In the beginning, Keira lived on an estate that looked pretty huge, a wonderful castle, etc. She wasn't exactly poor. Why was her mother encouraging her so much to marry the Duke? Was being a "Lady" nothing in comparison to being a "Duchess?"
I read that he'd father was an Earl but a Duke is higher. A duke is the highest then a marquess and then an earl. Her husband would have been seen as an excellent match. Remember their son would inherit the title of earl and daughters would have been left with some money if not married. But in order for the daughters to really be looked after, they would need to find good matches. Also it raises the family's own power.
There's only so many titled bachelors going around so a duke would be a prize. Ito too bad they didn't just marry her off to Charles's Grey. He was an Earl and would have been a good match. But then again they didn't know the Duke would be such an ass.
First, Charles Grey was actually 7 years younger than G, so he was only 10 years old when G married Cavendish.
He also didn't become an Earl until after G was dead. At the time of their affair, Charles' father wasn't even an Earl, he was Lt-General Sir Charles Grey and a young Charles' grandfather was a Baronet. So even if they had been of an age to marry in 1774, or if she left the Duke in the 1790s and committed the (at the time) hideous and socially ostracizing sin of divorce to marry Charles, she would have gone from being not just a Duchess but The Duchess of her time to being plain Lady Georgiana, Mistress Grey. Quite a comedown. Her husband's prospects would have been to inherit a baronency eventually while his political ambitions would have hit a complete dead end, never becoming the Prime Minister who helped end slavery in the British Empire once and for all. (She would always have been Lady Georgiana because she was the daughter of an Earl. One is "Lady FirstName" by birth and "Lady LastName" by marriage.)
They could not see into the future. Charles's father was enobled as the 1st Earl Grey on 11 April 1806, 12 days after Georgiana died.
Of course, had she left the Duke and been happy with Charles, she might have taken better care of her health and lived longer. Then again, the scandal might have kept Charles' father from gaining his earldom. Such is the fickle finger of fate.
Charles didn't want her. He had his parliamentary career to think of, and it would have been socially ruinous to live openly with another man's wife. His career would have been over. besides which, Georgiana was a compulsive gambler and ran up massive debs, i don't know that he could have afforded her even if he wanted her.
shareShe lived on the Althorp Estate, which was Princess Diana's ancestral home. They were one of the most distinguished families in Britain, hence Georgiana being Diana's great, great, great, great Aunt. As there's was an Earldom, being a Duke was a great step up from a Lord. Any parents would of wanted their daughter to become a Duchess, thats the way they were and the Duke of Devonshire was of the highest peerage in Britain. Super wealthy, the cream of the crop. Only a prince would of superseded him.
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