarf comedian, two mysterious turbaned Turks and any number of discarded royal mistresses. ''The kind of captivating history I most enjoy: full of unexpected stories. It makes one look at Kensington Palace in a completely new light.'' - Lady Antonia Fraser