Sarah-Beth Watkins - Charles IIs Favourite Mistress: Pretty, Witty Nell Gwyn
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Charles IIs Favourite Mistress: Pretty, Witty Nell Gwyn: summary, description and annotation
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Nell Gwyn, the most infamous mistress of Charles II, was a commoner raised from the dingy back alleys of London to the stage and into a kings arms. Hers was a true rags to riches story that saw a young girl rise from selling oranges to capturing the heart of a king. The Restoration period was one of change. After the troubled years of the English Civil War, it was time for pleasure, debauchery and entertainment with the Merry Monarch restored to the throne.
Nell was one of the first actresses on stage; a loveable comedienne who wowed audiences with her wit and charm. She fell in love with Charles Hart (one of the leading actors of the time), had a torrid affair with Lord Buckhurst and ultimately ended up in the kings bed. She stayed on the stage for six years, but she stayed in the kings heart for seventeen his only mistress who was faithful to him.
Set against the backdrop of Restoration London, this book charts Nells life and that of her family and friends from her drunken mother and troublesome sister to the most notorious wits of the age John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Nell had a generous heart and a mischievous spirit, and was friends with people from all walks of life. The only woman she really detested was another of the kings mistresses, Louise de Kerouaille, known as the French Spy.
This highly entertaining book will tell the story of Nells life the good and the bad and show why Nell truly embodies the spirit of the Restoration.
Nell was one of the first actresses on stage; a loveable comedienne who wowed audiences with her wit and charm. She fell in love with Charles Hart (one of the leading actors of the time), had a torrid affair with Lord Buckhurst and ultimately ended up in the kings bed. She stayed on the stage for six years, but she stayed in the kings heart for seventeen his only mistress who was faithful to him.
Set against the backdrop of Restoration London, this book charts Nells life and that of her family and friends from her drunken mother and troublesome sister to the most notorious wits of the age John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Nell had a generous heart and a mischievous spirit, and was friends with people from all walks of life. The only woman she really detested was another of the kings mistresses, Louise de Kerouaille, known as the French Spy.
This highly entertaining book will tell the story of Nells life the good and the bad and show why Nell truly embodies the spirit of the Restoration.
Sarah-Beth Watkins: author's other books
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Sarah-Beth Watkins
Sarah-Beth Watkins
Sarah-Beth Watkins
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Sarah-Beth Watkins
Sarah-Beth Watkins
Gillian Bagwell
Rose Tremain
Tom Quinn
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King of England Charles II
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CHARLES IIS FAVOURITE MISTRESS
To my Mum and Nan my own pretty, witty ladies!
CHARLES IIS FAVOURITE MISTRESS
PRETTY, WITTY NELL GWYN
SARAH-BETH WATKINS
First published in Great Britain in 2021 by
PEN AND SWORD HISTORY
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Yorkshire Philadelphia
Copyright Sarah-Beth Watkins, 2021
ISBN 978 1 39900 056 7
eISBN 978 1 39900 057 4
mobi ISBN 978 1 39900 057 4
The right of Sarah-Beth Watkins to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.
Pen & Sword Books Limited incorporates the imprints of Atlas, Archaeology, Aviation, Discovery, Family History, Fiction, History, Maritime, Military, Military Classics, Politics, Select, Transport, True Crime, Air World, Frontline Publishing, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing, The Praetorian Press, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe Transport, Wharncliffe True Crime and White Owl.
For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail:
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Or
PEN AND SWORD BOOKS
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Website: www.penandswordbooks.com
Contents
Introduction
Nell Gwyn is the best remembered of Charles IIs mistresses, that merry monarch whose restoration to the throne ushered in a new era in English history after years of civil war. There were other women in his life, including his queen, but none of them captured the hearts of the people as Nell did. She was their darling a commoner raised from the dingy back alleys of London to the stage and into a kings arms. Hers was a true rags to riches story that spoke to the common people. She was one of their own and she gave hope and light to them in their darkest hours. If a street-hawking, aleserving slip of a girl could rise from the slums of London to grace the court at Whitehall, there was a promise of better days for them all.
And Charles II loved her for never being anything other than her true self. Loved her for her wit and charm, loved her for her mischievous personality and for never giving up her down-to-earth ways. She made him laugh out loud with her antics, brightened the dullness of gloomy days and was a welcome reprieve from royal duty. In time, her house would become his sanctuary, and she was his comfort and solace. She demanded little and gave him everything, including two sons.
Born during the tumultuous times of the English Civil War that ended with the unprecedented death of the reigning monarch, Charles I, Nells early years her birthplace, date and even her father are shrouded in mystery although she would grow up in Restoration London and be proud to call it home.
It was a time of licentiousness, new freedoms, debauchery, scandal and intrigue. But it was also an age of war, plague and fire. Londoners would fear Dutch invasion and hear the booms of naval battle out at sea, die in their thousands from a pestilential disease that ran rife through the city, and lose their homes and livelihoods in the Great Conflagration occurrences captured by some of the greatest diarists of the age, Samuel Pepys, John Evelyn and John Aubrey.
Nell lived in a time of change and was one of the first English actresses to grace the stage, after Charles II signed probably one of the most significant patents in theatrical history. She rose from selling oranges in the pit and running messages to becoming a successful comedian whom audiences flocked to see, known for her wit, her madcap parts and energetic jigs. Her career spanned seven years, cut short only by her affair with the king, yet the theatre stayed in her heart for the rest of her life.
She wasnt the only woman to become the Kings mistress, but she was and is the most fondly remembered. Whereas people begrudged the money-grabbing antics of Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, and the political machinations of Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, Londoners were always on Nells side. She was one of them, their Protestant whore, but she was also friends with the foremost peers in the country men like the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Rochester, members of the kings merry gang, notorious in their own ways.
Nell lived a vibrant life surrounded by people she loved and who loved her in return. She embraced the Restoration era and its king with open arms. Nell would share his bed for seventeen years and Charles II would die making sure she would be cared for. But life would never be the same for the pretty, witty actress, and in her final years she remained faithful to her kings memory as she had remained faithful to him in life.
But who was Nell really? She was such a colourful character and there are hundreds of stories about her, making it hard to sift fact from fiction. There are so many tales we would like to believe are genuine but are pure inventions. I hope I have gone some way in finding out the truth although there are some things about Nell we will never know for definite, and so much more we can only guess at.
This book will look at the contradicting stories of her early life, from her birth date to birthplace, her role as one of Englands first actresses, her love affairs, her relationship with the King her Charles and her relationships with his other mistresses, especially Louise de Keroualle who was a constant thorn in her side, but in typical Nell-fashion she sent up regularly in a gleefully mischievous way.
Nell has been a joy to research and write about. Her charm and wit echo down over the years and I can imagine her smart remarks, her playful nature and her light-hearted laughter. I hope I have done her justice.
Chapter One
The Early Years 1650-1662
A young woman dressed in a satin gown, her petticoats revealing a tantalising glimpse of ankle, took the stage, delivering lines that had the audience in uproar. To finish she merrily danced a jig and cocked a wink up to the royal box. The laughter of the crowd carried on after the show as the people of London spilled into the streets, finding their paths home in the dim light, smiles still on their lips. The King sent a messenger backstage to the pretty, witty actress. He requested her company for the evening, an evening that involved wine, women and song and inevitably a tussle under some silken sheets. Although they did not yet know it, their relationship would last a lifetime and be the talk of the town long after they had both gone.
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