Enlightened Princesses: Caroline, Augusta, Charlotte and the Shaping of the Modern World

Fascinating exhibition at Kensington Palace looking at the lives of three Georgian princesses, Caroline, wife of George II, Augusta, wife of Frederick Prince of Wales and Charlotte who married George III.

All of these women were involved in Enlightenment thinking both in the arts and the sciences. Starting with  the sciences and there was a fascinating section on how Caroline helped to pioneer the use of smallpox vaccinations as two of her sons had died following the previous inoculation. It also looked at how she helped Coram set up the Foundling Hospital as she had known of charitable hospitals in Europe.

There was a good section on the education of their children including a drawing of a cottage by one of the Duke of York’s. The boys and girls got the same education. Augusta designed a robe which the children could wear for formal occasions but which they could be got out of quickly so they could go back to playing and learning quickly. There was an example of this outfit and a lovely portrait of the family by Benjamin West including one child wearing a similar outfit.

I loved the section on music at court with manuscripts by Handel and six sonatas played for the royal family by the young Mozart written in his father Leopold’s hand. The princesses also commissioned paintings and I loved a delightful set of pastels by Liotard.

The last section looked at industry and trade looking at how the princesses promoted British produce  using their image to promote brand Britain. It also looked at British expansion and trade with America and India. There was a fun Yinka Shoribar installation to illustrate this which was a nice touch.

This show was just packed full of things I was interested in. It was such an astonishing time of positive change and intellectual excitement.

Closes on 12 November 2017

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