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BARBARA CARTLAND

( IMAGE WITH INFO : WIKIPEDIA)

The Queen of Romance, Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, DBE, DStJ, was an  English author who wrote both contemporary and historical romance books. Her books were mostly based on contemporary and historical romance set during Victorian or Edwardian Period.

She was born as Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland on 9 July 1901 at Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. Her parents were British Army Officer, Major James Bertram “Bertie” Falkner Cartland (1876–1918), and his wife, Mary Hamilton Scobell, known as “Polly” (1877–1976). She was the eldest child and the only daughter with two brothers: Major Ronald Cartland, a Member of Parliament, and an Army Major (1907–1940), and James Anthony “Tony” Hamilton Cartland (1912–1940). Her brothers died in the war conflicts in Flanders.

Although she was born into comfortable  upper middle-class surroundings,  the Cartland family’s financial situation  quickly declined soon after she was born. She held her paternal grandfather, James Cartland, responsible for the financial crisis after he committed suicide following the declaration of the bankruptcy.

Her family situation worsened after her father’s death in Berry-au-Bac in World War I. To make ends meet while raising Cartland  and her two brothers, who later  perished in a combat in 1940, her mother started a dry  goods shop in London. Cartland attended private girls’ schools: The Alice Ottley School, Malvern Girls’ College, and Abbey House, an educational institution in Hampshire. She began her career as a successful society reporter in 1922 and was inspired by Edwardian Author, Elinor Glyn, to take up writing.

It’s believed that she turned down 49 suitors before tying the knot with Captain Alexander “Sachie” George McCorquodale, on 23 April 1927 and got divorced in 1933. Barbara claimed that their daughter, Raine McCorquodale, was in fact born to  George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland, or Prince George, Duke of Kent. Their divorce was quite controversial with accusations of infidelity. She got married for the second time to her former husband’s cousin, Hugh McCorquodale, on 28 December 1936. She had two sons from him; Ian McCorquodale (born 11 October 1937), a former Debretts publisher, and Glen McCorquodale (born 1939), a stockbroker. Hugh McCorquodale died in 1963.

Cartland published 25 million books in France, earning her the Médaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris, the highest honour bestowed by the city of Paris, in January 1988.Cartland was awarded the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in recognition of her over 70 years of achievements to literature, politics, and society.According to her son Ian, Cartland was not happy with the wax replica of herself that was on exhibit at Madame Tussauds because it was not “beautiful enough.”

She passed away on 21 May 2000 (aged 98) at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, leaving behind her fabulous books, many of whom were adapted into movies and TV series like A Hazard of Hearts, A Ghost in Monte Carlo and Duel of Hearts. She has written over 723 novels and made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most published books in a year (1977).

Her most popular books.

Historical Romance

The Hidden Heart 1946

The Kiss of the Devil 1949

The Knave of Hearts 1950 also known as The Innocent Heiress

The Little Pretender 1950

A Ghost in Monte Carlo 1951

Love is an Eagle 1951

Cupid Rides Pillion1952

Love is the Enemy 1952

Elizabethan Lover 1953

Love Me for Ever 1953

Desire of the Heart 1954

The Enchanted Waltz 1955

The Coin of Love 1956

The Captive Heart 1956

Stars in My Heart 1957

As Barbara McCorquodale

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