The Rise of the Royal Mistresses

Life during the reign of Charles II was bumpy and unpredictable. The memory of the Civil Wars and the Interregnum hung heavily in the air, and religious divides continued to aggrieve communities. But the Restoration was also a period of pleasure and merriment, embodied by the Merry Monarch himself. Theatres thronged with crowds, taverns swelled with revellers, and the streets rang with the witticisms of Dryden and Rochester. This vivacious atmosphere witnessed mounting public interest in royal, courtly, and cultural figures. Nurtured by an ever-growing volume of printed media, this fascination with public figures soared to new heights to become what we now recognise as celebrity culture. And pride of place amongst the celebrities of the Restoration are the mistresses of Charles II.
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In this conversation, Annalisa Nicholson discusses these women – Barbara Villiers, Moll Davis, Nell Gwyn, Louise de Kéroualle, and Hortense Mancini – to showcase their roles and influence in late seventeenth-century England. From painting and theatre to science, these women wielded enormous authority over the styles and directions of these fields. As the mistresses of Charles II, these women also transformed the status and tradition of the royal mistress. Charles borrowed the notion of the maîtresse-en-titre from France where it designated the French king’s official concubine who was granted certain privileges at court. Importing the maîtresse-en-titre to his restored court in England in 1660, Charles instituted a position for his mistresses that had hitherto been unofficial and often shrouded in secrecy.