The marriage of Caroline of Brunswick to the foppish and unpopular George, Prince of Wales, began disastrously and soon got worse. He was repulsed by her vulgar looks and habits; she was disenchanted by his manners and his immediate call for brandy. They did not speak the same language. Three years later they were locked in enmity. Caroline move to Europe where she lived in flamboyant style, entering into scandalour associations with her dashing Italian butler and generally gaining a reputation for being 'very fond of fucking'. After the death of their only daughter, George determined that when he became King of England his wife would be barred from being crowned as Queen. In an attempt to divorve her, he brought Caroline to trial for adultery.

The trial that followed in 1820 was one of history's most sensational episodes. The event was manipulated by republicans and rabble-rousers of every political shade, and brought the country to the brink of rebellion. Queen Caroline was idolised by the popular press, which raised it's voice in anger for the first time, and was adored by the common people. She became a surprising and unlikely political symbol; a revolutionaly Queen, a people's princess.

Rebel Queen is a vivid and entertaining account of the trial and of Britain in turmoil.

'Poor woman, I shall support her as long as I can, because she is a Woman, and because I hate her Husband.'
Jane Austen

Observations on the trial of Queen Caroline:

'It is ... open war and very dreadful. She really invokes a revolution.'
Fanny Burney

'I wish with all my heart downfall to her enemies.'
Mary Shelley

'In one of the most critical moments that ever occured in this country, we ... have reason to doubt in the fidelity of the troops.'
Duke of Wellington

Jane Robing is a writer and broadcaster, living in London. She has worked as a foreign correspondent for The Economist, reporting from India and South Eash Asia. On returning to Britain, she became a policy adviser at the BBC, and then editor of The Week in Westminster on Radio 4. More recently she was media editor at the Indepentent on Sunday.