Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Nell Gwyn and King Charles' Other Ladies
    Nell Gwyn and King Charles' Other Ladies
    Nell Gwyn and King Charles' Other Ladies
    Ebook240 pages3 hours

    Nell Gwyn and King Charles' Other Ladies

    By Derek Parker

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    When King Charles II was dying, the name of only one of his many mistresses was in his mind and on his lips: that of Nell Gwyn. Born in extreme poverty, forced to become a child prostitute, she went on the stage and became the most popular actress of the time until Charles took her into his bed, where her beauty, wit and liveliness made her in the end preferable to his other many mistresses, who were either common prostitutes found for him in the bawdy-houses or on the streets by the royal pimp, William Chiffinch, or were would-be grand ladies such as the English Barbara Villiers, the French Louise de Kéroüalle and the Italian beauty Hortense Mancini, eager to use their position to interfere in politics. Charles took all of them to bed with great enthusiasm, but it was Nelly who he loved as much as he was capable of love. Unlike the others, she knew her place – when her coachman fought a fellow who called her a whore, she rebuked him: that, she said, was after all what she was. She flattered no-one – even giving the King a piece of her mind when she pleased. When she died, some years after the King, she was given a grand funeral, the sermon preached by a future Archbishop of Canterbury. No court in modern history has been as scandalously dissolute as that of Charles II, and the story of the king and his mistresses is engrossingly outrageous. The heroine, however – and who would deny her that title – is pretty, witty Nell.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDerek Parker
    Release dateMar 24, 2014
    ISBN9781310018336
    Nell Gwyn and King Charles' Other Ladies
    Author

    Derek Parker

    Derek Parker was Educated at Fowey Grammar School, and started his working life as a reporter on The Cornishman, a weekly newspaper in Penzance, going on to become drama critic of the daily Western Morning News in Plymouth. Having made his first radio broadcast at the age of fifteen, he left newspapers to join the staff of TWW, an independent television station in Cardiff, Wales, as announcer, newscaster, scriptwriter, presented and interviewer. From 1960 he worked as a freelance writer and broadcaster. Between 1965 and 1970 he edited Poetry Review, and in 1968 published (as his first prose book) a short biography of Lord Byron. During the 1960s he wrote and introduced innumerable programmes for both the domestic and World Service of the BBC, most of them concerned with the arts. He reviewed television and books for The Times and various periodicals. He has been a member of the Grand Council of the Royal Academy of Dance, and was for many years a member its Executive Committee, for some time as chairman of its Development Committee. He has been chairman of the Radiowriters’ Committee of the Society of Authors, was for two years (1981-2) chairman of its Management Committee, and between 1985 and 2002 edited its journal, The Author. He remains a member of its Council. Between 1969 and 2002 he was a member of the General Committee of the Royal Literary Fund (as Registrar between 1977 and 2002). His publications include: The Fall of Phaethon (poems, 1954); Company of Two (poems, with Paul Casimir, 1955); Beyond Wisdom (verse play, 1957); Byron and his World (1968); The Twelfth Rose (ballet libretto, 1969); The Question of Astrology (1970); The Westcountry (1973); John Donne and his World (1975); Familiar to All: William Lilly and 17th century astrology (1975); Radio: the great years (1977); The Westcountry and the Sea (1980); The Memoirs of Cora Pearl (fiction, as William Blatchford, 1983); Fifteen erotic novels, published anonymously (1988-96); God of the Dance: Vaslav Nijinsky (1988); The Trade of Angels (fiction, 1988); The Royal Academy of Dancing: the first 75 years (1995); Writing Erotic Fiction (1995); Nell Gwyn (2000); Roman Murder Mystery: the true story of Pompilia (2001); Casanova (2002); Benvenuto Cellini (2004); Voltaire (2005); Outback (2008); Banjo Paterson (2009) (2010); Governor Macquarie (2010) He has collaborated with his wife, Julia Parker, on over thirty other books, including The Compleat Astrologer and Parkers’ Astrology.

    Read more from Derek Parker

    Related to Nell Gwyn and King Charles' Other Ladies

    Related ebooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Blenheim Palace

      Jan 5, 2023

      Blenheim Palace
      6 min read

    • Article

      Fit For A Queen

      Oct 29, 2020

      Fit For A Queen
      6 min read

    • Article

      My History Hero

      May 12, 2022

      My History Hero
      2 min read

    • Article

      Q&A Alison Weir

      May 12, 2022

      Alison Weir is Britain’s top-selling female historian. Her works include the Six Tudor Queens series of novels, as well as the recent non-fiction book Queens of the Crusades. Her latest novel, Elizabeth of York: The Last White Rose, is the first inst

      2 min read

    • Article

      Countess Dracula

      Sep 10, 2020

      Countess Dracula
      8 min read

    • Article

      Two Houses Divided

      Mar 27, 2020

      1390-1411 The mother of Richard Plantagenet and grandmother of King Edward IV and King Richard III, Anne de Mortimer was descended from royalty through her mother and grandparents. She died during childbirth. 1375-1415 The father of Richard Plantagen

      3 min read

    • Article

      Red Queen V White Queen?

      Sep 30, 2021

      Red Queen V White Queen?
      1 min read

    • Article

      Stories Amid The Storeys

      Jul 8, 2022

      Stories Amid The Storeys
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Country House weekend

      Aug 13, 2020

      A Country House weekend
      6 min read

    • Article

      Richard Iii’s Last Stand

      Sep 30, 2021

      Richard Iii’s Last Stand
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Ultimate Guide To England’s Game Of Thrones

      Mar 27, 2020

      The son of warrior king Henry V and Catherine de Valois, Henry VI was crowned king of both England and France during infancy. He would proceed to oversee England’s final losses in the Hundred Years’ War and famously married the strong and powerful Ma

      5 min read

    • Article

      Henry And His Wives In Numbers

      Oct 29, 2020

      Henry And His Wives In Numbers
      1 min read

    • Article

      TIMELINE Mary’s Turbulent Life

      Mar 19, 2020

      TIMELINE Mary’s Turbulent Life
      1 min read

    • Article

      Blanche Of Castile

      May 5, 2023

      lanche of Castile proved a remarkable queen regent of France during the minority of Louis IX from 1226 to 1234, and then again during Louis IX’s crusade between 1248 and Blanche’s death in 1252. Blanche was arguably the most successful woman ruler of

      8 min read

    • Article

      Dazzling Duchess

      May 5, 2020

      Dazzling Duchess
      3 min read

    • Article

      Two Notorious Witch Trials

      Mar 17, 2022

      Two Notorious Witch Trials
      1 min read

    • Article

      Fit For A King

      Dec 13, 2020

      Fit For A King
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Boleyns

      Jul 18, 2019

      The Boleyns
      11 min read

    • Article

      The White Rose & The Tudors

      Mar 19, 2018

      The White Rose & The Tudors
      3 min read

    • Article

      James V: The Incognito King

      Dec 17, 2021

      James V: The Incognito King
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Nell Gwyn and King Charles' Other Ladies

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Nell Gwyn and King Charles' Other Ladies - Derek Parker

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1