Barbara Cartland

Barbara Cartland – Life, Work, and Enduring Romance

Discover the life, career, and wisdom of Dame Barbara Cartland (1901–2000), the prolific English romance novelist. Learn about her writing journey, philosophy of love, legacy, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, better known as Barbara Cartland, was a towering figure in 20th-century romantic fiction. With a distinctive persona—always dressed in pink, coiffured wigs, and voluminous gowns—she was as much a brand as an author. Over her decades-long career, she published hundreds of novels (mostly romance), many adapted for television, and became one of the best-selling, most translated authors in the world. She is often called the “Queen of Romance.”

In this article, we explore her early life, writing career, approach to love and romance, legacy, and her most memorable lines.

Early Life and Family

Barbara Cartland was born 9 July 1901 in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. Her birth name was Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland.

She was the eldest child of Major James Bertram “Bertie” Falkner Cartland (an army officer) and Mary “Polly” Hamilton Scobell. She had two younger brothers: Ronald and James Anthony (“Tony”).

Her family background was not always stable. Her paternal grandfather, James Cartland, was alleged to have committed suicide following financial troubles. Her father died in World War I in 1918; her mother was left to support the family and opened a store in London.

Barbara was educated at several private girls’ schools, including Malvern Girls’ College and Abbey House in Hampshire. After her schooling, she worked as a society journalist and columnist, including a position at the Daily Express.

In 1923 she published her first novel, Jigsaw, which achieved success and marked the beginning of her prolific writing career.

Writing Career & Achievements

Prolific Output & Genre Focus

Barbara Cartland was astonishingly productive. Over her career, she published some 723 novels (in both historical and contemporary romance genres) in addition to non-fiction works. Her novels were translated into many languages (38 or more), making her one of the most translated authors (excluding religious texts).

She also held the Guinness World Record for the most novels written in one year: in 1976, she reportedly published 23 novels.

Her works spanned not just pure romance, but also non-fiction: biographies, advice books, health and beauty, poetry, plays, and operettas.

Style, Themes & Adaptations

Cartland’s romance novels often followed an idealized, chaste formula: young heroines, gallant heroes, love triumphing, and the constraints of societal or historical settings. Many of her novels have been adapted for television, including A Hazard of Hearts, Duel of Hearts, The Lady and the Highwayman, A Ghost in Monte Carlo, among others.

She also cultivated a public image: Cartland was known for her flamboyant wardrobe (pink gowns, wigs), her statements on love, morality, and her appearances in media and television.

Her publisher launched The Pink Collection, a posthumous series of 160 unpublished manuscripts, released gradually after her death.

One of her novels, In Love with Barbara, was turned into a 2008 televised biopic, depicting her life and rise to fame.

Honors & Public Life

In 1991 she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in recognition of her literary and public contributions. She was also active in civic and charitable causes; she served on Hertfordshire County Council as a Conservative councillor, advocating improvements in nursing homes, midwives’ pay, and education for children of Romani families.

Cartland also had interests outside writing: she was involved in gliding and aviation (designing glider tows, etc.).

She passed away on 21 May 2000 at Camfield Place, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, at the age of 98.

Personality & Public Persona

Barbara Cartland’s public personality was a carefully constructed brand: exuberant, romantic, moralistic, and always glamorous. She often spoke confidently about love, marriage, propriety, and feminine ideals.

She had strong conservative views on sexuality (e.g. promoting chastity before marriage), on divorce, and on moral conduct in relationships.

Cartland was also known for her wit, bold statements, and sometimes controversial remarks about women, love, beauty, and society.

Despite—or perhaps because of—her extravagant image, she was also a disciplined worker, writing prodigiously over many decades and encouraging a consistency of output.

Famous Quotes

Here are several notable lines often attributed to Barbara Cartland that reflect her views on love, marriage, beauty, and society:

• “I have always found women difficult. I don’t really understand them. To begin with, few women tell the truth.”

• “The right diet directs sexual energy into the parts that matter.”

• “France is the only place where you can make love in the afternoon without people hammering on your door.”

• “I'll keep going till my face falls off.”

• “After forty a woman has to choose between losing her figure or her face. My advice is to keep your face, and stay sitting down.”

• “Every woman dreams of love. When she is young she prays she will find it. When she is middle aged she hopes for it and when she is old she remembers it.”

• “A historical romance is the only kind of book where chastity really counts.”

These quotes sometimes verge on the provocative, illustrating her willingness to speak boldly on matters of gender, beauty, and love.

Lessons from Her Life

1. Discipline yields longevity
   Cartland’s work ethic allowed her to maintain a writing career spanning more than seven decades.

2. Branding matters
   She understood that the author is also a persona. Her pink aesthetic, media appearances, and distinct voice made her name and style inseparable from her work.

3. Know your audience & formula
   Though often criticized for “formula” romance, Cartland embraced consistency: she knew her readers’ expectations and delivered.

4. Romance as aspiration
   Her works and public persona held up love as ideal, spiritual, and central. Even if critics called her stories simple, her perspective resonated broadly.

5. Evolve while staying true to identity
   She adapted over time—writing non-fiction, advice books, public commentary—without losing her romantic brand core.

Conclusion

Barbara Cartland remains a compelling figure in literary and popular culture. She wrote more than 700 novels, influenced generations of readers, and crafted a public persona as unmistakable as her pink wardrobe. Her works continue to be reissued, her unpublished manuscripts still released, and her legacy as a romance icon endures.

If you’d like, I can prepare a timeline of her novels & adaptations, or a deeper dive into one of her more controversial statements or events. Would you like me to do that next?