All the King's Women

Date: 1645 to 1685
Location: Europe

Profile manager: Christine Marfia

[send private message]

Last profile change on 4 November 2009

13:57: An anonymous user at 81.129.203.4 posted a Mistresses of Charles II on the page for .

This page has been accessed 18,624 times.

The Mistresses of the Merry Monarch (King Charles II)

NOTE: A title following the name of a mistress belonged to the woman before her association with Charles.

Lucy Walter (c. 1648-1650 during his exile)
- Met Charles II at the Hague; he left in 1650
- Children by Charles: James, Duke of Monmouth
Elizabeth Killigrew, Viscountess Shannon (c. 1649?)
- Sister to Thomas Killigrew, a dramatist who followed the royal family into exile and later became Master of the Revels
- Married to Francis Boyle during her affair with Charles
- Children by Charles: Charlotte Jemima Fitzroy
Catherine Pegg (c. 1656-?)
- A.K.A. Lady Greene (married to Sir Edward Greene in 1660)
- During the English Civil War, the Royalist Pegge family fled to Bruges where the exiled Charles was keeping court
- Children by Charles: Charles and Catherine Fitzcharles
Barbara Villiers, Lady Palmer (c. 1660-1673)
- Created Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland
- Married to Roger Palmer at the start of her affair with Charles
- Lewd, rapacious, and unfaithful, but so possessed of sexuality and wit that she was irresistible to the king
- Children by Charles: Anne, Charles, Charlotte, and George Fitzroy (Charles acknowleged Henry and Barbara Fitzroy, too, but likely was not their father)
*Catherine of Braganza, Infanta de Portugal (1662-1685)
- Created Queen of England upon her marriage to Charles II
- Her childlessness led to calls for divorce; Charles refused, and he consoled Catherine after her miscarriages
- Plain, Spanish, and Catholic, she was never popular with the English, but it is evident that Charles cared for her, and she both loved him and mourned him intensely after his death
- *Honorary Mistress as, although they were married, Catherine's bonds of marriage with Charles were only as strong as his favor
- Children by Charles: None
*Frances Stewart (c. *1663-1685)
- A.K.A. 'La Belle Stewart'
- Initially pushed at Charles by Barbara Villiers
- Eloped with the Duke of Richmond and Lennox in 1667
- Disfigured by smallpox in 1669, but allegedly still retained a hold on the king's affections
- Charles considered divorce from his queen only at the prospect of marrying Frances, who refused to be a mistress
- *Honorary Mistress as, although she fascinated Charles for years, Frances never surrendered physically to his infatuation
- Children by Charles: None
Mary (Moll) Davies (c. 1667-1672)
- Singer-dancer-comedienne who met Charles II in the theater
- Allegedly ousted by Nell Gwyn with a laxative
- Given by Charles II a pension of $1,000 pounds per year
- Children by Charles: Mary Tudor
Nell Gwyn (c. 1668-1685)
- Singer-dancer-comedienne who met Charles II in the theater
- Noted for her wit, vulgarity, and loyalty to Charles
- Children by Charles: Charles and James Beauclerk
Louise Renee, Madame de Querouaille (c. 1671-1685)
- Created Duchess of Portsmouth
- Originally a lady in waiting for Charles's sister Henrietta at the French court; after Henrietta's death, Charles appointed Louise to Queen Catherine's entourage
- Catholic, French, and spoiled, the English people despised her
- Children by Charles: Charles Lennox
Hortense Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin (c. 1675-1685)
- Famed for her beauty and blatant bisexuality
- Charles proposed marriage in 1659 while still in exile
- Children by Charles: None