Emma Hamilton: Admiral Nelson's Fair Lady. Love Stories: Lady Hamilton and Her Admiral Lady Hamilton and Nelson Biography

Precious stones themselves do not give light, but a ray of the sun accidentally fell on them makes them play with all the colors of the rainbow. There is some secret in precious stones, some hidden rays of their own. The cobblestone will not shine, even if a whole stream of sunlight has spilled on it.

A jewel with its own mystery and its own rays was Lady Hamilton. She came out of the darkness, sparkled while the sun shone over her, and with its setting she again plunged into darkness. She did not create her own happiness or her misfortunes. All her life she followed the counselor. Greville, Hamilton, Nelson ... When the last one was gone, Lady Hamilton also left the stage.

Information about Lady Hamilton's childhood is very unclear and reliable. It is more or less established that she was born in one of the outlying counties of England, in a small village.

Her father was the nobleman Henry Lyon. Henry Lyon did not have tender feelings for his daughter, and soon after her birth he left her with her mother. He did not even recognize Emma (the future Lady Hamilton) as his daughter, which is why she never bore his last name.

Mother and daughter were united by the most tender love, and throughout her life, Emma almost never, except in cases of emergency, was not separated from her mother.

Abandoned by her father, Emma remained in the arms of her mother, a simple peasant by birth, but efficient and firm, whose clear mind was never overshadowed by failures, not blinded by her daughter's brilliant career.

Once alone with the child, Mary Lyon settled near her parents in Howarden and began to live by day work. When Emma was six years old, she began to accustom her to work. At first, Emma carried small bags of coal through the streets of Howarden on a donkey and herded sheep, and at the age of 10 she became a nanny.

Emma's owner, Mistress Thomas, became attached to little Emma and tried her best to develop her mind and abilities. To her chagrin, Mistress Thomas soon noticed that this task, if not impossible, then very difficult. Emma had neither ability nor diligence. Her favorite pastime was running around the fields with her peers.

Despite her noisy, obstinate and lazy nature, Mistress Thomas loved her very much. When Mary Lyon found her daughter a better position in. London and decided to send her there, Mistress Thomas and Emma were very upset by the separation, and for a long time there was a most tender correspondence between them.

In London, Emma quickly loses her job as a nanny and remains on the street, left to herself in search of a piece of bread. Chasing a job, she changes many occupations, but each time unsuccessfully, and more and more despair seizes her. Finally, she gets a job as a saleswoman in a jewelry store. Among the customers of this store was a certain Arabella Kelly, a lady of dubious reputation. Arabella took notice of the pretty Emma, ​​and the latter soon became her companion. Here she meets her countryman, a sailor from Howarden. He falls into one bad story, and she turns to his boss, who can help him out. He agrees, but at the cost of her innocence. After some hesitation, Emma agrees. It was her first connection.

Soon she felt pregnant. Long before the birth of the child, her lover left her. In her last despair, Emma turns to her mother. She comes and takes away from Emma her daughter, named after her mother, also Emma.

No matter how sad this event was, but thanks to him, Emma realized that she was beautiful.

Soon after her illness, she takes part in the sessions of Dr. Graham.

Dr. Graham was a charlatan magnetizer, then in great fashion in London. He was very educated and studied magnetism in Paris with Mesmer. Returning to London, he gave fascinating lectures on eternal youth, sold talismans and medicines. Emma posed for him under the guise of Hebe-Vestina, the goddess of beauty and health. Lying naked on the so-called "heavenly bed", she was supposed to reawaken the exhausted love energy in the audience. Here her vanity could be fully satisfied. All London society bowed before the beauty of her body. Here the artists Reinold and Gainsborough first saw and appreciated her, and Romney was forever captivated by her beauty.

From here she goes, as a model, to Romney's workshop, where he paints Circe from her and admires her mimic talent. Inspired by him, she thinks of going on stage. But Sheridan, after listening to her recitation, says that she is not fit for the stage.

From the workshop of Romney, she goes to the maintenance of the baronet Sir Harry Featherston, lives with him for 6 months the life of a first-class lady of the demi-monde, spending crazy money on pleasures and outfits, and abandoned by him returns to Howarden.

She was in London for only 2 years. She left Howarden an inexperienced child, and returned there a woman who had experienced a lot and had seen a lot. In a small place like Howarden, Emma's arrival was an event that everyone everywhere was talking about. Even earlier, her child, brought by her mother, was the subject of talk. Now she herself, with a few of her outfits that survived, was met with universal condemnation. Everywhere she was made aware of the ambiguity of her position, and the doors of the virtuous people of Howarden were closed to her. In desperation, she writes 7 letters, one after the other, to Sir Harry, but there is no answer. Then she addresses an imploring letter to Sir Carl Greville, whom she met in recent times his stay in London. Greville had already helped her once, by giving her some money for the journey to Howarden, and she hoped that he would help her there too. Greville liked her, but, as a reasonable man, he was afraid to show his feelings and thus bind himself in advance. In response to her pleas for help, he writes to her coldly and judiciously. He calls her to London under the condition that she renounce all her former acquaintances and leave the child in Howarden, and allows her to maintain relations only with her mother.

Greville needed a submissive and modest mistress, who did not require large expenses, which he did not want and could not do.

After receiving Greville's letter, Emma moves to London without delay. Here Greville once again conducts a dry conversation with her about his conditions. Emma at that moment saw in Greville her only hope and salvation. She not only agreed to all his conditions, but was also grateful for them.

Now Emma settles on the outskirts of the city, in a modest house, which Greville, a fine connoisseur of art, however, managed to arrange with great taste. Emma had to live here quietly and alone, learning spelling, literature, singing and music. Her mother Mrs. Kidd, as she called herself now, took Greville in charge of the household. Emma was nowhere, and apart from a few of Greville's acquaintances, grave and stiff gentlemen, no one appeared in her little house.

Despite this, for her modest but calm life, Emma felt infinite gratitude to Greville. It seemed that nothing could disturb the serenity and silence that surrounded Emma. She never made an attempt to get out of obedience, and her rebellious soul, apparently, was forever pacified. Only once, when Greville took her out to a grand celebration, Emma, ​​finding herself in the midst of noise, music, brilliance and illumination, was infected by the general mood and suddenly, jumping up on a chair, began to sing in her pleasant ringing voice.

The crowd at first protested against such a sudden performance, then, subdued by her amazing appearance, burst into a storm of applause. Emma, ​​intoxicated with success, sang louder and more beautifully. This joy almost cost her a break with Greville, outraged by her antics, and Emma had to shed many tears in order to beg his forgiveness.

After that, she again became unassuming and submissive. Her only amusement was visiting Romney's workshop twice a week. The artist was still faithful to her, she was still his favorite model, and he painted her endlessly. Twenty-four completed portraits and an infinite number of sketches, sketches... Nothing has ever marred their good relationship. She was his "inspiration", as he called her, she called him her "father". She was taken to the workshop and back by a carriage, she rarely appeared on the street alone, and in most cases she was accompanied by her mother.

Greville's uncle, the English envoy in Naples, Lord Hamilton, returned to London. He was an athlete, a cheerful and intelligent interlocutor, a dancer, a singer, a violinist and an archaeologist.

Appearing at Greville and meeting Emma, ​​Hamilton was struck by her beauty and after a while decided, with Greville's permission, to give her some information on art. He soon became engrossed in his role as a teacher; lessons become more and more frequent, and the house on Edgware Roo becomes his favorite haunt.

As for Greville, he was very pleased with the attention his uncle showed Emma. In this he foresaw a convenient way out. Greville's money, despite an economical lifestyle, was coming to an end, and he was already thinking how easy it would be for him to part with Emma and improve his affairs with a profitable marriage. How Emma would react to this, he did not care at all.

First, Greville convinces Emma to leave London for the summer. Emma, ​​unaware that this is the end, travels with her mother to Chester. On the way, she stops at Howarden and takes her daughter with her from there.

From Chester, she writes letters to Greville full of love, humility and tenderness.

“With what impatience I sit down to write, waiting for the postman. I'll probably get a letter today. Could you, my dear Greville - no, it's impossible to forget your poor Emma already ... I constantly think about you and reach the point that I think I hear and see you. Think, Greville, what a self-deception it is when I am so abandoned and there is no news of you ... Have you forgotten, as you told me when you left, that you would be so happy to see me again ... Oh, Greville, think of the number of days weeks and years that we may still have. One line from you will make me happy..."

Uncle and nephew acted in concert, hiding the truth from Emma. Barely returning to Greville, Emma receives an invitation from Lord Hamilton to come and visit him in Naples. Anticipating some new events unknown to her, Emma hesitates to accept this flattering invitation, but at the insistence of Greville, she accepts.

Emma arrives in Naples with her mother. Lord Hamilton received and treated them with as much attention as if they were ladies from the highest English aristocracy.

“You cannot imagine,” writes Emma Greville, “how kind Sir William is to me. He does his best to make me happy. He never dine out. In truth, since my arrival, he leaves me no more often than my shadow. He has breakfast, lunch and dinner with me, he always sits next to me, looking at me, I can’t move my arm, side, or leg so that he doesn’t immediately notice how graceful and beautiful, in his opinion, my movements. Really, I'm angry that I can't make him happy. I can only be polite and kind. And really, I'm as nice to him as I can be. But I am yours, Greville. To you alone can I belong, and no one will take your place in my heart.

Greville saw from Emma's letters that if he did not act decisively, Emma would reappear in London. And since it was him in the highest degree undesirable, he writes her a letter, where, with extraordinary cynicism, he advises her to become Lord Hamilton's mistress, and for his part offers her friendship and companionship.

Emma, ​​who loved him, was deeply outraged by this cynical advice. Her answer is full of indignation, but at the same time this is the last desperate attempt to win back Greville.

“... It is you who advise me... Nothing can express my despair. I'm just going crazy. You, Greville, give me such advice. You who used to be jealous of me for one smile. With what cold indifference you advise me to go to ... Sir William. Oh, this is the worst. If I were near you, I would kill you and myself ... "

And at the end of that letter, in a postscript, she writes:

“...You don't know my power here. Only I will never become a mistress. If you take me to extremes, I will marry him to myself.

True, Greville smiled as he read this threat. But Emma at this time was no longer the former timid and submissive mistress, whom he closed in the narrow framework of philistine life. Ambitious dreams were already swarming in her soul.

And now, having survived many minutes of despair and offended pride, having thought over all the ways of revenge, Emma decides to fulfill her last threat - to marry Lord Hamilton. Since the autumn of 1786, she left her apartment and, to the great joy of Lord Hamilton, settled in the embassy palace. Here at that time Goethe saw her and admired her.

“Lord Hamilton, who is still here as an English envoy, after a long study of art and many years of observation of nature, found the perfect combination of nature and art in a beautiful young girl. He took her to him. She is an Englishwoman in her twenties. She is very beautiful and very well built. He made her a Greek costume that suits her amazingly. With her hair down, taking two shawls, she changes her postures, gestures, expressions so much that in the end you think that this is just a dream. What thousands of artists would be happy to achieve - here you see embodied in movement, with an exciting variety. On her knees, standing, sitting, lying, serious, sad, playful, enthusiastic, penitent, captivating, threatening, anxious ... One expression follows another and follows from it. She knows how to give the folds of the dress for each movement and change them, make a hundred different headdresses from the same fabric. This is how Goethe described Emma.

The Comtesse de Boigne, in her memoirs, says of her:

“Others tried to imitate the talent of this woman; I don't think they succeeded. This is a thing in which there is only one step to the ridiculous. In addition, in order to have her success, you must first of all be flawlessly beautiful from head to toe, and you rarely meet such people.

Less than a year later, Emma was finally accepted in Neapolitan society. She carries herself so skillfully and tactfully that the king of Neapolitan says: "The Neapolitan ladies would do well if they took an example from her."

Soon Emma's threat became a fact. On September 6, 1791, she is married in London to Lord Hamilton. On the day of the wedding, she stopped by Romney's workshop for the last time. During this visit, he sketched her portrait, which he later called "The Messenger". Emma sadly left her old friend. For Romney, the separation was even more difficult, the one with which his art was so closely connected left him forever. With the departure of Emma, ​​the last ray of the sun, which illuminated his old age, leaves the life of Romney.

How dear Emma was to Romney can be seen from his letter to a friend:

“Kasandra (Emma) returned to town on the 16th, but I only saw her on the 20th. You imagine what I have suffered. She decided to pose on the 23rd and since then she has posed all the days ... When she appeared in my studio, she seemed to me more tender than the last time ... Now it seems to me that she is more cordial to me than ever . She regrets leaving England without seeing you. I am extremely grateful to you for your sympathy. Indeed, my soul suffered so much that it was reflected in my health, and I was afraid that I would not be able to write more from her, but since she is still kind to me, I have completely recovered both in body and spirit ... » On September 6, Emma saw Romney for the last time. They never met again.

The day after the wedding, Lord and Lady Hamilton left for Naples. On the way they stopped in Paris, thinking of staying there for a while. But the impending thunderstorm of the revolution forced them to leave it soon. However, they managed to get into the palace, and Marie Antoinette, who was already under strict supervision, secretly hands Emma a letter to her sister, the Neapolitan Queen Maria Carolina. For Emma, ​​this letter was a big joy. It opened the doors of the Naples Palace for her.

Upon arrival in Naples, she hands a letter to Maria Carolina, and from that day their friendship begins.

In this happy time of her life, Emma is true to her past. Her mother is inseparable from her, and she writes tender letters to Greville and Romney.

“Indeed,” she writes to Greville, “if we stay here, it’s only because I promised the queen not to leave her until her departure.” And then she says, “I spent the evening with the queen alone, laughing, singing, etc. But during the reception, I kept my place and showed the queen such respect as if I were seeing her for the first time. She liked it very much. ” At the end, Emma talks about her personal life “You can’t imagine how happy dear Sir William is. Right, you you can’t understand our happiness, it is indescribable, we are not separated for an hour all day We live like lovers, and not like husband and wife, especially if you think about how modern spouses treat each other .. "

During this period of Lady Hamilton's life, Horatio Nelson appears on her horizon, small man with clear, open eyes and an authoritative, all-conquering voice Two passions owned this man - hatred for France and boundless love for his homeland.

From the first appearance of Nelson in Naples, friendly relations were established between Emma and him, they were united by a patriotic feeling.

Emma at that time was no longer only a friend of Mary Carolina, she was an attorney for all her affairs and her closest confidante. From the very beginning of the French Revolution, English influence was very strong in the Neapolitan palace. When the formidable shadow of Bonaparte appeared on the horizon, Naples could only expect salvation from him from England.

And Emma became the mediator between Naples and England. At first she seemed to be afraid of this, but soon, encouraged by Queen Maria Carolina, she brilliantly entered her role. She transmits secret letters, writes them together with the queen.

“I did not have time to write to you, as we have been writing important letters for three days and three nights, which we sent today by courier to our government,” she writes to Greville. England sent Horatio Nelson to defend Naples from Bonaparte.

Since that time, the fate of Emma is forever intertwined with the fate of Nelson. Prior to this meeting, Emma had no free choice. Necessity made her go to Greville, ambition to Lord Hamilton, to Horatio Nelson - love. On Nelson's part, this was also a real, great feeling.

The victory at Abukir, and the whole of Naples comes to life, from complete despondency, he passes to the most stormy joy. All admiration belongs to Nelson, and Naples greets him as a triumphant. Emma's heart must have beaten strongly when she saw him surrounded by such a halo of glory.

The last campaign undermined Nelson's health, and he gladly accepts Lady Hamilton's invitation to go to Castel Mare for a holiday.

“I live in their house, and only the meticulous care with which I am surrounded could restore my sad health,” Nelson writes to his wife.

Some time later, Nelson was assigned to occupy Malta. But the victory this time was not his, and he returned to Italy, where the French threatened Naples. The Royal Family had to flee, and Naples was occupied by French troops. The Hamiltons and Nelson worked out an escape plan to the smallest detail. Events followed one after another with extraordinary rapidity. Emma - a poor nanny twenty years ago - holds the fate of the royal family in her hands, and it is only her energy, her determination that she owes her salvation. With the general panic, Lady Hamilton alone maintains her presence of mind and encourages others. Soon Nelson took advantage of the favorable moment, and Naples again passes into the power of the British.

The royal family could return to Naples, but they were afraid of this, and the Hamiltons and the crown prince return to Naples. It seemed that all royal power was now in the hands not of Mary Carolina, but of Emma Hamilton.

There is a lively correspondence between her and Maria Carolina, in which the latter dictates her orders, explicit and intimate, and Emma exactly fulfills them. In her letters, Emma gives the queen an exact answer about all the events in Naples.

But Emma's extensive correspondence with the Queen does not absorb all of Emma's time. On behalf of the queen, she frees the prisoners, distributes money to those in need. In October 1799, the English fleet leaves for Palermo and Lady Hamilton with him. Maria Carolina is waiting for her here. Nelson is again greeted as a triumphant, and Emma shares the glory with him. Maria Carolina showers her with gifts.

Frequent cruising forced Nelson to leave Naples more than once. In his absence, he transfers his power to Emma. On one of these occasions she received a deputation from the island of Malta. She found a way to satisfy their request, for which she was given a rare honor for a woman. The Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Russian Emperor Paul I sent her a Maltese cross along with a handwritten letter.

An unexpected unpleasant event changed Emma's happy life. Lord Hamilton was called to London, and another was appointed to the post of envoy in Naples. It was hard for Emma to leave the country where she saw herself at the pinnacle of fame, and go to London, the same London that did not accept her in all the splendor of her twenty-year-old beauty. What could she expect from him now, at the end of her youth. Meanwhile, Nelson could no longer completely live without her. Referring to poor health, he temporarily refuses active service and follows it.

Maria Caroline accompanied them to Vienna.

Already in Vienna, Emma, ​​intoxicated by her success and accustomed to worship, had to face a strict and even unfriendly attitude. In London, she was received coldly.

In 1801, Lady Hamilton had a daughter, Horace. Her birth was shrouded in mystery, and she was introduced to Lord Hamilton as an orphan whom Emma would like to adopt. The fact that this is the daughter of Emma and Nelson, Lord Hamilton never found out.

It was strange in general the behavior of Lord Hamilton in this whole romantic story. A smart and insightful man, he could not help but see what everyone saw. But all the time, until his death, he was a tender friend of Nelson, and his attitude towards Emma was the same as before. Gaina of his behavior and went with him to the grave.

All documents relating to the child were destroyed, and only thanks to Nelson's letters to Emma, ​​which the latter did not dare to destroy, do we know who Horace's parents were.

“You know, my dear Emma, ​​that I would give anything in the world to be with you and our dear little daughter,” Nelson writes to Emma.

Horatia herself did not know who her mother was. She only knew that she was Nelson's daughter and "of too high a position to reveal her name." So Emma told her, and she could learn nothing more for the rest of her life.

Less than a month after the birth of her daughter, Emma was forced to start a secular life. Lord Hamilton considered it his duty to have his own salon. Emma's salon was a success. Even the Prince of Wales expressed a desire to dine with them and listen to Lady Hamilton sing. But this news aroused Nelson's discontent and jealousy, and Emma deftly avoided this opportunity, not wanting to upset her lover. Of course, the triumph that once surrounded Emma was gone, and the years took their toll. Strongly replenished, Emma has already lost her former impeccable beauty. Yet she was still beautiful enough to captivate, and her turbulent past surrounded her with an aura of intense interest.

At the end of 1801, Nelson instructs Emma to buy an estate for him to live there with her. Emma happily fulfills this assignment and buys the Merton estate in the vicinity of London. Everything you need is here. Not very large, but well-appointed, and for Lord Hamilton, whose favorite sport used to be fishing, a river full of fish.

In Merton, Emma experienced the happiest years of her love for Nelson. Her husband and Nelson were on the best of terms. After settling in Merton, they seemed to wish and thought it was forever. But Emma soon got bored with the noisy social life. One after another, guests began to appear in Merton, Nelson's relatives and friends, the son of Maria Carolina Luitpold and others.

In early July 1802, Nelson and the Hamiltons take a short trip. This time they were not three of them, as they were traveling from Italy, and were generally everywhere, but four of them. The fourth is Greville. Emma seemed interested in defying public opinion, carrying her husband and two lovers with her.

In April 1803, Lord Hamilton dies in the arms of Emma and Nelson, who did not leave his head. The loss of a loved one, to whom alone, in essence, she owed her position, was aggravated even more by the fact that the state of Lord Hamilton passed to Greville, and to her only things and a small lump sum. Probably, Lord Hamilton would have left her more, but he hoped until the last minute that the government would give him, and then her, the pension he had been asking for a long time.

Two weeks after the funeral, Greville asked Emma to clean up their hotel in London and look for another apartment. In general, here it finally manifested itself in its present form. Emma's former lover, he behaved like her worst enemy. Outraged by his behavior, Nelson gifts Emma Merton and gives her a monthly annuity. For anyone else, what Emma had would have been quite sufficient, but for the spoiled life of Emma, ​​this is almost a need. All her numerous requests addressed to the government and her former friends for the issuance of her pension after Lord Hamilton, lead to nothing on October 21, 1805, the memorable day of Trafalgar. Before the battle, Nelson adds a paragraph to his will, in which he addresses the government: “The only favor I ask from my Sovereign and from my homeland, he writes, is concern for the fate of Lady Hamilton and little Horace.”

This fight was the last for Nelson. England was saved, but Nelson was killed.

For Emma, ​​this was the end. After Nelson's death, his wife and relatives were generously supported by the government. But Emma and Horace, about whom Nelson only asked his homeland, were completely forgotten. Emma seemed to want to be completely erased from Nelson's life, like a stain on blessed memory hero.

With the death of Nelson, Emma's life turned into a continuous ordeal. Under Nelson, there were hopes, there was life, now it was poverty, already real, and the complete contempt of others.

In 1811, her mother dies, who was always with her and managed to earn the respect of everyone who ever surrounded Emma.

Emma goes to jail for debt. Freed from there, she soon sees herself in danger of being re-arrested for new defaults and flees from her creditors to France. But even here there is no light. Ten years since Nelson's death, Lady Hamilton is still trying to overcome her fate, and, only having lived through them, she sees that her efforts are useless. She ended just as she began, in complete poverty. In January 1815, she fell ill with bronchitis, which turned into pneumonia.

Lady Hamilton was dying in a cold room with bare walls. Two portraits hung over the bed - her mother and Nelson, next to her sobbed Horace

On January 15, in the evening, Emma died. She was buried at the expense of her maternal relative, Henry Kadagan, a man with whom she never had anything in common during her lifetime.

Great love stories. 100 stories about great feeling Mudrova Irina Anatolyevna

Nelson and Hamilton

Nelson and Hamilton

Horatio Nelson was born in 1758. He was a naval commander, vice admiral during the Napoleonic wars. A brave admiral, adored by soldiers and sailors, Horatio Nelson is still a symbol of the British Navy.

At the age of twenty, he already commanded an English frigate and was appointed to the post of captain in the Royal Navy. From 1787 Nelson was married. When the Anglo-French war began, Admiral Nelson became a national hero of England, and a year later, in battles with the French in 1794, he lost his right eye. In July 1797, Nelson lost his right arm. Crippled but happy, he returned after another victory over the French fleet.

The admiral's ship arrived in Naples. In Naples, where Nelson was sent to help the Kingdom of Naples in the fight against France, he began an affair with the wife of the English ambassador, Lady Emma Hamilton, which lasted until the death of the admiral.

Emma was born April 26, 1765 in Cheshire in the family of a poor blacksmith. In addition to her, the parents had several more children, and as soon as they grew up, the father tried to get them some kind of job. The same fate did not spare Emma. A young, beautiful girl was attached to the house of rich people to work as a servant. And a few years later, when the girl was barely seventeen, she ended up in the house of a wealthy unmarried aristocrat Charles Greville. A refined, educated and handsome bachelor awakened in Emma the first feeling. They became lovers.

The poor girl hoped that Greville would marry her, but he did not allow the thought of such a union. Greville was looking for an opportunity to get rid of her, and he presented himself very soon.

In 1784, Charles's uncle, Lord William Hamilton, visited the lovers. A 50-year-old widower, William was a man of refinement, superbly educated and good-natured. The Lord was fond of the art of ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, loved to travel with archaeological expeditions and was professionally engaged in the study of volcanoes. He seemed very interesting to Emma, ​​and, greedy for knowledge, she listened to his stories for hours. Fascinated by the charms of the girl, without hesitation, the lord agreed to become her patron. Lord Hamilton was the English envoy to Naples.

Soon Emma and Lord Hamilton got married. The bride was twenty-six years old, her fiance was sixty-one. During her seven years in Italy, Emma learned Italian, took up music, singing, and mastered secular manners. Always open and sincere, Lady Hamilton quickly won the sympathy of others. And even the Neapolitan queen Maria Carolina became a close friend of the wife of the English ambassador.

Emma was very beautiful. Contemporaries noted that, quite tall and plump, the lady was nonetheless delightful: all her gestures, mannerisms and smile attracted the eyes of not only men fascinated by her, but also envious women. She was smart, open, extremely honest and decisive.

In 1798, England sent Horatio Nelson to defend Naples from Bonaparte. Since that time, the fate of Emma is forever intertwined with the fate of Nelson. Prior to this meeting, Emma had no free choice. Necessity made her go to Greville, ambition to Lord Hamilton, to Horatio Nelson - love. On Nelson's part, this was also a real, great feeling.

Rumors of a passionate romance between the admiral and the wife of the English ambassador reached London. Nelson's wife immediately wished to come to Naples, but her husband categorically refused her. The people around did not approve of the admiral's love affair, in the navy they completely ridiculed the position of their boss. Once decisive, principled and strong, Nelson could not leave his mistress. At that moment, neither career, nor reputation, nor close people were important to him. His thoughts were occupied with only one woman, "the only wife before God," "precious Emma."

In the early summer of 1800, Nelson and the Hamilton couple returned to England. Burning with passion, Nelson wrote to his beloved: “Continue to love me as passionately as I love you, and we will the happiest couple in the world".

In 1801, Horatio Nelson left his wife, although he could not get an official divorce. From that time on, he no longer wanted to hide his cordial attachment to Emma Hamilton and often spent all his free time with her in a country house bought for this purpose.

Lord Hamilton forgave his wife for adultery and tried to ignore his wife's unambiguous relationship with the admiral. By that time, Emma had a daughter from Nelson, who was named after her father Horace. High society did not want to put up with the admiral's mistress. Nelson was welcomed everywhere with open arms, for Emma the doors of the palaces were closed. The queen was especially zealous, forbidding Lady Hamilton to be received at court. Sir William died in 1803. After his death, Emma Hamilton settled with Nelson in a small house in Wimbledon, south London.

Soon Nelson again went to sea - to defend England. Preparing for the famous Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson wrote to his beloved: “My dearest, most beloved Emma, ​​my dear intimate friend ... May the god of war crown all my efforts with luck! In any case, I will do my best to make my name worthy of you and Horace, those whom I love more than my life ... ".

At the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, Nelson was mortally wounded. According to the famous words of Winston Churchill, in the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson shielded England from the Napoleonic invasion.

The admiral is dead. He was forty-seven years old. The last thing he managed to say before his death were the words: "I will bequeath Lady Hamilton and my daughter Horace to my homeland."

Nelson was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, and the central square of London was named after him. last battle- Trafalgar.

The last will of the national hero was not fulfilled. Greville's former lover, without a shadow of regret, kicked Emma out of the London house. The Queen refused the pension bequeathed to her by Hamilton. The woman began to slide more and more. She even sold the bloodied uniform of the hero Trafalgar and the silver medallion Nelson had given to her daughter. For debts, she ended up in prison and left it with only a few pounds in her pocket. She had to flee to France, as she was threatened with re-arrest. Here Lady Hamilton drank heavily and moved into worse and worse quarters until she found herself in the attic. In January 1815, she fell ill with bronchitis, which turned into pneumonia. Lady Hamilton was dying in a cold room with bare walls. On the day of her death, January 15, 1815, portraits of Nelson and her mother hung over her bed. And the sad Christ on the crucifix.

Sailors, captains and officers of English ships came to see her off on her last journey.

Daughter Horatia was taken away from Emma immediately after the death of her father. She was raised by one of Nelson's sisters. Horace's tombstone is inscribed: "Admiral Nelson's Adopted Daughter."