Courtiers is Lucy Worsley’s study of the courts of George I and George II and their time at Kensington Palace. She explains how Queen Anne, the last of the Stuarts, failed to produce any children; therefore, the Act of Settlement in 1701 proclaimed the Protestant House of Hanover would be Anne’s successor. However, this law was also designed to further restrict the powers of the king. It prevented him from awarding peerages to his fellow Germans; he could not declare war or leave the country without the consent of Parliament and could not change his religion.

Worsley does a good job reminding the reader that the Hanoverians were German, and when George I arrived in London, he brought with him many German courtiers. The drawing room at Kensington Palace was his idea of hell. Prince George Augustus and Princess Caroline merely added to this annoyance by praising the English. The christening of George and Caroline’s son saw the dispute between father and son reach its climax, with the royal couple being expelled from St. James’s palace and George I insisting their children remain with him. He also declared that no courtier could serve both households and that they had to choose.

Together with disputes within the royal family, this book looks at the role courtiers play in the changing Georgian society. Peter Wentworth was an equerry, and it was his job to accompany the King. His older brother was the Earl of Stafford and ambassador to Berlin. Peter had hoped for a high office, but by the 1730s his career had stalled. On the death of George I, Peter found himself looking for a new position and remained within the household as equerry to Queen Caroline, a woman not universally liked outside of her household.

Worsley points to the complicated nature of George II’s household and his mistress, Henrietta Howard. George would have let her go, but she was a valuable asset to the Queen, and she wanted her to stay. Court life was taking both a toll on her health and happiness, as the daily struggle for survival meant she was becoming a slave to deception. Henrietta and Charles Howard were genteel paupers, and their shortage of money was made worse by the need to hide it. Double standards were in place regarding sexual activity, and legal opinion regarded Henrietta as property, and for another man to sleep with her was a violation. Charles had become a burden to her, taking her money and putting her in physical danger from his alcohol-fueled violence. Lady Wortley Montagu exposed the unfairness of an unfaithful wife being condemned while a husband's adultery was overlooked. After her husband’s death and Henrietta’s release from court, she married the member of parliament George Berkeley in 1735, confirming suspicions that a relationship had started long before she had left the palace.

George II had spent years wrangling with his father, and it seemed history was repeating itself with his son. Robert Walpole voiced the opinion that the family feud could divide the nation. Prince Frederick as a child was deserted and disliked by his parents. He married Princess Augusta in 1736, and as the princess began to learn English, she became one of the more popular members of the royal family.

When Queen Caroline died, George II was in deep shock and unable to speak of her without weeping. Amalie Wendt (von Wallmoden) was one of George II’s mistresses but did not come to England until 1738, after the Queen’s death, as Caroline did not want her in the palace. Her rival mistress was Mary (Howard), countess of Deloraine, who was English and unscrupulous. She had been a royal governess and was disliked by the princesses. Courtiers treated her with both familiarity and contempt; unlike Henrietta, she was considered dangerous. She also made an enemy of John Hervey, a member of the court who was instrumental in corrupting her reputation. However, she would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. By 1737, it was known she had become the king’s mistress. As a mistress, she hoped to win influence over people and events.

Prince Frederick, unlike the king, overcame his own difficult upbringing and was a wonderful father, bringing his children up at Leicester House with all the freedom of a private life. However, in 1751 he died of a blood clot in the lungs, which stopped his breathing, leaving his son next in line. When contrasting the monarchs, Worsley states the reclusive habits of George I had brought bad publicity, but George II did not suffer in this way as ideas of the monarchy were changing. More emphasis was now on respectability and economy rather than ceremony and show. Frederick’s son, George III, rejected everything his grandfather stood for, and his own reign would be a reaction against the splendor, warped morals, and German focus of the early Georgian court.

The first two Georges were successful in smoothing over the religious and social cracks in the realm they had inherited. Worsley references Horace Walpole and John Hervey’s accounts as doing more to shape perceptions of George II and his court. When George III ascended the throne, there were some changes. Where the previous monarch had been promiscuous, George III was faithful to his wife.

In common with other books written by this author, this work is well referenced and crammed with detail, not just about the royal family but the courtiers who surrounded them. Stopping with George II and not continuing to George III seems a little odd, but the author seems to suggest George II had been neglected by history compared to his grandson.