Aristocrats (1999) is a BBC miniseries adaptation of the non-fiction biography of the four Lennox sisters: Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Holland (1723–1774), Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster (1731–1814), Lady Louisa Conolly (1743–1821), and Lady Sarah Lennox (1745–1826). All four were descended from an illegitimate son of King Charles II and the daughters of the Duke of Richmond, and so highly placed in mid-18th century English society. And three had very interesting lives, as the mini-series demonstrates: Caroline defied her parents and married leading politician Henry Fox, Emily married the rich Irish Duke of Leinster, while Sarah was rumored to be married to the heir to the throne, the future King George III, but didn’t and went on to have a turbulent life.
Most important, the costumes, by James Keast, are very close to spot-on for the period, covering the 1740s through the 1780s, with some obvious budgetary limitations (in that many costumes are worn for “decades”). I had hoped that this post would be short, because didn’t I discuss everything I needed to when covering episodes one and two? Well, five million screencaps later, apparently no I didn’t. These episodes cover from 1759ish to 1769ish, and there’s plenty of interesting things to talk about, especially court dress!
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