Ladies of the Bedchamber: The Role of the Royal Mistress
The 'ladies of the bedchamber' may not have all been ladies - in fact some of them have been men - but anyone who has shared a bed with a reigning British sovereign, or his or her heir, has in more than one instance changed the course of history and to some extent affected, and also reflected, the attitudes of the time to contractual marriage. Sexual infidelity threads its way through five hundred years of the British monarchy from the Tudors to the present day, via the multiple liaisons of...
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The 'ladies of the bedchamber' may not have all been ladies - in fact some of them have been men - but anyone who has shared a bed with a reigning British sovereign, or his or her heir, has in more than one instance changed the course of history and to some extent affected, and also reflected, the attitudes of the time to contractual marriage. Sexual infidelity threads its way through five hundred years of the British monarchy from the Tudors to the present day, via the multiple liaisons of the murderous Henry VIII through James II's interest in boyishly slim women, including Arabella Churchill (daughter of the then Sir Winston Churchill) and William IV who, while serving in the Navy, divided his time between fornication and flogging. Ladies of the Bedchamber examines the role played by the mistress and the concubine, as well as by commercial sex, the ready availability of which possibly protected the virginal sanctity of marriage in the years preceding today's less holy alliances. The book also shows how sex addiction has cast its shadow over the twentieth century, from the accession of Edward VII in 1901 to his and Mrs Alice Keppel's great-great-grandchildren, Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles.
Acknowledgements7List of Illustrations10Preface131Henry VIII: Liaisons Dangereuses172Charles II: And So to Bed413James II: And That, Said James, is That674William IV: Sailor King or 'Silly Billy'?795Edward VII: Rien Ne Va Plus956Edward VIII: The Merry Wives of Windsor1257Charles, Prince of Wales: 'When You Are King, Dilly Dilly...'173Bibliography191Index195
