Curzon sympathetically presents the life stories of the princesses, but perhaps with too much sympathy and not enough admiration for the overall gumption shown by these women, and amazing inventiveness given the highly public constraints of their life style.

By all means, let us consider possible villainy, but let's cast a wider net when we look for all of the different things Lady Jersey might have been up to.

The phrase “you can’t make this stuff up” was never more relevant.