‘I hate and detest all the Great’: Petulant and jealous, Lord Nelson’s letters reveal a less heroic side

He was one of Britain’s greatest military leaders but letters coming up for auction in the new year reveal a less noble side to Admiral Lord Nelson: petulant, jealous and complaining.

Two of the letters are from Horatio Nelson to his lover Emma Hamilton, another is written by Hamilton and a fourth features the couple writing together. They shed fascinating light on Nelson, his palpable and obvious love for Hamilton, and how he was probably more at ease when he was fighting.

“I’m afraid it is often the case that Nelson is not at his best when he is inactive,” said Gabriel Heaton, a books and manuscripts specialist at Sotheby’s, which will sell the letters. “In the final letter you can just sense the frustration, he can complain quite a lot … he is itching to get back to what he knows he does best.”

Nelson’s affair with Hamilton was one of the biggest public scandals of the time. They met in 1793 when he was a 35-year-old married captain and she was 28, the wife of Sir William Hamilton, a diplomat.

The couple were head over heels in love and Heaton said that came across in the letters. “They had a very deep love for each other, the depth of affection between them is so obvious when you read their correspondence. They are not Victorians, they are not afraid to express their emotions.”

Nelson could also be extremely jealous and one letter in the sale reveals his anger with the Prince of Wales, who seems to have been flirting with Hamilton.

“I … am sorry that you cannot go to a Public place without being tormented by that fellow who has not the smallest regard for sir William [Hamilton’s husband], I hate and detest all the Great and I would not associate with such Company for the World.”