The Marriage Market

By the nineteenth century, arranged marriages were no longer acceptable. So parents could not directly choose who their children married. The aristocracy did a wonderful job of tracking their children's social engagements. These records are preserved in the british national archives. In this archive with is massif dusty book with a list of all the nineteenth century fivol invited to royal parti. Which was great fun. Because at the centre of this social scene was one key figure. It is only the queen's eye that matters to day.