Summary:
This series is one of the beloved highlights of the historical dramas produced in England in the 1970's. Adapted from the book "The Prince and the Lily" by James Brough, it follows the life of Lillie Langtry from her youth, growing up on the provincial channel island of Jersey, through her meteoric rise in both the artistic and high society circles of Victorian London. While trapped in a loveless marriage, she takes full advantage of her beauty and wits, attracting admirers as diverse as the Prince of Wales and Oscar Wilde.
She even achieves a place unique among paramours of the aristocracy as she is officially recognized as a Royal Consort and is received by Queen Victoria.
Later she embarks upon a career as an actress winning acclaim in Britain and the United States. Throughout her life she attracts a variety of lovers, endures financial ruin and scandal, yet through it all, she continues to bounce back , while maintaining her stength of character and elegance until the end of her life.
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Memorable Quotes
1. Oscar Wilde: The camera, you know, will never capture you. Photography, in my experience, has the miraculous power of transferring wine into water.
2. J. M. Whistler: Nowadays, people are preoccupied with reality. They want to see every leaf on the tree, every hair on the dog's tail. That's not art, that's illustration.
3. Oscar Wilde: Oh, my dear, one day you and I will commit a great folly.
4. Oscar Wilde: "the love that dare not speak its name", in this century, is such a great affection of an elder for a younger man, as there was between David and Jonathan, such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy. It is that deep affection that is as pure as it is perfect. It dictates and pervades great works of art, like those of Shakespeare and Michaelangelo, and those two letters of mine, such as they are. It is in this century misunderstood, and on account of it am I placed where I am now. It is beautiful. It is fine. It is the noblest form of affection. There is nothing unnatural about it. It is intellectual and it repeatedly exists between an elder and a younger man when the elder has intellect and the younger man all the joy, hope, and glamour of life before him. That it should be so the world does not understand. The world mocks at it and puts one in the pillory for it.
5. [Oscar Wilde is carrying a lily.]
Oscar Wilde: I could only afford one bloom, and I told them it...
