Come here often, fair maiden?

Vying for the lady's attention - which one would you choose?

Henry VIII was not known for treating his women well, and yet he must have know a thing or two about the best chat-up lines.

So it is fitting that his former country home, Hampton Court, is holding a series of events looking at how marriage, romance and the conventions of courtship have changed over the years.

Visitors to the palace are seeing performers dressed in costumes from one of history's most romantic periods, the 18th century Georgian era.

Held in the magnificent Queen's Drawing room at Hampton Court Palace in south-west London, the views across the River Thames and the surrounding landscape make for the perfect setting in which to find true love.

However, finding the partner of your dreams was easier said than done. If someone at court took to your fancy, the chances were it would be long time before you could exchange words, let alone anything else.

Court your eye?

Behaviour towards the opposite sex had to correspond to a strict etiquette. Emotions at court had to be restrained and even eye contact between couples was frowned upon.

Out on the town Gerogian-style

Not that this stopped them, but meeting your future match was best done at one of the many music and dance gatherings organised by the court or privately at homes of the aristocracy.

This was the chance to impress, not only by strutting one's stuff on the dancefloor but by crooning one's favourite love songs to someone in the room.

Anya Mora Mieszkowska, a historian at Hampton Court, says that while you were busy flirting, someone else was probably eyeing you up.

"Ladies were never allowed to attend these occasions unchaperoned as that really was not the done thing. As an eligible man you could probably get away with asking her to dance, but all eyes would be watching to see what you were up to.

"As for courting, you would have to go to her father and ask for his permission first," explains Ms Mora Mieszkowska.

And if that was not stressful enough, all young men and women of the time were expected to be able to dance, sing and play an instrument - and do it in public.

Young men could woo ladies with their musical talents

Women often played the harp or the harpsichord to display their poise, grace and delicate fingers to everyone in the room, or more importantly to those eligible foreign princes who had come to the English court to find their future wife.

Men played string instruments or sang duets with the women of their choice. A top smooch number was Henry Purcell's musical version of the famous opening lines of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, "If music be the food of love".

Alone at last

It was the music masters who got a look-in first though. As music was a social prerequisite for young ladies of the court, music teachers were hired to give them lessons at home. Often their eyes and minds were elsewhere than on the sheets of music.

Handy tips from the music master

Ms Mora Mieszkowska describes the scene: "Hours alone in a room together was a great temptation for music masters and for their pupils too. There was a lot of touching and physical closeness, as after all, it was the job of the music masters to guide the young ladies into acquiring the proper technique."

You could also take lessons in opera, or rather at the opera. Those who were rich enough hired a private box, to which they invited their special someone. When the lights went down, a thrilling evening of passion began. If you were keen, you could also catch a few minutes of the action taking place on stage.

Indeed, the opera was not a time to hold back as ladies often took a great shine to the performers. One favourite of the Georgian teeny-boppers was the singer Castrati. Girlie fans were known to have portraits of him everywhere: in their bedrooms, on lockets round their necks, and on their clothes. At some performances, they are said to have even hurled their garters on stage.

Stuffed stockings and pockets

There was no point trying to woo a partner of high standing. if you yourself did not have the right credentials.

For men, this meant having money. A Georgian lady - or rather her family - would first look at a man's social situation and financial position when thinking of marriage, before getting to know the person.

Fatted calf: padding out the lower leg could make all the difference

Even better for him would be if he had a well-rounded, handsome calf. Georgian men wore breeches, silk for those from society's higher echelons, so it was important for them to be confident about the lower half of their legs. Some men padded them out to make the bulge more impressive to the opposite sex.

Women could charm with a pale complexion, a slender neck and a grace which said they had not been taught to become noblewomen, but that they had been born into such characteristics.

And as they often say, money and social standing cannot buy you love, or at least, for the Georgians, they could not always guarantee you a love life. It was quite common for husbands and wives to take lovers to fill this gap in their lives.

Passionate moments with your husband?

King George II had numerous affairs during the great deal of time he spent away from England. He used to write 30-page letters to his wife, Queen Caroline, describing these liaisons, and even sent her portraits of his mistresses.

As long as affairs were kept discreet and away from the attentions of society, they could continue. The Pleasure Gardens at Vauxhall and weekends at the spa town of Bath were notorious haunts of illicit couples. And there was always the private box at the opera.