29 OCTOBER 1994, Page 26

Silhouette of Dora Jordan in military costume, legs revealed to

mid-thigh, ribboned uniform, plumed hat, sword and rapier: a sensational effect for the 1790s brother, the Prince of Wales would taunt him with, 'Who would many you?' Dora took him on and he wrote to his brother, `Mrs Jordan through a course of 11 months' endless difficulty has behaved like an angel.'

She continued to do so. For most of their life together, as an 'almost indecently fer- tile couple,' she was the main breadwinner, unable or, more truthfully, unwilling to give up her career, endeavouring to keep his wild financial instincts in check as he chafed to have a go at Napoleon in the teeth of opposition from the sea lords. He was an exemplary father: 'His care of these children and marked affection for them, is