The affair of George IV and Maria Fitzherbert is notorious. A young Catholic widow became the secret wife of the heir to the throne because she had refused to become his mistress.Munson reveals a genuine love story between the spoilt, egocentric prince and the older woman who brought peace and order to his life of restlessness and excess; resulting in a marriage that defied English law and broke all the rules of monarchy. Two themes dominate - the love of a kind-hearted woman for a charming but faithless prince, and the perilous state of the monarchy.