Birds in a gilded cage

George III freely acknowledged he was in no hurry to see his daughters married: ‘I am happy in their company, and do not in the least want a separation.’ As a consequence, three of them (Augusta, Sophia and Amelia) never married; the others did so late: Charlotte at 31, Mary at 40 and Elizabeth at 48. Meticulously detailed and deeply researched, Princesses chronicles their bids to achieve a balance between personal fulfilment and filial duty.

The princesses’ early lives were employed almost exclusively in lessons and ‘work’ — an endless round of drawing and sewing imposed upon them by their mother which, then and later, often filled the space where their lives should have been. Their insular existence made for intense relationships within the domestic circle, while the stress of living with a father subject to episodes of severe psychological disturbance often produced an uncertain and highly charged atmosphere. So alarming was the King’s illness in 1788 that following his recovery his daughters were discouraged from raising the upsetting subject of their futures with him.