1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised Queen Anne 3 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: didn't have any living heirs, and because England would need 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:20,799 Speaker 1: a Protestant monarch when she died, the throne would be 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: going over to the Hanover branch of the family in Germany. 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: With that in mind, a woman named Henrietta Howard and 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: her husband Charles boarded a boat from England to Germany 8 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: with one simple goal to go from penniless nobodies to 9 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:45,319 Speaker 1: official members of the new incoming royal court. Henrietta and 10 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: Charles had gotten married six and a half years earlier. 11 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: They had originally met under dire circumstances. Although Henrietta came 12 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: from a noble family, it had fallen apart with the 13 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: death of her mother, her father, and four of her siblings. 14 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: At just sixteen, Henrietta had become the oldest surviving representative 15 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: of the family. Medical bills were piling up and her 16 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: fortune was in danger, so she sought out the help 17 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: of the Hobart's family friends. Taking pity on Henrietta, the 18 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: Hobarts invited her to stay with them in their Jacobean 19 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:32,199 Speaker 1: mansion near saffron Walden. There she met Charles, the family's 20 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: youngest son, who was fourteen years older than she was. 21 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: Charles was a high up military official at the time, 22 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: nicknamed Salamander because he fought in the hottest parts of 23 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: the battlefield. Other than that, Charles didn't have a lot 24 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: going for him. Someone described him as quote wrongheaded, ill tempered, obstinate, drunken, extravagant, 25 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: and brutal on account of his profligate drinking, spending, and 26 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: sleeping around. We don't know what attracted them to each other. 27 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: One of Henrietta's friends later wrote, quote how she came 28 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: to love him or how he came to love anybody 29 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:21,079 Speaker 1: is unaccountable unless from a certain fatality, which often makes 30 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:27,799 Speaker 1: hasty marriages. Whether or not there was a timely motivating factor, 31 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: it's undeniable that both Henrietta and Charles did have financial 32 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: motives to get hitched. Even though Henrietta's family was in 33 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: dire financial straits, her father had made sure that her 34 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: large dowry would be protected before his death, which led 35 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: to a potentially large payday for Charles. What's more, the 36 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: terms of Henrietta's father's and great grandfather's wills stated that 37 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: Henrietta would receive a significant inheritance and a hoddest income 38 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:05,519 Speaker 1: paid twice a year only if she got married. Shortly 39 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: after the wedding, the marriage fell apart, with Charles frittering 40 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: away their modest fortune with gambling and shopping. The couple's 41 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: financial circumstances became quote the reverse of opulent. According to 42 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: one contemporary, Charles fled to London to continue to party, 43 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: abandoning Henrietta in Berkshire with their young son, who was 44 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: born a year after the wedding. Henrietta insisted that she 45 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: and Charles move in together in London, and once they did, 46 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: things only worsened. As historian Tracy Borman put it, quote, 47 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: her respectable life as a gentleman's daughter had been transformed 48 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: into one of misery and humiliation as the wife of 49 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: a notorious drunk and philanderer. The shame of her situation 50 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: compelled her to live in crely apart from society, concealing 51 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: herself and her misery from the world end quote. Any 52 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: good will keeping their marriage together evaporated almost as quickly 53 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: as they had fallen in love. As one friend at 54 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: the time put it, quote, thus they loved, Thus they married, 55 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: and thus they hated each other for the rest of 56 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: their lives. Trapped in a loveless, brutal marriage, out of 57 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,840 Speaker 1: money and with her husband on the run from various creditors, 58 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: Henrietta needed to find a way out. Luckily, political circumstances 59 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: gave them the perfect opportunity. After the Glorious Revolution in 60 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: sixteen eighty eight sparked a succession crisis, Parliament passed an 61 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: Act of Settlement in seventeen o one, which allowed the 62 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: Electoral House of Hanover to take over England once Queen 63 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 1: Anne died. Henrietta planned to go to Germany and win 64 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: the favor of the Hanover family to secure herself and 65 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: her husband positions in the royal court. When the Hanovers 66 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: eventually came to rule over England, it would be a 67 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: long shot. Henrietta and Charles were from relatively small time 68 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: aristocratic families that the Hanovers wouldn't have been familiar with. 69 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: Henrietta didn't have the fancy clothes to woo the new 70 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: royal family, and she had sold all of her furniture 71 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: and jewelry in order to afford the voyage over to Germany. 72 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: Worse yet, she had to bring Charles over to Germany 73 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: with her, since a noble woman traveling alone would not 74 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: have been a respectable look. Given Charles's bad temper and 75 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: cold reserved personality, he could hurt their chances, but Henrietta 76 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: didn't have any other options. Winning over the Hannover was 77 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: her last resort. I'm Danish Schwartz and this is noble blood. 78 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: After traveling, as Henrietta put it, in the meanest and 79 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: most fatiguing manner, Henrietta and Charles found themselves in Hanover 80 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: in early seventeen fourteen. It was up to them to 81 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: endear themselves to the electoral family so they could eventually 82 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: secure themselves spots in the royal court, or they could 83 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,920 Speaker 1: return to England in disgrace. Henrietta started at the task, 84 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: immediately applying for an introduction. She quickly made an impression. 85 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:46,479 Speaker 1: She was an excellent courtier, both lively and demure. She 86 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,920 Speaker 1: quickly embedded herself within the royal household, spending nearly all 87 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: of her free hours at the court in Herrenhausen trying 88 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: to prove her worth. Soon she noticed that the electoral 89 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: Princess Caredine of Ansbach took a particular liking to her. 90 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: Caroline was known for her intellect and patronage of the arts. 91 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: She rubbed shoulders with philosophers like Voltaire and the composer Handel. 92 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: But Caroline's husband, Prince George the second of Hanover, couldn't 93 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: have been less interested. He had once declared I hate 94 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: poets and painters both, and called reading and learning something 95 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: mean and below him. Henrietta expressed to Caroline a fondness 96 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: for the mathematician Gottfried Liebnitz, whom Caroline had been studying 97 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: under since she was a child. This so endeared Henrietta 98 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: to Caroline that Henrietta was made an official Dame Dupillai. 99 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: Despite George's distaste for anything intellectual, he was taken with 100 00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: Henrietta as well. Not only was she attractive, modest, and obedient, 101 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: she was also a great listener. George was known to 102 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: be extremely boring. One courtier described his tedious conversations about 103 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: military victories or European royal genealogy as always the same thing, 104 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: over and over again. But if Henrietta was bored to tears, 105 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: she didn't show it. She always appeared genuinely wrapped. Caroline 106 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: was relieved to have someone else listening to her husband's 107 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,680 Speaker 1: monotonous stories for a change. Even though Henrietta was making 108 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 1: her name in the Hanover family, it wasn't enough. She 109 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,719 Speaker 1: also needed to make sure her husband, Charles could win 110 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: over the Prince and Princess. Somehow, Charles managed to put 111 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: his temper aside and charm the male members of the 112 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:52,559 Speaker 1: Hanover household, winning his spot in the Royal Court as well. 113 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: After just six months in the Hanover household, Henrietta and 114 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:02,080 Speaker 1: Charles faced a turning point in their career. In August 115 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: seventeen fourteen, the Electress George the Second Grandmother passed away, 116 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: and a few weeks later, Queen Anne of England died 117 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: as well. This made George the First the King of 118 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,559 Speaker 1: England and Caroline and George the Second the new Princess 119 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 1: and Prince of Wales. After the coronation, Caroline and George 120 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: the Second began to determine who would get spots in 121 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: their new English Royal Court. All of the good will 122 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: Charles and Henrietta had generated had to pay out. While 123 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: Caroline and George had promised them positions that was no guarantee. 124 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: Competition was fierce because George the First and his wife 125 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: were estranged. There was no real queen consort, leaving Caroline 126 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,839 Speaker 1: as the best way for a woman to embed herself 127 00:09:55,880 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: within the court. Other ladies of aristocratic heritage were bribing 128 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:05,559 Speaker 1: royal officials or using their family connections to secure their spots, 129 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: which Henrietta, whose family was mostly dead or destitute, had 130 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: no hope of doing. But luckily, the Princess appointed Henrietta 131 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:21,599 Speaker 1: a Woman of the Bedchamber on October twenty sixth, seventeen fourteen. 132 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: Charles also landed a position in court, becoming a Groom 133 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: of the Bedchamber to the new King, George the First, 134 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: Caroline's father in law. Although Henrietta and Charles were technically 135 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: employed in separate households, they got to live together in 136 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: an apartment at Saint James's Palace rent free, a huge 137 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 1: upgrade from the dismal flat that they had stayed in 138 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: before they left for Hanover. They were also paid a 139 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: significant salary, five hundred pounds a year for Charles and 140 00:10:55,240 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: three hundred for Henrietta. Although the couple's financial standing improved, 141 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: their marriage was still in shambles as Charles continued to 142 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:11,839 Speaker 1: berate and mistreat his wife. Even though Henrietta was still 143 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,840 Speaker 1: suffering in her marriage, at least she had her new 144 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,839 Speaker 1: position to distract her. As a woman of the bedchamber, 145 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: she took turns with seven other women to be quote 146 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: in waiting. When it was her turn, Henrietta got up 147 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: before the princess, filled up her bath with hot water, 148 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: said her morning prayers with her, and dressed her in 149 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 1: her undergarments. Throughout the day, Henrietta would run whatever errands 150 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: Caroline needed or attended to her appearance, before retiring to 151 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: the princess's private apartments in the evenings to read, chat 152 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,120 Speaker 1: and play cards, or to accompany the princess to the 153 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: drawing room if there were any formal gatherings. Afterwards, Henrietta 154 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: would undress the princess and get her ready for bed, 155 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: finishing her work as late as two in the morning. 156 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: Being a woman of the ben chamber required putting in 157 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:10,480 Speaker 1: long hours and was often unpredictable, given that you would 158 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: be attending to Caroline's every whim. The hardest part of 159 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:18,199 Speaker 1: the job for Henrietta, at least at the beginning, wasn't 160 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: dealing with the princess, but rather dealing with the dramas 161 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: of the rest of the court. Rivalries abounded, and quarrels 162 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: among the ladies in waiting could start up over matters 163 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 1: as small as who kissed the lady on the cheek. 164 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: Henrietta tried to stay out of these squabbles and became 165 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:42,719 Speaker 1: known as the Swiss because of her neutrality. But Henrietta's 166 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 1: neutrality would be put to the test. George the Second 167 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: and his father, the King, had always had a fraught relationship, 168 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:56,000 Speaker 1: but their animosity was kept at bay until the christening 169 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: of George the Second's son, George William. After a dispute 170 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: over who should be the godfather of the child came 171 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: to a head. The Prince went up to his father's 172 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: chosen candidate and said, you are a rascal, but I 173 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: shall find you. Unfortunately, his heavy German accent meant that 174 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:21,319 Speaker 1: everyone thought he had said I'll fight you. In response, 175 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 1: George the First put his own son, the Prince of Wales, 176 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: under house arrest. This left Henrietta out of work. She 177 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: couldn't go to the Princess's apartment without a guardsman pointing 178 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: a halbert at her breast, preventing her from entering. Prince 179 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: and princess were under arrest at Saint James's for four 180 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: days until the King expelled the royal couple from court. 181 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: The chaos sent the palace into a tizzy, putting Henrietta's 182 00:13:55,360 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: previously secure position at risk. Because Charles and Henriettetta now 183 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: worked for households that were at war with each other, 184 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: they were barred from living together at Saint James. Henrietta 185 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:13,560 Speaker 1: had to pick between staying with her abusive husband, potentially 186 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: jeopardizing her position at court, or living separately from Charles 187 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: and risking her reputation worse. It was now that Henrietta's 188 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: health started to fail. She had suffered from horrible headaches 189 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: throughout her twenties, and around this time she started losing 190 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 1: her hearing. This was a huge blow, As Tracy Borman 191 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: put it, quote, to be hard of hearing in a 192 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: world that fed on gossip, intrigue, and scandal was clearly 193 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: a great disadvantage. But still, the prospect of losing her 194 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: hearing and staying with an abusive man seemed unbearable. After 195 00:14:54,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: much deliberation, Henrietta approached Charles about a potential compromise. Charles 196 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: immediately flew into a rage. That Henrietta would even consider 197 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: choosing the princess over him. Steely with resolve, Henrietta left 198 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: the apartments without taking any of her belongings. Charles sent 199 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: a message that he no longer considered her his wife, 200 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: and she made it clear that she was equally done 201 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: with the marriage. Siding with Caroline and George the second 202 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: over the King and her own husband was a startling 203 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: show of loyalty. Henrietta threw herself into life at court, 204 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: hosting dinner parties at Hampton Court and winning over all 205 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: who attended. In spite of her difficult circumstances. She had 206 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: as much good nature as if she had never seen 207 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: any ill nature and had been bred among lambs and 208 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: turtle doves instead of princes and court ladies. One dinner 209 00:15:55,360 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: party attendee remarked among Henrietta's admirers, but as the Prince 210 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: of Wales himself, not only was he attending all of 211 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: Henrietta's dinner parties, he found himself visiting Henrietta's apartments more often, 212 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: spending three or four hours at a time regaling her 213 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: with his probably boring stories of his military achievements. It 214 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: seemed he was on the hunt for a mistress. He 215 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: had recently been rejected by another courtier. This left Henrietta 216 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 1: with another difficult choice. The Prince was, despite his title, 217 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: not exactly prince charming. He was dull, ugly, and, like 218 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: her husband, prone to rages. If she pursued an affair 219 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: with him, she would have a target on her back 220 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: from the rest of the court, including potentially his wife Caroline, 221 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: who was still her boss. Worse yet, Henrietta's marriage was 222 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: not technically over, even though she was a strange from 223 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: her husband, and cheating on him could put her reputation 224 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:08,400 Speaker 1: further at risk. On the other hand, pursuing an affair 225 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: with the Prince of Wales could provide her with more money, power, 226 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 1: and prestige at court, which Henrietta desperately needed to avoid 227 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: a life of poverty with her husband. For better or 228 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: for worse, an affair with the Prince could change her 229 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:33,359 Speaker 1: life forever. The affair probably began during the Prince and 230 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 1: Princess's stay at Richmond from June to September seventeen eighteen. 231 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: George and Caroline's summers away had a more casual atmosphere, 232 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:50,160 Speaker 1: as quote formal occasions tended to be replaced by intimate 233 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: supper parties or evening strolls around the gardens. While the 234 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: summertime atmosphere was romantic, George the Second's reasons for pursuing 235 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: an affair with Henrietta were less so. George dutifully flirted 236 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: with various courtiers, but he always reserved his true passion 237 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: for his wife, even after thirteen years. Every evening after dinner, 238 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: George spent hours in Caroline's chambers and said that no 239 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: other woman could even buckle her shoe, but his wife 240 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: guy energy bucked standards for royal masculinity. There was a 241 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,880 Speaker 1: rumor that Caroline truly wore the pants in the relationship. 242 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: A contemporary said that George seemed to look upon a 243 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: mistress rather as a necessary appertinence to his grandeur as 244 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: a prince, than in addition to his pleasures as a man. 245 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: Henrietta was an ideal choice. Not only was she a 246 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: great listener to his boring stories, but she was also discreet, appeasing, 247 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,959 Speaker 1: and well liked, unlikely to spread rooms about how he 248 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: was in bed or use her new power to sow 249 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: discord among the rest of the court. It was an 250 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: affair of convenience, in every sense a highly regimented person 251 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: with a strict daily routine. George went to Henrietta's apartments 252 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 1: every night at exactly seven o'clock, with quote such dull 253 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:27,120 Speaker 1: punctuality that he frequently walked about his chamber for ten 254 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: minutes with his watch in his hand if the stated 255 00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: minute was not arrived. He did this while also visiting 256 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: his wife at her bedchambers for two hours every night 257 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:42,480 Speaker 1: after dinner. If there was any interruption in this routine, 258 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: he would fly into a rage. Despite the regimented new schedule, 259 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: Henrietta's new role did have some perks. For one, George 260 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: paid her an annual salary of two thousand pounds, which 261 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: would be more than two hundred and fifty thousand pounds today. 262 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: As the mistress to the heir to the throne, she 263 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: was treated with more deference and respect by the rest 264 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:13,399 Speaker 1: of the court. George's wife, Caroline, had a remarkably lax 265 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:18,120 Speaker 1: stance on the affair, at least initially. One courtier said 266 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: that she was so devoted to George's pleasures, which she 267 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: often told him were the rule of all her thoughts 268 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 1: and actions, that whenever he thought proper to find them 269 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: with other women she even loved, whoever was instrumental to 270 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:38,879 Speaker 1: his entertainment. But Caroline did not tolerate the prospect of 271 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 1: competing with another woman for political influence over the Prince. 272 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: She worried that Henrietta would use her three or four 273 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: hours a day with George to sway him politically. Henrietta's 274 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: closest friends were powerful Tory politicians and sympathizers, who discussed 275 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: their political opinions during her dinner soirese. Henrietta's own aspirations 276 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: were modest. She was more interested in her own safety 277 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: and security than any broader political gains. But Caroline, as 278 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 1: a supporter of the opposing Whig Party, wanted to minimize 279 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:25,120 Speaker 1: Henrietta's threat to the status quo. Caroline began condescending to Henrietta, 280 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: calling her my dear Howard, while giving her increasingly lowly tasks. 281 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,159 Speaker 1: She ordered Henrietta to kneel while she held her waist 282 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: basin a subtle indignity. Henrietta did so, but as Caroline 283 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: continued to undermine her, Henrietta snapped. One day she told 284 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:49,400 Speaker 1: off Caroline, refusing to kneel. Caroline responded, yes, my dear Howard, 285 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: I am sure you will. Indeed you will go go 286 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: fie for shame, Go my good Howard. We will talk 287 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: of this another time. Caroline also exploited Henrietta's fear of 288 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,760 Speaker 1: returning to her abusive husband. She told another courtier she 289 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,400 Speaker 1: knew I had held her up at a time when 290 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: it was in my power if I had pleased any 291 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: hour of the day, to let her drop through my fingers. 292 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:18,159 Speaker 1: Thus humiliated, Henrietta knew that from that moment on she 293 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: had no choice but to submit to Caroline's every whin 294 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: having to negotiate between the desires of Caroline and George 295 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:30,080 Speaker 1: began to take a toll on Henrietta. One of her 296 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: friends said that she was forced to live in the 297 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: constant subjugation of a wife with all the reproach of 298 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: a mistress, and to flatter and manage a man whom 299 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,879 Speaker 1: she must see and feel had as little inclination to 300 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:47,639 Speaker 1: her person as regard to her advice. Henrietta began to 301 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:52,800 Speaker 1: suffer more acute headaches and was at times bedridden, unable 302 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: to attend to Caroline as she was supposed to. Henrietta 303 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 1: was growing increasingly frustrated with her life at court and 304 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 1: wanted to plot and escape. Shockingly, the Prince was amenable 305 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: to helping her, fairly bored with her at this point, 306 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: he gifted her some diamond jewelry, a ruby cross, a 307 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,360 Speaker 1: gold watch, and all of the furniture in her and 308 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: her servant's rooms. He also gave her a stock worth 309 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,600 Speaker 1: eleven thousand, five hundred pounds in the south Sea Company. 310 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: Better Yet, in the settlement, the Prince wrote that the 311 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:32,119 Speaker 1: gifts were for quote Henrietta Howard alone, and not for 312 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 1: the use or benefit of the said Charles Howard. Her husband. Thrilled, 313 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 1: Henrietta started building a house that would be hers alone 314 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: for her to escape to, but she had to keep 315 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: this a secret from her husband, who, again, even though 316 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,719 Speaker 1: they were estranged, would still try and rest control of 317 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:56,520 Speaker 1: her new fortune. Henrietta also had to hide her plans 318 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:02,400 Speaker 1: from Caroline, who, despite tormenting Henriett, preferred having her as 319 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: her husband's mistress as opposed to somebody more ambitious and 320 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:13,119 Speaker 1: threatening to her power. One worthwhile thing to briefly point 321 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: out here is even as Henrietta's new fortune would be 322 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: allowing her to build her tenuous independence, she would be 323 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 1: directly profiting from the oppression of others. The South Sea 324 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 1: Company was involved in the transatlantic slave trade, and the 325 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:32,159 Speaker 1: materials that Henrietta was using to build her new house 326 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 1: were sourced from the then British colony of Jamaica. This 327 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,639 Speaker 1: is one of the challenges when it comes to understanding 328 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: historical figures, being able to put them in the context 329 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: of when they lived, but also to try to understand 330 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: that context and all of its complexities more fully. Anyway, 331 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,880 Speaker 1: it wasn't long before Charles found out about his wife's 332 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: change in fortune. Immediately he started to blackmail her for 333 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,879 Speaker 1: the mo He petitioned the Archbishop of Canterbury to help him, 334 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: knowing that if he brought the issue to trial in 335 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,920 Speaker 1: the ecclesiastical courts, he would have a bulletproof case. There's 336 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,280 Speaker 1: no chance that a judge would side with an unfaithful 337 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:18,680 Speaker 1: wife over her long suffering husband. The case would also 338 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: be a public scandal, putting Henrietta's reputation at further risk. 339 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:28,159 Speaker 1: Charles also threatened her by preventing her from ever seeing 340 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 1: her son again, a son she missed dearly, given that 341 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: she hadn't seen him since she arrived in Hanover so 342 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 1: many years ago. Caroline also learned of Henrietta's attempt to 343 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,400 Speaker 1: escape court, and she told her that she would happily 344 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: let Henrietta quit if she returned to her husband, which 345 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: Henrietta did not want to do under any circumstances. So 346 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: Henrietta was biding her time at court while she continued 347 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:02,159 Speaker 1: to build a country home at Marble Hill with her 348 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 1: new gifted fortune. Charles decided on a new tactic to 349 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,119 Speaker 1: try to rest control of the fortune from his wife. 350 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: He got a warrant from the Lord Chief Justice to 351 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: seize his wife wherever he found her. She was so 352 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,720 Speaker 1: afraid of her husband that Henrietta hid at Leicester House 353 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:25,199 Speaker 1: for weeks, knowing that Charles wasn't going to try and 354 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: forcibly remove her from a palace. When June rolled around, 355 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,960 Speaker 1: the royal household was preparing for their annual summer retreat 356 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: to Richmond, and Henrietta was terrified. She was worried that 357 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: Charles would ambush her carriage on the way there and 358 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 1: finally seize her for good. A duke told her that 359 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 1: she could ride with him early in the morning before 360 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: the rest of the coaches and stay in his more 361 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:56,320 Speaker 1: secure house to avoid her scheming husband. The plan worked. 362 00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,159 Speaker 1: She made it to the Duke's house unscathed, but the 363 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,920 Speaker 1: experience terrified her. She wrote to one of her friends, 364 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: I have not been abroad since I left London, nor 365 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: have I courage yet to venture out. Her life would 366 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 1: only get more complicated that summer. On June fifteenth, while 367 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,879 Speaker 1: the Prince and princess were taking an afternoon rest, they 368 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,439 Speaker 1: heard a knock at the door. The king had died. 369 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,080 Speaker 1: The Prince, of course, was furious, not because of his 370 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:32,440 Speaker 1: sudden promotion, but because the message had interrupted his precious 371 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: daily routine. When he heard the news, he said, that 372 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: is one big lie and left the room. From her 373 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: isolation at the Duke's house, Henrietta weighed her options. The 374 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,199 Speaker 1: death of the king meant that her husband, who was 375 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: installed in his court, was now out of a job, 376 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,520 Speaker 1: and he would probably be using everything in his power 377 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 1: to try to steal her fortune and bring her back 378 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 1: under his thumb. Even though Henrietta was trying to leave 379 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: royal life altogether, the prince's promotion gave her an opportunity 380 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: for even greater fortune, prestige, and security. She could become 381 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:22,120 Speaker 1: mistress to a king. After George the second became king. 382 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:27,919 Speaker 1: Politicians and courtiers alike began flooding Henrietta's apartments, trying to 383 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,400 Speaker 1: get her to put in a good word with the King. 384 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: The busy and speculative politicians of the ante chamber, who 385 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: knew everything but knew everything wrong, naturally concluded that a 386 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,200 Speaker 1: lady with whom the King passed so many hours every 387 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: day must necessarily have some interest with him, and consequently 388 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: applied to her, said one of her friends. Henrietta was 389 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,560 Speaker 1: apprehensive about all of these new requests and about her 390 00:28:55,600 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: position in general. After the coronation, the royal family typically 391 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:06,200 Speaker 1: restructured their courts, Henrietta could easily be dismissed from her position. 392 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: Henrietta's relationship with the new King, George, had been decaying. 393 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: Even though he followed his routine of visiting her every 394 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: day at seven, he was pretty much tiring of her. Once, 395 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: a year after the coronation, she offended him by accident 396 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,040 Speaker 1: while they were walking together in the gardens at Saint James. 397 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: He responded with such outrage that she worried she was 398 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: going to be fired immediately. It's worth noting that perhaps 399 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: this outburst was part of George's personality He had kept 400 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:44,400 Speaker 1: Henrietta around for almost ten years, longer than any of 401 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: his other mistresses. After spending three or four hours a 402 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:52,480 Speaker 1: day with Henrietta for nearly a decade, the relationship had 403 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 1: long lost whatever initial spark it had once had. Besides, 404 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: at times, George burst intoge even at his own wife, 405 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:06,360 Speaker 1: who he was unquestioningly devoted to, in front of the 406 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:11,440 Speaker 1: entire court. Luckily, both the King and Queen kept Henrietta 407 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 1: on as both a woman of the bedchamber and a 408 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: royal mistress once George became king, but George's growing annoyance 409 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: with Henrietta worried her. She still needed her position at 410 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:28,280 Speaker 1: court to avoid the wrath of her husband, who was 411 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: preparing yet another strategy to steal her fortune. Late one night, 412 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 1: Charles snuck into the inner courtyard of the palace and 413 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 1: shouted his demands for Henrietta to return to him, waking 414 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: up the whole of Saint James. He broke into the 415 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 1: Queen's apartments, insisting on a position in the King's court 416 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: and custody over his wife, before the royal guards carried 417 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: him out by force. With her husband getting increasingly brazen 418 00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:01,920 Speaker 1: and embarrassing, Henrietta was in a catch twenty two. As 419 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:06,560 Speaker 1: one of her friends put it, Henrietta simultaneously had a 420 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 1: husband who ordered her home, who did not desire to 421 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 1: have her there, and a lover who was to retain her, 422 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: who seemed already tired of keeping her. With all of 423 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,800 Speaker 1: this stress around her, Henrietta's headaches worsened and she was 424 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: bedridden for days. Miserable, she took a drastic and unprecedented step. 425 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: She applied for a legal separation from her husband. Given 426 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: that it was incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for a 427 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:42,680 Speaker 1: woman to legally divorce her husband at that time, Henrietta's 428 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: best option was to seek out an informal divorce or 429 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:51,040 Speaker 1: a private deed of separation. It was still risky for 430 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 1: a woman to seek out a deed of separation, as 431 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:59,120 Speaker 1: historian Tracy Borman explained, quote, in most cases, the wife 432 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,320 Speaker 1: would forfeit an any income she might have from real estate, 433 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 1: as well as any future earnings or legacies, all of 434 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 1: her personal property, and worst of all, custody of any children. Still, 435 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 1: Henrietta found witnesses attesting to Charles's violence, cruelty, profligacy, and drunkenness, 436 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 1: and with her lawyers, she managed to create a deed 437 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: of separation that mandated that he could no longer claim, seize, retrain, 438 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 1: or detain her, nor could he access any of her 439 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: fortune aside from a twelve hundred pound yearly allowance. Charles 440 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 1: agreed to the document, except he insisted on one edition 441 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:48,120 Speaker 1: that Henrietta could not pursue a legal divorce. Even though 442 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: this was a major concession, they signed the deed and 443 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 1: their separation was finally agreed to on February twenty ninth, 444 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty eight, after twenty two years of misery. Four 445 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:07,720 Speaker 1: years later, Charles was dead. Things were finally looking up 446 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: for Henrietta. She is happier than I have ever seen her, 447 00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: said one of her friends. Not only was she free 448 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 1: from her husband for good, her country house was finally completed, 449 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 1: giving her a place to escape to Once her court 450 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: life was officially over once more, she got a promotion. 451 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: Charles's brother Edward had died and Charles had succeeded him 452 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: as the ninth Earl of Suffolk, which made Henrietta a countess, 453 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: even though she and her husband were separated. Her new 454 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,800 Speaker 1: title meant that she was too high status to hold 455 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 1: her previous position as woman of the bedchamber, so she 456 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,960 Speaker 1: was promoted to Mistress of the Robes, the most senior 457 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:53,280 Speaker 1: member of the household. No longer did she have to 458 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:58,320 Speaker 1: kneel while holding Caroline's wash basin or attend to Caroline's 459 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:04,880 Speaker 1: every impulse. She even met a new romantic interest, George Berkeley, 460 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: an affable gentleman with a good sense of humor. He 461 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,960 Speaker 1: couldn't have been more different from either George or Charles. 462 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:16,880 Speaker 1: Henrietta had been introduced to him through his sister, a friend, 463 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,759 Speaker 1: in seventeen thirty. While the two maintained a flirty friendship 464 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:25,959 Speaker 1: for a few years. After Charles's death, their relationship grew 465 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:31,600 Speaker 1: more passionate and openly romantic. In their letters, Henrietta flirtingly 466 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:36,200 Speaker 1: teased George about his ill breeding and forgetfulness, and called 467 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:39,959 Speaker 1: him dull and want of taste. Now that she had 468 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,160 Speaker 1: a lover, a posh country house, and a fortune to 469 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,400 Speaker 1: live off of, she felt more ready than ever to 470 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 1: actually leave court. As one friend observed, she was tired 471 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 1: of acting the mistress while she had in reality all 472 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,799 Speaker 1: the slights of a wife. She took a six week 473 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 1: vacation in Bath to test the waters, making sure to 474 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:08,080 Speaker 1: return in time for King George's birthday on October thirtieth, 475 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 1: but the King was not particularly happy to see her return. 476 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: Angry that she had interrupted his routines and that she 477 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:21,000 Speaker 1: had entertained some of his political enemies in Bath, he 478 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:24,920 Speaker 1: avoided Henrietta at all costs. He did not go to 479 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:28,799 Speaker 1: her apartments as he had done once every day, nor 480 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:32,680 Speaker 1: did he even say hello during his birthday festivities. The 481 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:36,879 Speaker 1: snub shocked Henrietta. Even though she was ready to leave 482 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,280 Speaker 1: court for good, she wanted to do so on good terms. 483 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:44,280 Speaker 1: She met with the Queen, planning to seek her advice 484 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 1: and offer her resignation. Knowing that the Queen might not 485 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:54,360 Speaker 1: grant her request to quit, Henrietta painstakingly prepared her case. 486 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,279 Speaker 1: She told Caroline that she wanted to quit her job 487 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:01,440 Speaker 1: at court, saying that she had taken to heart the 488 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:04,640 Speaker 1: public marks that the King had given me of his displeasure. 489 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:08,759 Speaker 1: But as she predicted, the Queen would not let her quit. 490 00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:12,799 Speaker 1: She said that the ordeal at George's birthday festivities was 491 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:17,360 Speaker 1: just a minor spat, nothing worth quitting over. When Henrietta 492 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,800 Speaker 1: refused to budge, the Queen said, child, you do not 493 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 1: know how differently. When you are out, people will behave 494 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:28,520 Speaker 1: suggesting that her friends may abandon her if she no 495 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: longer occupied a position of political power. Henrietta replied, some 496 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,400 Speaker 1: people may show me it was the courtier and not 497 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:40,160 Speaker 1: me that was light. I cannot say that keeping of 498 00:36:40,239 --> 00:36:43,920 Speaker 1: such acquaintance will be an inducement to keep me at court. 499 00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:50,400 Speaker 1: After some deliberation, the Queen proposed a compromise that Henrietta 500 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:55,440 Speaker 1: could quit after taking a week to consider it. Henrietta 501 00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:58,239 Speaker 1: took that week to try to get herself back into 502 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:02,440 Speaker 1: the King's good graces. George refused to see her in private, 503 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,840 Speaker 1: so she found him walking in the gardens at Kensington 504 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:09,360 Speaker 1: and tried to plead her case. He ignored her. She 505 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 1: wrote him two letters that defended her conduct, begging for 506 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:17,120 Speaker 1: his understanding after an over twenty year affair, but he 507 00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:21,080 Speaker 1: refused to respond. When the Queen told him that she 508 00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:24,720 Speaker 1: was trying to get Henrietta to renege on her request 509 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,400 Speaker 1: to quit, the king told his wife, what the devil 510 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:31,760 Speaker 1: did you mean by trying to make an old, dull, deaf, 511 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:35,600 Speaker 1: peevish beast stay and plague me when I had so 512 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:40,160 Speaker 1: good an opportunity of getting rid of her. Henrietta failed 513 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,759 Speaker 1: to endear herself again to the King, and on November 514 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:49,920 Speaker 1: twenty second, seventeen thirty four, she finally resigned. Although Henrietta 515 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:53,680 Speaker 1: had left court on a sour note, her new life 516 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 1: was now finally ready to unfold. She moved into her estate, 517 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:03,240 Speaker 1: marble Hill, which she had painstakingly constructed over so many years. 518 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,719 Speaker 1: Even though the Queen Caroline had warned her that she 519 00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:10,600 Speaker 1: would lose her friends after leaving court, she hosted plenty 520 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,840 Speaker 1: of them at marble Hill at her many lavish dinner 521 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:18,560 Speaker 1: parties and salons. She maintained her relationship with George Berkeley, 522 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:23,080 Speaker 1: and on June twenty sixth, seventeen thirty five, the two 523 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:27,840 Speaker 1: got married at a small ceremony on the Berkeley family estate. 524 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: Henrietta's life had become unrecognizable from the day she boarded 525 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:38,440 Speaker 1: the cheapest boat to Hanover in seventeen fourteen. Penniless and 526 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:42,799 Speaker 1: stuck with a cruel, abusive husband, she weathered her ex 527 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:46,440 Speaker 1: husband's attempts to tie her down and steal her money, power, 528 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:50,240 Speaker 1: and play at court. She weathered a decades long affair 529 00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 1: with a king who barely tolerated her, and a rivalry 530 00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:59,000 Speaker 1: with the queen who controlled her future. In May seventeen 531 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:03,719 Speaker 1: thirty six, Henrietta set sail for Germany with her husband, 532 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:08,480 Speaker 1: once again, going overseas for only the second time in 533 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:16,560 Speaker 1: her life. This time it was a vacation. That's the 534 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: story of Henrietta Howard, but stick around to hear about 535 00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:32,880 Speaker 1: Henrietta's relationship with her Frenemi, Jonathan Swift. In seventeen twenty six, 536 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:38,600 Speaker 1: a new visitor began attending henrietta salons at Lesterhouse, Jonathan Swift, 537 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,680 Speaker 1: the author of Gulliver's Travels. They had mutual friends in 538 00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:45,879 Speaker 1: the literary world, and one friend set the two up. 539 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,000 Speaker 1: He wrote to Swift in a letter, I can help 540 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:51,400 Speaker 1: you to a lady who is as deaf, though not 541 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:55,080 Speaker 1: as old as yourself. You'll be pleased with one another. 542 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:59,399 Speaker 1: You'll converse like spirits by intuition. When the two finally met, 543 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:04,719 Speaker 1: the friend right, they became close almost immediately. When Gulliver's 544 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:09,280 Speaker 1: Travels came out later that year, Henrietta was delighted, including 545 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:12,960 Speaker 1: references to the book in her letters. Swift pretended not 546 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:17,520 Speaker 1: to understand them because he published the book anonymously. The 547 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:21,640 Speaker 1: perverseness of your lines astonished me. He wrote, he was 548 00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:25,400 Speaker 1: such a frequent visitor that he called himself the chief 549 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:28,799 Speaker 1: butler and keeper of the ice House of Marble Hill, 550 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,879 Speaker 1: which was still under construction at this time. But their 551 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:37,719 Speaker 1: convivial and close relationship came to an abrupt halt when 552 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:41,360 Speaker 1: George the Second took over the throne as King. Swift 553 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:44,520 Speaker 1: was hoping that Henrietta would put in a good word 554 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:49,040 Speaker 1: with him about making Swift the chancellor of Dublin University. 555 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:52,760 Speaker 1: He also wanted to secure a position for his friend 556 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:57,760 Speaker 1: John Gay, but Caroline, wanting to put Henrietta in her place, 557 00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:02,759 Speaker 1: denied Gaze and Swift's requests. She put Gay in one 558 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: of the lowest paid and least prestigious positions at court, 559 00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:11,000 Speaker 1: and Gay turned it down. Even though Gay was sympathetic 560 00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:14,880 Speaker 1: to Henrietta's difficult decision, noting that she had done what 561 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,480 Speaker 1: she could, Swift was incensed. I have long hated her 562 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:22,600 Speaker 1: on your account, more because you are so forgiving as 563 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:25,960 Speaker 1: to not hate her. Swift wrote to Gay, missus Howard 564 00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:28,799 Speaker 1: was good for nothing but to be a rank courtier. 565 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,600 Speaker 1: He wrote, on another occasion, I care not whether she 566 00:41:32,719 --> 00:41:35,480 Speaker 1: ever writes to me or no. She has cheated us 567 00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:39,880 Speaker 1: all and may go hang herself. For the next six years, 568 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:43,720 Speaker 1: he continued to denigrate Henrietta in letters to his friends, 569 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:47,600 Speaker 1: and even published a poem about it. Many of the 570 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 1: recipients of these letters were friends with Henrietta too, and 571 00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:56,040 Speaker 1: tried to encourage Swift to bury the hatchet to no avail. 572 00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:02,759 Speaker 1: In seventeen thirty one, Henrietta dent Swift a remarkably restrained 573 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:07,239 Speaker 1: letter imploring him to stop going after her so intensely. 574 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:10,879 Speaker 1: Quote you seem to think you have a natural right 575 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:13,840 Speaker 1: to abuse me because I am a woman and a courtier, 576 00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:17,000 Speaker 1: she wrote. She ended her letter with a plea for 577 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:20,719 Speaker 1: forgiveness and that she wanted to follow her own inclination 578 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:26,400 Speaker 1: and continue very truly and very much his humble servant, 579 00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:36,440 Speaker 1: polite until the end. Noble Blood is a production of 580 00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:41,120 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manke. Noble Blood 581 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:45,000 Speaker 1: is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and 582 00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:49,600 Speaker 1: research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and 583 00:42:49,719 --> 00:42:54,360 Speaker 1: Julia Milaney. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, 584 00:42:54,760 --> 00:43:00,600 Speaker 1: with supervising producer rima il KLi and executive producers Aaron Mankey, 585 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:05,360 Speaker 1: Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 586 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:09,960 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 587 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:11,000 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.