July 2021
A scandalous child of the Regency
Posted July 12, 2021
The story is true, even if it sounds as if it's snatched from the supermarket tabloids.
Maria Emilia Fagnani (1771-1856), known to her friends as Mie-Mie, was the daughter of Costanza, wife of Marchese Giacomo Il Fagnani.
While traveling, Costanza and her husband met Henry Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. Costanza began an affair with Pembroke and returned to England with him in 1769. There she met William Douglas, Earl of March, who managed to be both one of the richest men in England and a notorious gambler, and shortly began an affair with him.