There's a new vid out on Lord Hervey! By and large the vidder does a good job, though I was a bit surprised Algarotti was left out, while the friendship with Lady Mary was left in and was presented as "there were rumours they had an affair". (Hervey doesn't get heterosexualized, the vidder talks amply about his long term affair with Stephen Fox and about rumors he did have sex with Fritz of Wales.) Ditto for saying that "there were rumors" he had an affair with Queen Caroline, because I for sure haven't come across the later, other than the authors of that essay about Hervey and Fritz of Wales (I think? or maybe one of the biographers?) pointing out all the emphasis on Caroline and Lord Hervey seeing each other as ersatz mother and son (while having fallen out with their actual mother and son) disguises Caroline was only 13 years older than Hervey, not quite the same generation anymore but not really old enough for a mother figure, either, and basically the whole "mother figure!" thing serves to make their closeness respectable and scandal free. Which I thought at the time was a good point.
Mind you, not that whoeever wrote this and myself think Caroline and Hervey were lovers. Hervey was a career courtier, for starters, and he knew very well any chance of advancement would be over instantly if G2 as much as suspected him on hitting on his wife. Also, going by the way he talks about Caroline in his memoris - where she's the indisputed star -, I wasn't reminded so much of an ersatz mother figure but of the relationship between female stars (be they opera divas or film stars) and their gay fans.
As for whether or not Hervey and Lady Mary (pre Algarotti? post Algarotti?) were not just friends but friends with benefits: actually not even Pope in his diatribe against either and both accuses them of this, but then again Pope was a thwarted admirer of Lady Mary himself and a homophobe so probably might not have wanted to believe Hervey scored where he could not. I didn't have the impression from the few surviving letters, especially since we have counter examples of how they both respectively sounded when they were in love with other people. It's also worth pointing out that Lady Mary was older than Hervey, and had survived smallpox with scars, wwhose certified relationships with women (both his wife and Fritz' of Wales mistress) tended to be with younger beauties.
There's a new vid out on Lord Hervey! By and large the vidder does a good job, though I was a bit surprised Algarotti was left out
Lord Hervey: Yeah, especially as I succeeded in scoring with him!
Andrew Mitchell: But I was the tastiest dish.
Lady Mary: *sob*
I wasn't reminded so much of an ersatz mother figure but of the relationship between female stars (be they opera divas or film stars) and their gay fans.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2025-02-22 08:38 am (UTC)Mind you, not that whoeever wrote this and myself think Caroline and Hervey were lovers. Hervey was a career courtier, for starters, and he knew very well any chance of advancement would be over instantly if G2 as much as suspected him on hitting on his wife. Also, going by the way he talks about Caroline in his memoris - where she's the indisputed star -, I wasn't reminded so much of an ersatz mother figure but of the relationship between female stars (be they opera divas or film stars) and their gay fans.
As for whether or not Hervey and Lady Mary (pre Algarotti? post Algarotti?) were not just friends but friends with benefits: actually not even Pope in his diatribe against either and both accuses them of this, but then again Pope was a thwarted admirer of Lady Mary himself and a homophobe so probably might not have wanted to believe Hervey scored where he could not. I didn't have the impression from the few surviving letters, especially since we have counter examples of how they both respectively sounded when they were in love with other people. It's also worth pointing out that Lady Mary was older than Hervey, and had survived smallpox with scars, wwhose certified relationships with women (both his wife and Fritz' of Wales mistress) tended to be with younger beauties.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-27 01:48 pm (UTC)There's a new vid out on Lord Hervey! By and large the vidder does a good job, though I was a bit surprised Algarotti was left out
Lord Hervey: Yeah, especially as I succeeded in scoring with him!
Andrew Mitchell: But I was the tastiest dish.
Lady Mary: *sob*
I wasn't reminded so much of an ersatz mother figure but of the relationship between female stars (be they opera divas or film stars) and their gay fans.
That makes a lot of sense!