Thursday, November 25, 2010

Illustration Friday: Sneaky

Sarah Hussey was born rich, so of course- poor-ish nobles were lining up for her hand in marriage. She ended up marrying George Carpenter- the Earl of Tyrconnel. He had already been married, but quickly swept that under the carpet. Sarah was quite bored with her old husband and began partying and boyfriend-hunting. She hit the jackpot in 1788 when she began an affair with Prince Frederick, Duke of York. The press had a field day and like an 18th century version of the Lohans... Sarah's father and brother were quite proud of the attention she was getting(creepy.) Frederick broke off the affair a year later, much to the dismay of the Hussey men.

Sarah moved on, and had another affair with John, Earl of Strathmore. Once again, satirical prints loved the  little Countess' affair and publicized it mercilessly. But this time- it was different- Sarah was in love. She packed up, left poor George and ran away with John to live in sin. Pretty sneaky aye?  She died at the age of 37 from a very bad cold. She is buried in Westminster Abbey.

No comments:

Post a Comment