Ambitious young Nelson first met the beautiful Lady Hamilton in 1798 when he was given command of the Agamemnon at the declaration of war on France. His mission was to ensure that the Bourbon King of Naples remained firm in his opposition to France and the treaty between England and Naples. As Hamilton was the British envoy Nelson was invited to his luxorious home for a few days rest.
Emma Hamilton had a rather shady past which may have made her even more attractive to the young Nelson whose wife seemed rather uptight. Emma came from an extremely poor background, but used her great beauty and charm to become the mistress of Charles Greville, Sir William's nephew. Emma became an artist's model for such eminent artists as Romney who called her 'the divine lady'. She lived with Greville for five years and must have been very fond of him. Greville, not averse to having a good time, got into trouble when he amassed a huge debt and decided to take the usual aristocrat's way out of it. He started looking for a wealthy wife and sent Emma to his uncle in Naples. Although she was heartbroken and felt very abandoned, writing pleading letters to Charles, Emma soon became the mistress of the much older, urbane Sir William Hamilton. He was sixty-one and she was only twenty-six when they married. Emma was an intelligent woman who could speak French and Italian fluently by the time Nelson met her. Sir William called her, 'The fair teamaker of Edgeware Road'.
She was very friendly with the Queen Maria Carolina, proving very useful to Sir William.
Nelson, exasperated with his unsuitable wife, was very impressed with Emma. He wrote to his wife that: "She is a young woman of amiable manners and who does honour to the station in which she is raised."
He did not meet her again for five years. By this time Nelson, now the hero of the Nile in which he had crushed the great French fleet, had become a Baron. He was injured during the Battle and suffering malaria and stabbing pains decided to go again to Naples. His excuse was that his ship the Vanguard needed to be repaired at the Posillip shipyards. However the attractions of the lovely Emma probably played a part in his decision.
He and Emma who flattered him and admired him soon fell in love in spite of the fact that she had grown quite fat since they last met. Sir William, who no doubt realized that he was far too old for Emma and that she was likely to fall in love with a younger man eventually, remained a friend and mentor to Nelson. Huge scandal resulted when Nelson, in his own words, 'dismissed' his wife and lived with Emma three years later. They had a little daughter Horatia.
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