15/09/2023
REPUBLICAN LABOUR EDUCATIONAL FORUM PRESENTS 'QUEEN CAROLINE v GEORGE IV', A TALK BY PROFESSOR IAN HAYWOOD (ROEHAMPTON)
The RLEF takes great pleasure in cordially inviting you to a truly topical zoom meeting next Monday at 6pm (synopsis below). It will be an event which promises to be both entertaining and informative. Details as follows:
The time and date of the meeting is Monday September 18th at 6pm. The zoom link is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86445763038
Event overview:
This week's talk, the latest in the Republican Labour Educational Forum (RLEF) autumn programme, has a historical theme - republicanism in the 1820s, or more specifically, the 'right royal ruckus' that surrounded the very public spat between Queen Caroline and George IV in 1820. 200 years on, there are easily recognisable echoes to be found with the feuding Windsors of 2023! Further details are below:
The speaker:
Professor Ian Haywood (Roehampton) is a very widely acknowledged expert on the satirical cartoons and the republican press of this period. His talk is entitled, "Royal Republicans? Queen Caroline and George IV." This is an event for your diary, one definitely not to be missed!
Professor Haywood will present the fascinating battle royal between Queen Caroline and George IV which caused a constitutional crisis. Lecture outline:
'In the summer of 1820, as republican uprisings broke out across Europe, Britain was gripped by a remarkable royal ruckus. The recently crowned King George IV, formerly the Prince Regent, was doing everything he could to prevent his estranged wife Caroline of Brunswick becoming the queen.
When the offer of huge bribes failed to deter her claim, George and his unpopular Tory government put the queen on trial for adultery. The nation rallied behind Caroline and the result was a constitutional crisis, massive daily demonstrations, and an unprecedented media campaign which demonstrated the new power of public opinion.
Just one year after the infamous Peterloo ‘massacre’, Britain was once again in a revolutionary mood which threatened the existing social and political order. Pro-Caroline propaganda, including waves of astonishingly seditious caricatures, transformed Caroline into a radical heroine, the defender of democracy, and a sublime role model for women.
As Britain receives the new king Charles III, it is instructive to recall a moment when a previous king fell out of favour with the people and almost lost his crown.'
Details of the event:
The time and date of the meeting is Monday September 18th at 6pm. The link is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86445763038
NB Just click the link, no passcode or registration required. Please share this email with all your contacts. For too long our republican history has remained an unknown quantity. Let's help change that!
In comradeship,
Carol Taylor-Spedding
pp (Republican Labour Educational Forum)
For education about working class republican ideas and the promotion of republican democracy
