I discovered this niche but well-researched biography of the forgotten 'forbidden wife' of the equally forgotten sixth son of George III by accident while browsing Kindle Unlimited. Already familiar with Prinny, or George IV, that big fat hypocrite who also married outside the terms of his father's spiteful Royal Marriages Act, my curiosity was piqued by the story of his brother Augustus and the poor woman he fell in love with, Lady Augusta Murray. Julia Abel Smith doesn't disappoint either, writing in meticulous detail and with true affection about the beautiful, intelligent and caring woman whose memory is now consigned to a vandalised tomb and a handful of street names in Ramsgate.

Born in 1761, Augusta was the daughter of the Earl of Dunmore, who was a colonial governor in both Virginia, where his wife and daughters joined him for a time, and the Bahamas. Well educated and travelled, fluent in French and Italian, Augusta was a popular socialite known for being 'rather too free with the world'. In 1792, she met Prince Augustus, the exiled younger son of King George, while travelling through Italy, where he had been sent for his health. She was 32, twelve years older than her royal suitor, but the two halves of one whole - Augustus and Augusta - fell in love. When his ardour finally wore down her romantic ideals - ‘Shocking day, I had a letter from the Prince with a ring, he says he loves me, I do not believe he does, & yet everybody assures me of it.’ - the pair were married in Rome by an English clergyman on the grand tour, who was forced into conducting the ceremony. The marriage was both illegal and invalid because the Royal Marriages Act stated that the Prince required his father's permission to marry but the happy couple consummated the union and Augusta found herself pregnant with the King's technically illegitimate grandson.

Augustus stood by his 'wife' and children - they also had a daughter - despite the King's objections, a trial by Privy Council and being separated for six years when Augusta was sent home and Augustus remained in Europe. There was even a second, equally dubious marriage ceremony in London soon after the first hasty ceremony in Rome, but the royal family refused to recognise Augusta and she was 'banished from court, shunned and disgraced'. The Prince battled on, sending ardent love letters full of empty promises, while his family and attendants worked to discredit and ruin Augusta, even claiming that her daughter did not belong to Augustus but was the result of an affair with a former suitor, Archibald Hamilton (whom she later had a son with, just to confuse matters!) Finally, the pressure of being punished by his father finally broke the Prince, who separated from Augusta, leaving her deeply in debt and desperate.

Augustus was weak - while living in Italy, ostensibly for his health but mainly to keep him apart from Augusta, he had an affair with a opera singer - and Augusta delusional to believe that the King would change his mind and the law, but they are both strong and sympathetic personalities, according to Smith, and I believe that they really did love each other. After finally gaining a title - she styled herself the Duchess of Sussex but was given royal licence to use the surname De Ameland - and a pension, ridding her of crippling debts which nearly sent her to prison, Augusta set up home with her beloved children Augustus and Emma in London and Ramsgate. She was a capable and organised lady of independent means, recording every purchase and donation in her account books, and looked after family, friends and even strangers who won her pity. Both the Prince - who only remarried after Augusta's death, in yet another invalid ceremony - and Augusta were keen bibliophiles, too, which I love - she collected 1,500 books and had her own library, while Augustus' collection of antiquarian volumes ran to over 50,000! After losing most of her family, including her 'secret' son Henry Hamilton, Augusta Murray De Ameland died in 1830. I'm glad to have finally 'met' such an extraordinary lady, who fought for her rights and the future of her children and kept her dignity throughout. ( )