The ascension of Charles II to the British throne in 1660 marked the end of the English republican era-and the start of a period of unparalleled hedonism among the English ruling elite. The reader is first given the astonishing-and often shocking-details of Charles II’s youth, including his parent’s desperate but ultimately fruitless attempts to retain the throne. That sad tale ended with Charles I’s public execution, and the imprisonment or exile in France of his family. Charles II’s reign was marked by a series of major foreign and domestic political upheavals, which, despite their gravity, amazingly did nothing to shake the monarchy’s position in society. This was the time of the Great Fire of London, the worst outbreak ever of the plague, the Second Anglo-Dutch war-and the continuing religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants.
The author shows how Charles II’s popularity was unaffected by his overtly sham marriage to the Portuguese Catholic princess Catherine of Braganza-who the king described as a bat, not a woman, his alleged sympathies for the Catholic Church (suspicions which turned out to be justified), and even his scandalous personal life. The Queen produced no living heirs, but Charles II’s endless list of mistresses-whom he openly acknowledged, and which included at least one self-confessed prostitute-produced at least twelve illegitimate offspring, many of whom were married off into the aristocracy.
This is a remarkable story which provides a fascinating glimpse into the seamier side of the British royal house.