Lady Florence Paget
Lady Florence Paget: The Curse of “Manly Pastimes”
Lady Florence Paget: The Curse of “Manly Pastimes”
Lady Florence Paget (1842-1907) “came out” in 1859, but received little notice until 1863, when louche young men in Court circles dubbed her “the Pocket Venus.” She suffered ostracism when she eloped with a notorious rake because her intended (another libertine) was a close friend of the Prince of Wales. Lady Paget’s situation rapidly became the back-drama in racecourse rivalry between husband and jilted suitor. Her position was representative of the lives of several brides in her social circle, where she was nothing more than another “manly pastime,” more akin to a fine thoroughbred than a companion. Once the bridal race was run, horse racing, far more perilous than the roulette table, took over completely, and, as Charlotte de Rothschild put it, ruined men, “body and soul, mind and purse”.
Lady Florence Paget (1842-1907) “came out” in 1859, but received little notice until 1863, when louche young men in Court circles dubbed her “the Pocket Venus.” She suffered ostracism when she eloped with a notorious rake because her intended (another libertine) was a close friend of the Prince of Wales. Lady Paget’s situation rapidly became the back-drama in racecourse rivalry between husband and jilted suitor. Her position was representative of the lives of several brides in her social circle, where she was nothing more than another “manly pastime,” more akin to a fine thoroughbred than a companion. Once the bridal race was run, horse racing, far more perilous than the roulette table, took over completely, and, as Charlotte de Rothschild put it, ruined men, “body and soul, mind and purse”.
