Zooming into Autumn 2026
A class will run on a Monday afternoon at 3.00pm (London time) for 1 ½ hours. Please be in the waiting room at least five minutes before the class starts so that you are ready to be admitted into the virtual class room.
The presentation will be recorded and can be viewed for a limited time after the live session (subject to the technology.)
The Windsor Beauties – The women who became some of King Charles II’s many mistresses and a few who didn’t!.
The Windsor Beauties, a set of 10 portraits, were painted by Sir Peter Lely during the first years of the Restoration. They feature some of the ladies of Charles II’s court – and inevitably some of them were royal mistresses. The portraits were originally commissioned by Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and inevitably Samuel Pepys gives them a mention – though he wasn’t convinced that all the likenesses were exact, suggesting that there was a fair bit of flattery coming out of Lely’s studio.
Monday 5 October – The Windsor Beauties – an overview – who were they and why were their portraits painted. How to be glamorous and alluring at the court of Charles II- a period associated with decadence and something of a sexual revolution following the Commonwealth Years. It was the first time that England had seen royal mistresses so publicly displayed. This week we will also consider Charles’ consort – Catherine of Braganza. Inevitably finances lay at the heart of his choice of bride. However, despite the fact she was unable to give him an heir he refused to divorce her and was one of the few women that he spoke of with love on his death bed. We shall also consider Henrietta Stuart who is a Windsor Beauty, the sister of Charles II and the lover of Louis XIV of France.
Monday 12 October – The notorious Barbara Villiers – In 1660 Charles, who had a series of youthful liaisons, fell in love with Barbara Palmer who would become the Duchess of Cleveland and have a powerful political role at court. She was described as the ‘uncrowned queen’, received gifts with £45,000 a year, gave the king five children and ran up huge gambling debts. It was she who destroyed Nonsuch Palace. We shall be contrasting Barbara with Queen Catherine and the fact that Charles insisted that Barbara be one of her ladies in waiting. Inevitably others of Catherine’s ladies became royal mistresses including Elizabeth Killigrew.
Monday 19 October – Frances Stewart – the Belle Stuart– arrived in London when she was 15-years-old and spent her time at court avoiding the king’s advances. She eventually eloped with the Duke of Richmond and lived happily ever after! Other of the beauties, including Elizabeth Percy, were never on Charles’ radar, while Margaret Brooke, another of the beauties, became James, Duke of York’s mistress much to the embarrassment of her husband, John Denham who was suspected of trying to poison her. This week will also be a good opportunity to consider Anne Hyde, Duchess of York.
Monday 29 October – Half term
Monday 2 November – Elizabeth Weaver, Moll Davis and Nell Gwynn – From the stage to the King’s bed. Nell was a mistress who endured and was popular with the public because of her Protestantism while Moll gave Charles’ his last child – Lady Mary Tudor who became the Countess of Derwentwater. Her son would be executed for his part in the Jacobite rising of 1715.
Monday 9 November – Louise de Keroualle and the foreign policy of royal mistresses – known as Fubbs by the king because she was a tad on the chubby side. Unlike Barbara Villiers, Louise showed Charles’ queen respect but she wasn’t so popular with the public because she was both Catholic and French. The Duchess of Portsmouth, as she became, would remain firm friends with the king even after their affair fizzled out.
Monday 16 November – Hortense Mancini, Duchess de Mazarin – had been a prospective bride for Charles before his restoration to the throne. Cardinal Mazarin rejected the proposal but after Charles became king he revised his decision. She became the king’s last mistress in 1676 but was never portrayed as a Windsor Beauty. Mary Bagot, however, was one of Charles’ mistresses and that’s before we even begin to contemplate Jane Needham who was neither a duchess nor a courtesan but who used her beauty to financial and political advantage – lets just say she enjoyed being pursued by many men even if she never became Charles II’s mistress.
Monday 23 November – The consequences of an profusion of mistresses. John Evelyn stated that Charles II was addicted to women. The women who shared the king’s bed influenced political and cultural life provided him with fourteen illegitimate children, whom he recognised and provided for.