"I am like poor Lear,' said George III at the height of his madness during the Regency crisis of 1788-9, 'but thank God I have no Regan, no Goneril, only three Cordelias.' He was referring to his elder daughters, Charlotte, Augusta and Elizabeth, whom he regarded - with their younger sisters, Mary, Sophia and Amelia - as symbols of perfect English womanhood. He had a lower opinion of his seven sons, headed by the dazzling Prince Regent. On the surface...