The name of Lady Hamilton and her story are known to quite a few, but historians still cannot vouch for the reliability of the information. Her life has always been surrounded by legends and rumors.
Biography
Lady Hamilton's story can be compared to the story of Cinderella. The girl has always inspired artists, writers and ordinary people. Therefore, everyone who painted her portrait or tried to tell her story, embellished reality a little.
Information about the girl's childhood is rather contradictory. According to some reports, Emmy Lyon, as Lady Hamilton was named at birth, was born into a poor family in Chester (Cheshire, England) in 1765. Her father was a blacksmith and died quite early, so as a child, Emmy was raised mainly by her grandparents. The girl's mother was forced to sell coal in order to have at least some kind of livelihood.
At the age of fourteen, Amy went into the service of a family in London. The girl has always been distinguished by her sweetness, and it is this quality that she used to get settled in life. By 1782, scandalous fame followed the girl everywhere: she was noted as the mistress of several men and a participant in the Scottish charlatan show, where some women performed naked.
At sixteen, Amy Lyon realized that she was pregnant. After giving birth, she gave her child to her grandmother, she changed her name and became Emma Hart. Having become the concubine of the English young aristocrat Charles Greville, she was once introduced to Sir William Hamilton. Some historians claim that it was a young man who taught her some of the compulsory disciplines for ladies of high society: singing, drawing, literature and writing. Her education was versatile, although incomplete.
However, Charles was all in debt, so on occasion his uncle W. Hamilton persuaded him to give him the girl. In return, he received financial freedom. Emma did not know anything about the agreement between the two men until a certain moment.
Emma's personal life with Lord Hamilton
This distinguished Londoner represented Britain in the Kingdom of Naples. Since 1786, Emma Hart lived in the home of the 56-year-old ambassador in Naples, and in 1791 they got married. This act caused outrage among the English aristocrats. The bride at the time of the celebration was 26 years old, the groom - 60.
As the wife of the ambassador, Emma became famous for her attitudes - this is how she called the performances where they showed "living pictures". Famous works of art were usually chosen for performances.
This activity made Emma truly famous. Great artists not only admired attitudes, but also painted new pictures from them. Among the admirers of Emma's talent were Goethe, Kaufman, Romney. Modern historians and art historians compare Lady Hamilton with Marilyn Monroe.
In Naples, Emma was introduced to the court and became friends with Queen Maria-Caroline. The women became companions, saw each other every day, and if the meeting was postponed, they wrote letters.
Lady Hamilton's last lover was Admiral Horatio Nelson, who arrived in Naples to protect the kingdom from the French. It was a very troubling time - there was a revolution in France and the royal family was executed. The European powers were horrified by what had happened.
It was on Nelson's talents as a military man that Neapolitan high society counted. He was received at court and in the homes of the nobility, including Hamilton. Nelson himself was married, but unhappily. He did not hide his connection with Emma. Hamilton looked at his wife's entertainment condescendingly - the admiral was a significant figure.
The Hamiltons and Nelson formed a kind of "triple alliance" - they lived in one big house and they met every day. Emma, on the other hand, began to take an active part in political events. With her help, messages were transmitted from the British to the Queen of Naples.
The connection between Nelson and Emma even brought the last award from the Russian Emperor Paul I - she received the Maltese Order Cross. A rare award for women went to her thanks to the patronage of her lover.
Nelson and Emma had a daughter in 1801. The admiral bought an estate in England, where the "tripartite alliance" and settled, causing a wave of gossip and condemnation among the English nobility.
Hamilton died in 1803. He almost completely left his fortune to his nephew, Emma received only a pension of 1200 pounds a year. In those days, this was a solid amount, given that the woman remained in Nelson's care.
Nelson and Emma were finally able to legitimize the birth of their daughter - she received the name Horace Nelson-Thompson. But their family happiness was short-lived. Nelson took command of the fleet in the war with France. Battles at sea in those days were equally dangerous both for ordinary sailors and for commanding ranks. Nelson knew all this very well, but did not consider it necessary to legally formalize the position of Emma in the event of his death. He entrusted the care of his wife to his king.
Admiral Nelson was killed in the battle for England. He fulfilled his duty to the country, and Emma and her daughter were left without funds. Society turned its back on a lady with a scandalous reputation. Quickly enough, Emma found herself in debt, spent nine months in a debt prison. She later managed to escape to France.
In January 1815, Lady Hamilton passed away. Her daughter returned to England dressed as a boy and secretly lived with Nelson's relatives until she was married.
The image of Lady Hamilton in art
Such a bright nature could not leave indifferent writers, artists and composers. Her life has been described in various forms of art.
- A. Dumas "Confession of a Favorite" and others;
- G. Schumacher. Lord Nelson's Last Love;
- the novels of M. Aldanov;
- play by T. Rattigan "He bequeathed her to the nation."
- E. Künnecke's operetta Lady Hamilton;
- musical by I. Dolgova "Lady Hamilton".
- the silent film "Lady Hamilton" by R. Oswald;
- A. Korda's historical melodrama "Lady Hamilton";
- Lady Hamilton: The Path to the Upper World;
- "Ships storm the bastions."
