Charles Turner after John Hoppner.

Charlotte Countess Cholmondeley and the Hon.ble Henry Cholmondeley.

15 x 25 inches

Georgiana Charlotte Bertie, Countess of Cholmondeley (1764-1838). Appearances can be deceptive and a picture is not always what it seems. As we have travelled through the reign of George III we have met many people whose portraits appear perfect but whose lives tell a different story. Here we have Georgiana Charlotte Bertie and what appears to be a daughter but turns out to be a son wearing a dress. The countess seems capable, calm and gracious; qualities she had needed when returning to Cholmondeley Castle after her wedding in 1791 and finding not only Harriet, the illegitimate daughter of her husband born to his mistress the previous year, but also Georgiana, the illegitimate daughter born to another of his mistresses but fathered by the Prince of Wales. Households were complicated and philandering rife!