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On 29th May 1660,
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King Charles II returned from exile to reclaim his throne.
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Everyone believed the Stuart dynasty had lost power forever.
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His father Charles I had been publicly executed
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only ten years previously, and England had been firmly in the grip
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of Oliver Cromwell's commonwealth.
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But now the monarchy was back in business.
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The Restoration was a turning point in British history.
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It marked the end of the medieval and the beginning of the modern age.
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It affected the life of every single person in the country.
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In this series,
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I'm looking at the lives of women in the late 17th century.
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This is a really exciting time to be a woman.
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For centuries, they'd been lurking about in the footnotes
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of history, but now they come to prominence.
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Some of them have such modern attitudes and ambitions
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and we see them coming up against a world
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that was still pretty male and misogynistic.
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Over three programmes, I'm exploring their lives at the lavish
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and liberated Royal Court...
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The King, without a doubt, would have been completely delighted.
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- If all my clothes had suddenly fallen off?
- Yes, I'm sure he would.
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..at home, behind closed doors,
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and in public, at work and play.
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She dominated the theatre. She had more plays put on than anybody.
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Not any woman. Any man.
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You might have thought that Britain was swinging in the 1960s,
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but it was the 1660s that really shook things up.
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In this first programme, I'm going to meet
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the women at the top of the tree at Charles II's court.
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These women were intimately connected with the King.
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They would experience the most immediate and profound effects of the Restoration.
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Charles II's Restoration was really an extraordinary turn of events,
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but his return to the throne wasn't going to be a simple return to the past.
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While he'd been in exile on the continent,
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he'd learnt lots of new ideas
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and he came back with a new kind of court.
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It was more lavish, but also more debauched
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and more licentious than ever before.
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At it, women would take a new prominence.
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They could now win celebrity and wealth and influence.
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It sounds quite recognisably modern,
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but this was a dangerous game to play for women because,
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to get to the top at the court of Charles II,
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the quickest way was to become a royal mistress.
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And, for me, the big question is,
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was this female empowerment or was it just a new form of exploitation?
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I'm starting out at one of England's most impressive historic houses,
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Althorp in Northamptonshire.
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Today, Althorp is still famous for its royal links
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as the childhood home of Lady Diana Spencer, later Princess of Wales.
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But its regal connections go back much further.
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In the 17th century, it was the owners of grand houses like this
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who populated the Royal Court.
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The portraits on its walls bring us
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face to face with all the great and the good of the Restoration.
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And what's remarkable is the number of women included,
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many of them mistresses of Charles II.
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So here Charles is.
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A very human, human being
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with all of his weaknesses and frailties and lusts,
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the biggest of which was his lust for women.
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By the time he came back from his exile on the continent,
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he'd already had seven mistresses.
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The total would reach 13 by the end of his life.
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He also had 13 illegitimate children that he acknowledged.
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There may even have been others.
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He's positioned here on the wall
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and he's ogling this bevy of court beauties over here.
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This is Barbara.
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She's definitely the top mistress
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during the early part of Charles' reign.
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Trounces all the opposition.
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She gives him five children,
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not withstanding the fact that she actually has a husband.
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Charles loves these children.
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He goes and tucks them up into their beds at night
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and he rewards her with power and riches and celebrity,
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but this is the opposition to Barbara.
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Louise, the French Louise de Kerouaille,
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who comes up and challenges her.
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She's the younger, sexier model.
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She, too, gives the King a baby,
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and he rewards both of them with the highest rank that there is -
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the title of Duchess.
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The Restoration mistress was entirely new.
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Charles' women weren't just fly-by-night party girls.
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They would achieve independent wealth,
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dictate fashion and win celebrity.
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They'd even change the shape of contemporary politics
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and the way that the masses thought about their monarch.
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Barbara Villiers was the first and greatest Restoration mistress.
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She'd become one of the most powerful people in the country
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and a trailblazer for these new-style mistresses of a modern age.
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Barbara was born into the Villiers family.
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Now, some of the Villiers were very grand indeed, dukes and so on,
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but she came from an impoverished branch,
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but nevertheless, very well established and very respectable.
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This is her marital home and this is very respectable too,
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although it's not a palace and, to be honest, Tudor architecture
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like this was looking a bit old-fashioned by the Restoration.
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But in 1659, Barbara, then just 18, would escape the boredom
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of a middle-ranking marriage in a provincial pile,
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when she was charged with a mission of national importance -
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to go to Europe
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to tell the exiled King that the time was ripe for his return.
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She was chosen because she was beautiful, intelligent
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and was married to one of Charles' most staunch supporters.
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But most importantly of all, she'd survived the smallpox.
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She was lucky to remain unscarred and, of course, she was now immune.
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With smallpox sweeping the continent,
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she was the only one of Charles' followers who could safely be sent.
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Within days of their meeting, the two of them were smitten with love.
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Barbara would now go shooting up into the social stratosphere
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because of her relationship with the King,
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rather leaving behind her husband. This was challenging for him.
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17th-century men did not expect to be eclipsed by their wives.
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This is Barbara's long-suffering husband, Roger Palmer.
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He'd lent the King money during the Restoration,
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helped him get back on the throne
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and he could have expected a reward.
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Instead, the King steals his wife. Roger is humiliated.
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He does at least get a title.
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He's made Earl of Castlemaine by way of compensation,
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but even this is tainted.
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It comes with the proviso that it will be inherited
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by Barbara's illegitimate children with the King.
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Poor old Roger.
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He hasn't got a proper chin anyway!
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Until now, a woman's title, position and prosperity
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had all been determined by her husband.
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Only as a widow could she have independent wealth and status,
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but there's no doubt who was the boss in the Palmer household.
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Barbara's rise reflected a wider movement
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from the medieval to the modern.
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Her success is all the more extraordinary
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if you compare it to a woman's expectations in the recent past.
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WHISPERS: First of all there is this.
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That's is going to go like this.
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There are little strings to tie this up.
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For nearly ten years before the Restoration,
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England had been governed by a puritan, Oliver Cromwell,
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an intensely religious manic depressive
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with strict moral views about hard work and piety.
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Are you covering up my hair, cos it's dangerously sexy.
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Fun and frivolities like gambling, the theatre and sports
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had been banned.
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Even the way men and women dressed was under stern scrutiny.
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Puritan leaders and soldiers had roamed the streets
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making sure women's hair was covered up.
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So am I dressed like a proper puritan lady of the 1650s now?
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You are a perfectly turned out puritan lady.
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Very, very proper and very demure.
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And would my parish priest have approved of this get-up?
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He would have been delighted to have seen you like this and,
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in fact, he would have been even more delighted
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if ALL the women were dressed just like you.
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There's no hair showing at all. No skin, no flesh.
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No skin, no flesh.
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Everything is all very demure.
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It makes me feel very submissive.
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I feel like I'm in a uniform.
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You couldn't tell me apart from another puritan lady.
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But I'll tell you what I think is positive about this outfit.
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It feels warm.
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It's really thick, woolly stuff and also there's quite a lot of legroom.
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I feel like I could do a bit of ninja kicking if I want to.
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There's plenty of volume to it,
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but I can't imagine going to a party dressed like this.
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I don't think you would be out there partying all night.
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I can imagine you sitting there reading and, in fact,
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this is a decade that actually saw women as businesswomen,
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actually taking on the responsibility of family finances and so on,
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and actually doing it very, very well indeed.
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But the lack of parties is all going to change, isn't it?
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The 1660s saw the beginning of a very different world.
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Let's have a look at that one.
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Now I'm going to be a court lady of the 1660s.
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But it's not a proper gown, this, is it?
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No, this is little more than just a negligee.
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Basically, I'm wearing my underwear here.
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You are wearing your underwear.
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Now, in contrast to the other one,
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it feels decadent and luxurious
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and it also feels like it could quite easily just sort of fall off.
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Well, I think that's most of the point, actually. It probably could.
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And if the King were to suddenly appear,
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that would be exactly what both of us would hope to happen, I guess?
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The King, without a doubt, would have been completely delighted.
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- If all my clothes had suddenly fallen off?
- Yes, I'm sure he would.
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Wanting all your clothes to fall off in order to get ahead
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is hardly the ultimate expression of girl power.
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But for the Restoration mistress,
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it wasn't a straightforward matter of male exploitation.
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For the first time, some women were taking some control for themselves.
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For centuries, it had been pretty much expected that a man would have
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his wife for bearing his children and a mistress for pleasure.
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What was new in the 1660s was a sense that it was becoming
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more socially acceptable to be a mistress.
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It was almost a matter of a positive career choice.
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This woman, Catherine Sedley, for example, was independently wealthy.
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She could have made a good marriage, but she chose instead to be
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a mistress of James, Duke of York, the future James II.
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She also went about it in an unconventional way.
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People at the time didn't think that she was very good-looking at all,
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so it was said she won him not through her beauty,
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but through her wit and her brains.
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The career mistress was something completely new.
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The country had never seen anything like it.
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But Charles and his Royal Court had done.
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They'd spent ten years in exile on the continent
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where women not only played a prominent role at court,
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but gained respect for it.
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We've got Charles II in France for a good bit of his exile.
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And there's a kind of idea that he learns how to have
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mistresses in France - cos that's what French people do,
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they have lots of mistresses - is this fair or not?
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I think he was learning this new ethos and practice,
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which is a sort of big deal in the 1650s in France,
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that's known as gallantry, a highly codified way
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of thinking about friendship and flirtation.
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On the continent, aristocratic women were debating
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and writing about exactly what they wanted from their relationships
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in a totally new cultural environment - the salon,
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attended by men, but hosted by women.
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One influential novel, Clelia,
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claimed to be authored by Monsieur de Scudery,
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but actually it was written by his sister, a famous salonniere.
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It's an allegorical lesson in love,
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with a route planner to help both men and women on their way -
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the Map Of Tenderness.
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So, these are the little travellers about to go on their journey,
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and they're starting at the city of New Friendship.
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And we pass through pleasing verses, a gallant letter, an amorous letter,
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and after that we get to new forms of emotion
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sincerity, a great heart, honesty, generosity, and so on.
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This seems pretty positive to me, if you're talking about
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a friendship between a man and a woman,
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and they're saying it requires respect and honesty
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and generosity and sincerity...
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Exactly, and they're showing men how to get there.
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So, do you think that some of the time,
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when Charles was playing around with all these women,
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actually he was being gallant towards them?
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He was following this French model of intersexual relationships?
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We tend to think of having mistresses as wild, party-ish behaviour,
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but these kinds of books help us to see that it's a highly codified
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kind of relation, and that it's the sort of relation in which women
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can ask for certain things and expect certain kinds of behaviour.
250
00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:12,960
At his restoration, Charles returned from exile unmarried,
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but with his new girlfriend, Barbara, on his arm,
252
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and a pocket full of enlightened, continental ideas.
253
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His court now showcased a new breed of women
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who thought differently, acted differently
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and looked different too.
256
00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,840
We can see this clearly in their portraits by the Restoration's
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00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,840
most fashionable court painter, Sir Peter Lely.
258
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,640
Now, it's a bit of a cliche to say it,
259
00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,040
but really all these women do look a bit like each other, don't they?
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- Is that fair?
- I think that's fair.
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You're looking at a look in a modern sense of the word.
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1960s, Twiggy,
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a fashion icon, everybody wants to dress like her,
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look like her, be photographed like her.
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And it's the same with Peter Lely portraits in the 1660s court.
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You've got this fashionable artist developing
267
00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:11,000
a sexy, new look for the 1660s decadent court of Charles II,
268
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and these are incredibly popular.
269
00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,000
You would get people coming along to Lely's studio saying,
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"I want to look like Barbara Villiers or Elizabeth Hamilton."
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And what are the constituents of the look, then?
272
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,600
They've all got that sort of sleepy look in the eyes,
273
00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,480
and they're all showing this part of their shoulders, aren't they?
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That must have been an erogenous zone.
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Sexualised, but virtuous.
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This particular portrait is of a women that is getting married,
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probably, around the time this portrait was painted.
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Just at the line of respectability.
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One centimetre lower and she could have been somebody scandalous.
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Absolutely, and I think you can see that in the art
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you can see that in how women had to navigate this world, as well.
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It was an empowering moment, in one respect.
283
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Beauty was a route towards court positions, court patronage,
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wealth, titles, a good husband...
285
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But at the same time,
286
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if you used it too much or if you slept with the wrong people...
287
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You could end up alone with syphilis.
288
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At the very least you're going to end up very pregnant and unwanted.
289
00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,800
For the first time, whether you were a mistress or not,
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00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,680
sexual allure defined the look of an age.
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Many people didn't like it but surprisingly,
292
00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:28,840
this decadence actually helped Charles to define his own reign.
293
00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,080
It distanced him, not only from Oliver Cromwell,
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00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,800
but just as importantly, from his father.
295
00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,960
Charles II erected this statue of his dad,
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00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,520
Charles I, after the Restoration,
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00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,360
and today it represents the durability of the monarchy,
298
00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:48,600
it looks like it's been there forever.
299
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,760
But at the time he erected it, Charles II must have been
300
00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,240
really conscious of how fragile the monarchy could be.
301
00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,840
We're within eyeshot, just down the road, of the spot
302
00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,760
where his father had had his head cut off.
303
00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,600
Charles II was really sensitive to the mistakes his father had made.
304
00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:06,640
He was keen not to repeat them.
305
00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,080
To make sure he didn't suffer his father's fate,
306
00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,640
Charles had to address a very fundamental problem.
307
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,400
What did it mean to be a king?
308
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:28,960
For centuries, the idea of monarchy had remained unchanged.
309
00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,000
Monarchs were divinely ordained,
310
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,120
and they didn't have to answer to anyone -
311
00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:36,720
not to their people, not to Parliament,
312
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,600
only to God himself.
313
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:46,360
So, down at that end we've got the King on his chair of estate,
314
00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:49,840
and we're standing here. What does this picture say to us?
315
00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:53,360
It's James I just getting to heaven.
316
00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:57,320
This picture says kings are appointed by God
317
00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:58,960
to be answerable to God,
318
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,520
and that means that if my conscience tells me God is saying something
319
00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,160
my subjects are not saying, I can ignore my subjects.
320
00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:07,520
High-risk policy.
321
00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,960
Charles I's fundamental belief in his own divinity
322
00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,520
had ultimately led to his execution.
323
00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,240
When Charles II reclaimed the throne on this very spot,
324
00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:23,320
he understood that a king was ill-advised to use his divinity
325
00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,560
as an excuse to ignore his subjects.
326
00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,560
But at the same time, nobody expected him to behave
327
00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,280
like an ordinary mortal, either.
328
00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,600
After all, his people still expected Charles
329
00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:37,880
to perform miracles.
330
00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,960
So, at certain times of the day you would have seen Charles II
331
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:45,360
doing this weird thing, touching for the King's evil.
332
00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:48,000
And that meant he was helping people
333
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,880
with this disease called scrofula. What is scrofula?
334
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,640
Your skin, especially your head, swells up
335
00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,720
and bursts into suppurating sores - looks ghastly, smells ghastly.
336
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,240
And the idea was, because he was appointed by God,
337
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,080
he could cure them with his touch.
338
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:03,920
He'd run his hands over them.
339
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,360
He is healing them by laying on hands.
340
00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:08,520
He is deliberately imitating Christ.
341
00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:12,640
In other words, in a very limited way and a very mortal way,
342
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,520
kings are also sons of God.
343
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:19,800
Charles was happy enough to perform his divine duties during the day,
344
00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:21,280
but he also saw no reason
345
00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,640
that he shouldn't indulge his human desires by night.
346
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,280
When one of his archbishops begged him
347
00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,200
to stop having girlfriends, Charles replied he couldn't believe
348
00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,560
that God would not forgive a little pleasure on the side.
349
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,400
And he likes being known as a passionate lover.
350
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,280
He sounds like a regular bloke.
351
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,720
So, Charles is full of contradictions.
352
00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:53,440
Sometimes he is the divine monarch.
353
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,320
Other times he's just a red-blooded man,
354
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,560
and it's this mismatch, I believe,
355
00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:01,240
that allowed the mistresses to rise to prominence.
356
00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:04,480
Yes, he was still the ultimate source of authority
357
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:07,120
and everyone depended on him for their position,
358
00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:11,640
BUT women like Barbara were able to exploit his human weaknesses.
359
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:16,160
She could hope to win as much power as any male government minister.
360
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:22,080
A royal mistress like Barbara could take on the political establishment,
361
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,920
but she also had to fight an even greater battle.
362
00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:30,840
In 1661, Charles did the right royal thing and got married
363
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:34,840
to a Portuguese Princess, Catherine of Braganza.
364
00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,160
How would Barbara manage now that she was up against
365
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:44,480
a far more formidable opponent - a wife. What's more, a queen.
366
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:49,080
There's a very good reason that these three are hung like this.
367
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,680
We have the King, we have his wife, and we have the mistress,
368
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,280
all three of them together.
369
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,240
It's almost as if he's got a lady on each arm.
370
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:01,880
This is Catherine of Braganza as she was at about 22
371
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:05,680
when she turned up from Portugal, though she looks younger.
372
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,640
And these strange Portuguese dresses that she wore caused
373
00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,960
a lot of consternation at court. People found them very odd indeed.
374
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,920
Also, this strange sort of cowlick she's got on her forehead.
375
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,280
And because she was always in black, the King said,
376
00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,760
"You've brought me a bat! What am I going to do with her?"
377
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:23,560
She looks like a little goody-goody.
378
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,520
Over here, by terrific contrast, my goodness,
379
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,520
it looks at first like this is a religious image,
380
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,840
it's the Madonna and Child,
381
00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,160
and a copy of this picture ended up in a nunnery.
382
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,880
The nuns were quite surprised when they discovered who it really is.
383
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,160
It's Barbara Villiers, the King's mistress,
384
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:48,520
holding up the King's illegitimate son as the baby Jesus!
385
00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,680
The audacity of this is quite something.
386
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,120
Also, probably, she was pregnant again at this point,
387
00:22:55,120 --> 00:22:57,080
as Catherine clearly wasn't.
388
00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,520
All this drapery and the pink and the blue,
389
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,640
a sort of explosion of luscious fertility.
390
00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,680
So that's another hold that she had over the King -
391
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:07,280
her ability to reproduce.
392
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,360
So, actually, sorry to say it, Catherine,
393
00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:14,640
it looks like the mistress holds more cards than you do.
394
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:21,880
Barbara had sexual allure, wit, and Charles' beloved child.
395
00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:26,080
But Catherine brought a political alliance with a foreign power
396
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,640
and a lucrative dowry.
397
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,120
Catherine gave Charles Bombay, a foothold in India,
398
00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:34,040
the richest country in the world.
399
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,480
Queen and mistress clashed head to head
400
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:40,920
and for the first time in history
401
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,840
it wasn't clear who'd come out on top.
402
00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:53,240
Catherine of Braganza discovered that the King had a mistress -
403
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:55,320
this was Barbara - and Catherine was furious.
404
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,960
She said, "Never am I going to meet that terrible woman."
405
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,920
But Barbara wasn't going to give up and disappear.
406
00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,920
She nagged the King to make her one of Catherine's
407
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:08,040
Ladies of the Bedchamber, some of the Queen's most intimate servants.
408
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,240
But Catherine realised what was going on.
409
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,160
She got the list of new ladies, she saw Barbara's name
410
00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:14,760
and she crossed her out.
411
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,440
But Barbara still didn't give up.
412
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,000
She came to Hampton Court and had herself introduced to the Queen.
413
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,120
The Queen didn't catch the name and hadn't realised what had happened.
414
00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:27,360
When she discovered, she was furious.
415
00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:30,120
She burst into tears and she had a nosebleed.
416
00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:34,920
She complained to the King, but the King took Barbara's side.
417
00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:39,560
It was devastatingly obvious how deeply the mistress
418
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,080
was embedded in the very heart of the court
419
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,560
if even the Queen couldn't stand up to her.
420
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,560
Now, you may think that Catherine of Braganza sounds like
421
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,720
a bit of a pushover, but she did do something very important.
422
00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,600
She came from Portugal, a nation of tea drinkers
423
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:02,960
because of its trading links with the Far East.
424
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,520
When she came over to England for the first time,
425
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,840
she had a terrible journey, she was seasick,
426
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,720
she landed and said, "Please, give me a cup of tea!"
427
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,160
But the English said, "What's that? We've got some beer, will that do?"
428
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,400
So Catherine really popularised tea drinking.
429
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:19,160
It changed the lives of women,
430
00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:21,600
because now they would hold tea parties,
431
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,760
domestic occasions, men excluded,
432
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,600
and the men were sometimes quite annoyed about this.
433
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,120
So, Catherine didn't give the King of England a son,
434
00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:32,960
but she did give us our national drink.
435
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:43,360
Charles would grow very fond of both Catherine and Barbara.
436
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,000
But as his reign progressed,
437
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,240
he'd also grow fond of quite a few other ladies, too.
438
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,840
So fond that the mistresses began to take over the whole palace.
439
00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:05,240
This is the Palace of Whitehall as Charles inherited it in 1660.
440
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,800
And the interesting thing about the geography of Whitehall Palace
441
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,400
is the way that it reflects the changing geography of the court.
442
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:14,760
People get better rooms as they climb up the ladder.
443
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,880
When the King gets married, he spends a lot of money
444
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,600
refurbishing rooms for his wife, Catherine of Braganza.
445
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:25,000
There she is, quite close to him at number 23.
446
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,560
But, even closer to the King, this apartment next to him, 24,
447
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:31,520
belongs to the Maids of Honour,
448
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,680
young ladies of the court, always very good-looking, we're told.
449
00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:38,480
They're supposed to be an ornament to the court - basically they're party girls,
450
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:42,320
so I think he found that quite convenient, having access to them.
451
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:47,200
Up here is Barbara Villiers, in a separate house on King Street.
452
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,120
But as time went on and Barbara became more and more powerful,
453
00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:52,920
she was given an apartment actually in the Palace proper.
454
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:56,240
Later, Barbara gets kind of ousted, really,
455
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,120
by Louise, the French opposition.
456
00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:03,800
She gets given a vast apartment, 24 rooms up here.
457
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,680
And then along comes Frances Stewart.
458
00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:08,440
The King likes her very much indeed.
459
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:14,120
He gives her apartment 10, which is the closest yet to his own rooms.
460
00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:16,920
So, imagine you were poor old Catherine, the Queen,
461
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,600
stuck in the middle here, with all these mistresses
462
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:22,920
gradually creeping towards you down the palace corridors.
463
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,080
She must have felt like she was under siege.
464
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,720
With so many women invading the Palace,
465
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,760
there was a constant cat fight for attention.
466
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,880
So, women actually do like that tightening effect.
467
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:42,800
Yes, it gets rid of wrinkles, right?
468
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,760
- Like botox.
- Yes, wrinkles like botox!
469
00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,960
During the Commonwealth, puritan leaders tried to pass a law
470
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,000
against the wearing of make up.
471
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,120
A more adventurous woman
472
00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:56,360
- would certainly paint the nipples with cochineal.
- I don't fancy it.
473
00:27:56,360 --> 00:27:58,720
You've porridged me!
474
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:00,720
'But now mistresses became masters
475
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,960
'of this new and supposedly sexy art.'
476
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:08,200
This is not lead, but it's the equivalent of lead.
477
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,560
Now, women did know that lead was poisonous,
478
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:16,000
but there was nothing as effective at covering the face.
479
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:17,720
You've turned me into a ghost.
480
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,080
Perhaps when we put the cochineal on you might be a bit more convinced.
481
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:22,440
Which is?
482
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:27,480
Beetle wings, first discovered by the conquistadors in Mexico
483
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,000
in the early 16th century.
484
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,040
To me it just looks like a horrific bruise.
485
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:32,880
Well, it may look like that to you,
486
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:36,040
but it may have sort of given a subliminal sexual message.
487
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,480
John Evelyn, who was a bit of a serious person,
488
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,560
said that now women are wearing this make-up,
489
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:44,960
he can't tell who's a prostitute and who isn't.
490
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:47,640
Men throughout history have always said,
491
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:49,960
if women wear a lot of make-up,
492
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,640
they're out to sort of entice men and deceive them and so on.
493
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:56,200
Then we get writers like Margaret Cavendish,
494
00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:59,000
who I think you could describe as a proto-feminist,
495
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,280
and she says it's fine to wear make-up.
496
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,080
Yes, she says it's perfectly permissible for women
497
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:06,800
to try and look beautiful, and why shouldn't they?
498
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:08,520
Of course, the funny thing is,
499
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:13,200
all these debates about how much make-up is OK still go on today.
500
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:14,720
Absolutely recognisable.
501
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,280
It's an argument that will run and run.
502
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:19,200
- There?
- A bit further down.
503
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:20,720
Yes, there.
504
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:23,320
That means passion.
505
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:38,920
The rise of the career mistress brought with it endless intrigue.
506
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:43,400
Wives were now openly competing with mistresses,
507
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:46,120
husbands competing with their wives,
508
00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:47,920
and mistresses with each other.
509
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,400
With all this high-profile coming and going of mistresses at court,
510
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,760
you won't be surprised when you learn the name
511
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:57,560
of Charles II's favourite dance.
512
00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,920
It was called Cuckold's All A-Row,
513
00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:02,880
or in other words, a line of cheated-on husbands.
514
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,120
COURTLY MUSIC PLAYS
515
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,760
Even something as innocent as a dance
516
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,920
became an opportunity for one-upmanship.
517
00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:15,640
The interesting thing about this dance
518
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,600
is that, while you're dancing with your partner...
519
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,320
- Who might be the King, let's imagine.
- He might well be.
520
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,840
I'm actually looking into his eyes and going
521
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,080
sort of to and fro with him. It's quite a promiscuous dance.
522
00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,720
If I was Catherine of Braganza and I was dancing here
523
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,080
with my husband the King, I don't like the sound of this,
524
00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,280
because she might be a royal mistress,
525
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,520
and she's a much better dancer than I am.
526
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:50,520
It's all just a question
527
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,120
of the vertical expression of the horizontal desire.
528
00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:54,920
I could not have put that better myself.
529
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,040
It was positively perilous to stand up to a mistress.
530
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,160
One respectable countess who spread nasty rumours about Barbara
531
00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:10,680
found herself out in the cold.
532
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:15,520
At a royal dance, the lady was expecting to partner the King.
533
00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:18,680
Instead, he banished her from the court on the spot.
534
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:32,640
At the new Restoration court,
535
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,760
you'd be mad to insult Charles' mistresses.
536
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,560
But here's the interesting thing - if a woman spurns Charles himself
537
00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:43,920
and refused to be his mistress, she might just get away with it.
538
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,280
This is Frances Stewart.
539
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,720
She comes to court, makes a huge impression and, famously,
540
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:53,240
the King goes after her really hard, but she says no.
541
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,920
She wants to get married and she has to do it secretly.
542
00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,120
She runs off and marries the Duke of Richmond.
543
00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:00,840
And this could have been a catastrophic error,
544
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:02,400
he could have been furious.
545
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,080
Luckily, though, he does forgive her.
546
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,520
Frances' actions and Charles' response
547
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:12,480
reveal something quite surprising about the Restoration court -
548
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,920
the level of respect given to women.
549
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,600
Even on the Continent, no woman upon whose door
550
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:22,520
the French king knocked at night would be allowed to keep it closed.
551
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:26,280
Some nosy parkers, like Samuel Pepys,
552
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:29,920
suggested that Frances did eventually sleep with Charles,
553
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:31,520
if only to keep the peace.
554
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:39,000
But in public the virtuous Frances was rewarded with an unprecedented accolade.
555
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:45,320
Whether or not Frances Stewart did finally succumb to Charles II,
556
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,760
there's no doubt he found her absolutely ravishing.
557
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,240
Samuel Pepys did too.
558
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:54,040
He said that she was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen.
559
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:58,080
In 1668, Charles personally selected Frances
560
00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:00,240
to be a model for the figure of Britannia.
561
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,840
It was really unusual for him to choose an important,
562
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:06,520
named courtier like this, and Britannia was to appear on a medal
563
00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:09,240
struck to celebrate peace with the Dutch.
564
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,400
And this image would prove very durable.
565
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:17,800
In 1672 it appeared again on a copper farthing of Charles II's.
566
00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:19,720
And the image will look familiar,
567
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:23,280
because here's a 50p piece from 2006,
568
00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:27,040
still in circulation today, still with Frances Stewart.
569
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:29,800
That's immortality for you, isn't it?
570
00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,760
300 years later, you can still find Charles II's beauties
571
00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:35,200
in your back pocket.
572
00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:42,080
In the open, accessible life of the Restoration Palace,
573
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:45,440
Charles made no attempt to hide his women.
574
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,360
In fact, they were becoming celebrities.
575
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:52,800
One of their biggest fans was history's most famous diarist,
576
00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:54,280
Samuel Pepys.
577
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,200
His original diaries are locked away in his own library
578
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:01,400
at Magdalene College, Cambridge.
579
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,640
Written in shorthand, they're very hard to decipher.
580
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,680
Wisely so, because they're full of Pepys' sexual misdemeanours,
581
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:12,520
as well as lascivious references to Charles' mistresses.
582
00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:17,120
Barbara alone is mentioned 184 times.
583
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:21,240
And this one's particularly stalker-ish behaviour.
584
00:34:21,240 --> 00:34:25,520
In the code version he's left some words in clear,
585
00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:30,040
and those words are "privy garden", "Castlemaine's" and "bottoms".
586
00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:32,680
Make a sentence out of that!
587
00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:34,840
Well, if you connect them up...
588
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,680
They do actually form a sentence, which is...
589
00:34:39,240 --> 00:34:42,480
OK, he's in the privy garden at Whitehall and he says
590
00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,720
he sees "the finest smocks and linen petticoats
591
00:34:45,720 --> 00:34:49,360
"of my Lady Castlemaine's, laced with rich lace
592
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:51,640
"at the bottoms that ever I saw."
593
00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:54,480
And it did him good to look upon them.
594
00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:56,320
The old perv! Don't you think?
595
00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,440
He's looking at her underwear drying on a washing line.
596
00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:03,280
You do have to remember that underwear was much more
597
00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:05,360
uncommon then than it is now.
598
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,880
These women, particularly Barbara, had quite an effect on him,
599
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,680
- didn't they?
- Oh, tremendous effect.
600
00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:16,320
Yes, there is the occasion when Pepys goes to the Chapel Royal
601
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:20,120
and he's registering that there's both the Queen
602
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:24,000
and Lady Castlemaine - amazingly - in her nightclothes.
603
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:25,520
What happens?
604
00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:30,480
Well, "I did make myself to do the thing..."
605
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:32,880
He did the thing? He did the thing?!
606
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,800
With Lady Castlemaine and the Queen and all those people present?!
607
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:39,560
"..by mere imagination." He experienced an emission.
608
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,480
He's in the room with the Queen and Barbara Castlemaine,
609
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,800
and he's got so excited that...
610
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:48,360
- Yes, and, to his own embarrassment...
- To my embarrassment, too!
611
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:50,160
And you are blushing!
612
00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:52,800
THEY LAUGH
613
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:54,800
Oh, deary me! Samuel Pepys!
614
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:00,640
With a new vogue for celebrity prints,
615
00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:04,560
Pepys could even collect pin-ups of his favourite crushes.
616
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,280
And this is Samuel Pepys' actual scrapbook.
617
00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:13,600
These are all of the famous faces that he decided to cut out and keep.
618
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,240
This is the section where it gets really interesting.
619
00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:19,560
It's called "Ladies, et cetera."
620
00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:23,040
He's got some historical figures,
621
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:27,640
but flipping forwards, we get to the page of the royal mistresses.
622
00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,440
Here they all are. We've got Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland.
623
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,240
Actually, she's looking here a bit like a man.
624
00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:35,680
Almost like Charles II himself, I'd say.
625
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:39,960
Here she is looking over her shoulder in a different pose. Lovely pearls.
626
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:42,800
Here is Louise, the Duchess of Portsmouth.
627
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,920
Now, what's new about this is not that the King had mistresses,
628
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,440
this had been known before, Henry VIII et cetera,
629
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:53,320
but now everybody knows what they looked like.
630
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:55,280
And we've got the wrong idea about this.
631
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:58,480
You think that horrible magazines like Heat and Closer
632
00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:01,160
were invented somehow in the late 20th century.
633
00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:06,160
Not so. This popular print culture goes right back to the 1660s.
634
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:10,280
For the first time, cheap, printed pictures
635
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:14,080
gave people at large a chance to leer at the rich and famous,
636
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:17,120
and many grasped it enthusiastically.
637
00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:21,920
While all of these pin-ups were aristos,
638
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:25,960
the most celebrated of Charles' mistresses very definitely wasn't.
639
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:30,920
The London pad he bought for her is, ironically,
640
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:34,520
now the site of a highly respectable gentleman's club,
641
00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:39,080
but in it is the most revealing portrait of them all.
642
00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:42,240
This is Nell Gwynn.
643
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:46,600
And imagine the equivalent today,
644
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:50,560
a leading member of the Royal family acknowledging a mistress,
645
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,840
her being a cockney actress, having her photographed nude
646
00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:58,360
by Mario Testino, and circulating the images for everybody to see.
647
00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:05,640
Of all the mistresses, Nell remains the most iconic.
648
00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:09,000
With Barbara still on the scene, she rose from cinder girl
649
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:14,000
to orange seller to actress and finally to become Charles' lover.
650
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:20,400
So, this is said to be Nell Gwynn's actual fruit knife
651
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:22,880
that she used for cutting up oranges.
652
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:24,400
Do you believe this story?
653
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:28,400
- I do, I'm afraid.
- Don't be afraid, it's a great story.
654
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:31,960
Well, yes, I mean, her life is as much folklore as history,
655
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:33,960
so we have to take a lot on trust,
656
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,800
but oranges were very important to her life.
657
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:40,800
Nell was so famous that she even inspired
658
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:43,520
her own range of mistress merchandise.
659
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,120
These are brilliant, they're little outfits,
660
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:49,920
and you can put them over the miniature of her
661
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,320
to give her different costumes and looks.
662
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:55,320
Look, we can turn that into a nun, if we want to.
663
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:58,600
- Which one are you going to choose?
- Well, how about the crown?
664
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,120
Because I'm sure she must have dreamt of the crown in her wilder moments.
665
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:04,120
'Nell's relationship with Charles
666
00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:06,320
'was the ultimate Cinderella story...'
667
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,000
What's she buying in this particular bill of goods?
668
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,000
'..taking her from rags to unbelievable riches.'
669
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,680
This is a bill for the upholstery of her coach.
670
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:18,960
And it has a new glass body.
671
00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:21,800
That's like the glass coach in Cinderella, isn't it?
672
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:25,280
Where she goes to the ball, everyone could see who was inside.
673
00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:28,600
And she spent £146 on it. How much money is that today?
674
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,600
- That's about £12,500 today.
- Phew!
675
00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:34,360
Now, where did she get her money from?
676
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:39,240
- She was awarded an annuity of £5,000 by the Treasury.
- The Treasury!
677
00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:41,040
That's official, then,
678
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:44,160
this is the Treasury actually giving her money on behalf of the nation.
679
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:47,040
Absolutely, Charles would do anything for a quiet life.
680
00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:50,000
But this is actually a small sum compared to the other mistresses.
681
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:55,040
5,000 a year - I mean, Barbara was over 15,000,
682
00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:59,960
and Louise, 19,000, which is about 10.5 million in today's money.
683
00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:04,400
So this is to Mrs Eleanor Gwynn for the support of herself
684
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:07,520
and Charles, Earl of Burford, that was her son.
685
00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:10,920
And it's also your own title, cos you are a direct descendant, aren't you?
686
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:12,160
That's right, yes.
687
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:14,880
She does sound like someone I would truly like to meet.
688
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,880
Yes, she was a very modern character in many ways.
689
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:23,960
The public purse gave Nell and the rest a luxury lifestyle.
690
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,240
But they weren't embarrassed about it,
691
00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:28,320
they made no attempt to hide themselves away.
692
00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:33,000
- And this looks like Nell Gwynn lived here.
- She did.
693
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:36,440
Is this all her house?
694
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:38,640
Yes, it's now three, but that was all hers, yes.
695
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:41,080
- It was all Gwynn Towers.
- Yes!
696
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,360
They were happy to flaunt their riches.
697
00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:50,360
Their brash and brazen behaviour was best spotted at Newmarket,
698
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:53,760
in the racing season - Restoration Central
699
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,480
for royal playboys and playgirls.
700
00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:59,600
During these racing seasons, the King came to town.
701
00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:01,040
Who did he bring with him?
702
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:03,120
The girls!
703
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:04,680
Les femmes.
704
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,680
The Queen came, she stayed at Audley End...
705
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:10,720
- So, she's a little bit out of the way?
- She's out of the way.
706
00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:16,880
And here, Nell, who as we know was over the road from the Palace,
707
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:20,240
Barbara Castlemaine, Louise...
708
00:41:20,240 --> 00:41:22,240
And what else was going on in the town?
709
00:41:22,240 --> 00:41:24,880
Well, it was just pleasure, endless pleasure.
710
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:27,760
It really was like every cliche of the Restoration, if you like,
711
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:30,360
and it was all happening in this little town
712
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:32,400
whose native population was 600.
713
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:36,080
Can you imagine? And then, suddenly, this descends upon it.
714
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:37,960
Tell me about the gambling.
715
00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:39,480
The sums were extraordinary.
716
00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:42,360
- I mean, quite a lot of it was on the horses.
- That's Nell's favourite.
717
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:44,640
Nell used to gamble on the horses, yes.
718
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:47,560
Barbara Castlemaine had a gambling den.
719
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:49,960
The Duchess of Mazarin had a gambling den,
720
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:53,720
and, according to Pepys, I think on one night
721
00:41:53,720 --> 00:41:58,080
Barbara lost £25,000, which would be...
722
00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:01,200
- Is that a million pounds?
- That would be more a million.
723
00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:02,840
And on another night won 15,
724
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:05,880
so she clawed some of it back, but not nearly enough.
725
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:09,600
We're really talking about the 17th-century Las Vegas, aren't we?
726
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:14,560
Yes! Twice a year it became, in a way, the capital of England.
727
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:17,120
The whole world came here.
728
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:24,360
The excesses displayed by Charles' mistresses
729
00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:27,560
may have got him talked about and admired by some,
730
00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:31,120
but not everything that was said was pleasant.
731
00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:34,880
Just like today, celebrity was a double-edged sword.
732
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:39,720
We've been making it sound like Newmarket
733
00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:42,840
and the whole world at the court was jolly good fun,
734
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:47,000
but, actually, there was a nasty undercurrent to the whole thing.
735
00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:49,560
And some people were very aware of this,
736
00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:52,080
like the diarist, John Evelyn.
737
00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:56,320
He says that Charles II would have been an excellent prince,
738
00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:59,160
had he been less addicted to women.
739
00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:02,040
And Evelyn witnessed some pretty squalid scenes.
740
00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:06,400
He saw Mrs Nellie, as he calls her, the impudent comedian,
741
00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:08,680
having a bit of a ding-dong with the King,
742
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:13,880
who walks out, leaves her, goes instead to the Duchess of Cleveland - that's Barbara -
743
00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:17,640
and Evelyn calls her "another lady of pleasure,
744
00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:19,880
"and the curse of our nation."
745
00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:27,200
By opening up the decadent world of his court, Charles also
746
00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:31,400
opened it up to unprecedented condemnation and satire.
747
00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:36,800
Only 30 years previously, the polemicist William Prynne
748
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:41,120
had published some criticism of Charles I's wife.
749
00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:43,920
As a punishment, he had his ears cut off.
750
00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:49,440
In the Restoration, though, Charles II was probably more worried
751
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:53,480
about keeping his own head attached than he was about a little mockery,
752
00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:57,600
something with which Lord Rochester, a leading court rake,
753
00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:00,520
was more than happy to oblige.
754
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,840
So, we've got to cross the rude words out of this
755
00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:05,200
for family viewing.
756
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:07,440
We'll have to start right at the top, I think.
757
00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:11,560
- The King of Sodom, his name is Bolloximian.
- Yes.
758
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:14,600
Bolloximian. That's got to go. We can't have the word "bollocks".
759
00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:17,040
He's out.
760
00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:22,200
Lord Rochester's not-so-subtly entitled play Sodom
761
00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:24,560
wasn't intended for the wider public,
762
00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:26,720
only for select members of the court.
763
00:44:26,720 --> 00:44:29,120
That's what makes it so outrageous -
764
00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:31,800
Rochester was being rude about the very people
765
00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:35,040
who would have read his work, including the King.
766
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,960
And it's pretty strong stuff.
767
00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:41,360
- Out.
- You definitely can't say the next one.
768
00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:44,320
- Her name is Queen
- BLEEP
- -gratia.
769
00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:47,520
Which sort of means "free c-word".
770
00:44:47,520 --> 00:44:49,040
I get what you mean.
771
00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:52,240
That's Catherine of Braganza, who was Queen of England.
772
00:44:52,240 --> 00:44:53,960
That's quite shocking, isn't it?
773
00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:57,520
This is the young prince, and his name is Prickett.
774
00:44:57,520 --> 00:44:59,840
We can't let that pass.
775
00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:03,920
- If it was a sort of hedge it would be OK, but it's not.
- It's not.
776
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:07,360
Princess Swivia, who does a bit of swiving.
777
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:10,280
- Swiving, yes, which is
- BLEEP.
778
00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:11,640
Yes. She's got to go.
779
00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:15,120
The general of the army is called...
780
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:18,280
Immature, I know. His name is Buggeranthus.
781
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:20,560
That's James, Duke of York.
782
00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:22,080
Lover of buggery?
783
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:26,040
It's sort of acceptable, today, is it? Bugger?
784
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:29,840
You old bugger? It sounds a little bit like a plant, to me.
785
00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:31,400
Don't you think?
786
00:45:31,400 --> 00:45:33,720
Maid of honour called...
787
00:45:33,720 --> 00:45:36,760
- BLEEP
- -adilla.
- Is that Barbara?
- That is Barbara.
788
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:37,920
It's got to go.
789
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:40,320
Clitoris - now that's just medical, isn't it?
790
00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:42,640
It is, you might say like 'cly-tor-is'.
791
00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:45,120
That's Louise, Duchess of Portsmouth.
792
00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:46,920
That is the French mistress.
793
00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:49,720
I think that'll cause sniggers in the fifth form, that's got to go.
794
00:45:49,720 --> 00:45:52,760
We've lost nearly all of our characters as being too rude, I'm afraid.
795
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:58,200
This may all sound like smutty, juvenile filth,
796
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:02,240
but the play was actually a biting satire on the times.
797
00:46:02,240 --> 00:46:06,680
Sodom, the title of the piece, refers to the biblical city,
798
00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:10,520
whose population was punished for their lewd behaviour.
799
00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:15,280
Writing it in 1680, following on from the plague
800
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:18,680
and the Great Fire of London, Rochester was implying
801
00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:22,040
that Restoration England had suffered the same fate.
802
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:26,600
All because of the antics of Charles and his court.
803
00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:33,840
Let's see Rochester's lasting epitaph for the King.
804
00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:37,440
Yeah, this is, in fact, a satire on the King,
805
00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:42,600
and in essence the King wrought his kingdom as his sexual desires would.
806
00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:45,240
So, there's a beautiful little phrase here,
807
00:46:45,240 --> 00:46:50,800
"His sceptre and his..." there's a dash, "..are of equal length."
808
00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:53,720
- We know that means
- BLEEP,
- his sceptre and his
- BLEEP
809
00:46:53,720 --> 00:46:56,960
are of a length, which is quite a compliment to the King, really.
810
00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:59,600
- He's saying he's got a big one.
- Yes.
811
00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:05,520
It's a brilliant piece of political insight, though, as well,
812
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:08,360
because as we know, if you wanted political favours
813
00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:10,640
if you wanted access, intimacy with the King,
814
00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:13,160
you went through one of his favourite mistresses.
815
00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:18,840
- So, in one sense this statement is absolutely right.
- It's true.
816
00:47:20,560 --> 00:47:25,040
Even by Restoration standards, it's incredible that Rochester
817
00:47:25,040 --> 00:47:28,200
got away with little more than a slap on the wrist.
818
00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:33,680
But he was a court insider, and Charles, ever the Merry Monarch,
819
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:35,480
saw the funny side of things.
820
00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:43,000
Even so, Rochester's bawdy satires contained a very dangerous truth.
821
00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:47,440
Charles' women weren't just powerful in the bedroom.
822
00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:51,520
They were beginning to redefine the route through
823
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:53,320
the very corridors of power.
824
00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:56,720
So, this is where the security begins.
825
00:47:56,720 --> 00:47:59,280
Yes, this is where we at least have to be well-dressed,
826
00:47:59,280 --> 00:48:01,960
Almost anybody can get into this first room,
827
00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:04,480
the King's guard chamber, which is packed with people
828
00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:06,960
waiting to see who's coming to the court and who's not.
829
00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:08,600
It's basically celebrity watching.
830
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:11,440
'Before the Restoration, official court businesses
831
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:15,320
'was conducted front of house, with strict and public protocol.'
832
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:21,240
Look at all of these guys. We have checkpoints going on and on.
833
00:48:21,240 --> 00:48:23,320
And you can see the layers and layers.
834
00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:26,200
So, we will only get through if we're really important.
835
00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:28,280
If we're a member of the King's close household
836
00:48:28,280 --> 00:48:31,120
- or one of his ministers or counsellors.
- Thank you very much.
837
00:48:31,120 --> 00:48:33,640
It reminds me of being at the airport, actually,
838
00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:36,760
and going through all the different security procedures.
839
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:40,000
You get the sense of penetrating further and further in.
840
00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:44,600
So, this is the top of the tree, it's the King's private closet.
841
00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:46,880
This is where the King might do business,
842
00:48:46,880 --> 00:48:49,240
look over papers, sign them, that kind of thing.
843
00:48:49,240 --> 00:48:51,080
It's the heart of government, if you like.
844
00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:55,040
Yes, but it's also where the King's public and private worlds meet.
845
00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:59,400
So, we have what appears to be this very plain wall, luxurious.
846
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:05,240
But this hidden gib door which links the King's public and private world.
847
00:49:05,240 --> 00:49:08,760
The secret door going to the secret STAIRS.
848
00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:12,320
It's a real contrast, isn't it, to the grand, formal, painted front stairs?
849
00:49:12,320 --> 00:49:15,480
Yes, it's nothing like as magnificent, but these are far more important.
850
00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:17,680
This is where people are coming to meet the King
851
00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:20,400
that he has decided are the people he wants to see.
852
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:23,320
- Including women.
- Absolutely, including his mistresses.
853
00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:25,800
So, they have astonishing political power,
854
00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:28,600
but they can't be seen to be influencing the King,
855
00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:32,160
so this backstairs system allows for them to come and go,
856
00:49:32,160 --> 00:49:35,680
gives them status and allows them to operate politically.
857
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:38,080
And it's almost the same that we have today.
858
00:49:38,080 --> 00:49:40,440
So you might go and formally visit Downing Street
859
00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:43,960
and drive up the front and be received in the downstairs,
860
00:49:43,960 --> 00:49:48,880
public rooms, or you might go and have dinner with the Camerons
861
00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:50,840
upstairs in the flat.
862
00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:53,320
So, it's the same arrangement, and both are vital,
863
00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:56,360
but the King can partly rule and control
864
00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:59,080
by balancing these two public and private worlds.
865
00:49:59,080 --> 00:50:02,440
I love the fact that this backstairs, it's not impressive,
866
00:50:02,440 --> 00:50:04,720
it looks like you're not supposed to see it, really,
867
00:50:04,720 --> 00:50:08,120
but, actually, it's one of the most important bits of the whole Palace.
868
00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:11,280
Absolutely, it's the glue that holds the whole thing together.
869
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:17,400
The network of backstairs allowed Palace intrigue to flourish.
870
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:23,360
Behind the scenes whispers and bribes
871
00:50:23,360 --> 00:50:26,680
had always played a part in court politics.
872
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:31,440
But "backstairs politics" was now coined as a phrase.
873
00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:33,600
It was no secret that the mistresses
874
00:50:33,600 --> 00:50:35,760
were it's most skilful operators.
875
00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:41,480
If you were able to use the backstairs,
876
00:50:41,480 --> 00:50:44,040
it gave you a real edge in court politics.
877
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:47,280
Mistresses like Barbara didn't want to just get into the King's bed,
878
00:50:47,280 --> 00:50:50,760
they wanted to get his attention, ask him for favours,
879
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:54,040
and this is what made them so powerful, politically.
880
00:50:54,040 --> 00:50:58,360
Barbara even brought down the Earl of Clarendon, the Lord Chancellor.
881
00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:01,200
A hugely important figure in court politics,
882
00:51:01,200 --> 00:51:04,400
but she wanted the King to get rid of him, and he did.
883
00:51:05,600 --> 00:51:08,000
The result was that the Earl of Clarendon
884
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:09,920
hated Barbara with a vengeance.
885
00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:12,400
He couldn't even bring himself to use her name.
886
00:51:12,400 --> 00:51:16,080
He would just referred to her, rather sneeringly, as "the lady".
887
00:51:19,360 --> 00:51:23,240
People recognised that finding favour with a mistress could be
888
00:51:23,240 --> 00:51:28,440
a powerful political move, not just at home, but abroad.
889
00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:31,320
The power and the influence that these mistresses have
890
00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:33,080
is quite widely acknowledged.
891
00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:37,800
The best example of this, perhaps, is Louise de Kerouaille, the French mistress.
892
00:51:40,040 --> 00:51:44,680
She's actually planted in the British court by the King of France.
893
00:51:44,680 --> 00:51:47,760
He wants to increase French influence at the British court.
894
00:51:47,760 --> 00:51:50,880
He uses his secret weapon, he sends in Louise,
895
00:51:50,880 --> 00:51:54,720
because he knows she's going to catch the eye of Charles II.
896
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:59,880
As the prominent politician Lord Halifax complained,
897
00:51:59,880 --> 00:52:03,880
Charles lived with his ministers, as he did with his mistresses.
898
00:52:03,880 --> 00:52:06,440
He treated them all the same way.
899
00:52:07,960 --> 00:52:12,240
The political power of the mistresses brought its own risks.
900
00:52:12,240 --> 00:52:16,440
The inner court circle had long been quietly disgusted that women
901
00:52:16,440 --> 00:52:19,040
could bring down a member of the government
902
00:52:19,040 --> 00:52:21,160
or influence the King on foreign policy.
903
00:52:21,160 --> 00:52:23,840
But gradually, their criticism was spread more widely
904
00:52:23,840 --> 00:52:27,080
through the flourishing popular press.
905
00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:29,960
What's the significance of this little bit of paper?
906
00:52:29,960 --> 00:52:32,920
It's a pamphlet, it's a new mode of communication.
907
00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:36,160
A huge, new form of media of the 17th century?
908
00:52:36,160 --> 00:52:37,720
You could absolutely say that.
909
00:52:37,720 --> 00:52:40,800
It's making public information that wasn't available in print before,
910
00:52:40,800 --> 00:52:43,680
and that makes it available to a much broader readership.
911
00:52:43,680 --> 00:52:47,520
So, we have a big, new class of people in the later 17th century,
912
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:50,360
who are not at the top of society, they're in the middle of it,
913
00:52:50,360 --> 00:52:53,560
but they have views on the King, on the courtiers, on the government.
914
00:52:53,560 --> 00:52:56,000
Yeah, and that view begins to matter.
915
00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:58,560
Politicians, MPs, begin to be conscious
916
00:52:58,560 --> 00:53:01,000
of their representation in the press.
917
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:04,480
So, this is a dialogue between the Duchess of Portsmouth,
918
00:53:04,480 --> 00:53:07,720
who's Louise, the French mistress, and Madame Gwin,
919
00:53:07,720 --> 00:53:09,960
which is a fancy way of saying Nell Gwyn.
920
00:53:09,960 --> 00:53:15,520
Louise is not well, and the pamphlet kind of celebrates her departure
921
00:53:15,520 --> 00:53:18,200
because of what's seen as an inappropriate,
922
00:53:18,200 --> 00:53:21,720
French, Roman Catholic influence upon the King.
923
00:53:21,720 --> 00:53:25,080
Well, Nell Gwyn is saying, "You've had to go away cos you've got the pox."
924
00:53:25,080 --> 00:53:27,800
That's not the smallpox, that's the great pox, isn't it?
925
00:53:27,800 --> 00:53:29,640
- Venereal disease.
- Absolutely.
926
00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:33,520
This is my favourite bit - Nell Gwyn says to Louise, the French mistress,
927
00:53:33,520 --> 00:53:36,840
that she's, "A Jezebel of pride and malice,
928
00:53:36,840 --> 00:53:39,960
"whose father had a hog sty for his palace."
929
00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:41,960
And then Nell says,
930
00:53:41,960 --> 00:53:45,080
"In my clear veins best British blood does flow,
931
00:53:45,080 --> 00:53:48,720
"While thou like a French toadstool first did grow."
932
00:53:48,720 --> 00:53:51,400
She says that she sprung up like a mushroom.
933
00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:54,360
Calls her a "Mushroom-Duchess", sprung up in the night.
934
00:53:54,360 --> 00:53:58,400
And she's got ulcers of venereal disease, which is why she's fleeing back to France.
935
00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:01,960
So, it's pretty clear that Nell is good, Louise is bad.
936
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:08,200
Yes, I think the press isn't very kindly to women on the whole.
937
00:54:08,200 --> 00:54:13,120
Gwyn says, "fame that never yet spoke well of woman".
938
00:54:13,120 --> 00:54:17,840
The press is mostly written by men and read by men,
939
00:54:17,840 --> 00:54:20,960
and femininity in this is actually a figure
940
00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:23,680
for malign influence upon the government.
941
00:54:25,280 --> 00:54:27,560
By the latter half of the 17th century,
942
00:54:27,560 --> 00:54:30,800
pamphlets were widely and cheaply available
943
00:54:30,800 --> 00:54:35,600
in the fashionable new hothouses for political debate - coffee shops.
944
00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:40,920
As circulation increased, the mistresses
945
00:54:40,920 --> 00:54:45,000
and the King himself came under increasingly ferocious
946
00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:47,600
and personal attacks from anonymous hacks.
947
00:54:51,480 --> 00:54:54,440
Now, some of these pamphlets got pretty close to the bone.
948
00:54:54,440 --> 00:54:59,720
In 1668, London's traditional Shrove Tuesday riots
949
00:54:59,720 --> 00:55:04,400
got out of hand and they burnt down lots of brothels.
950
00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:07,520
This is a spoof petition from the prostitutes
951
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:09,560
whose business had been damaged,
952
00:55:09,560 --> 00:55:14,080
and they've addressed it to "The most splendid, illustrious,
953
00:55:14,080 --> 00:55:16,440
"serene and eminent lady of pleasure,
954
00:55:16,440 --> 00:55:18,320
"the Countess of Castlemaine."
955
00:55:18,320 --> 00:55:19,800
That's Barbara.
956
00:55:19,800 --> 00:55:22,000
Now, I'm sure this made everybody laugh,
957
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:24,800
it's got a modern, tabloidy ring to it,
958
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:29,920
but it was dangerous for Barbara to be addressed as Britain's top prostitute.
959
00:55:29,920 --> 00:55:33,560
The King was furious about it, and of course the implication is
960
00:55:33,560 --> 00:55:37,840
that the Palace of Whitehall is the biggest brothel of them all.
961
00:55:40,320 --> 00:55:41,800
Charles was under threat.
962
00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:44,640
For the first time, the monarchy faced tabloid criticism
963
00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:46,600
of a palpably modern sort.
964
00:55:46,600 --> 00:55:50,080
But Charles was equally modern in his response -
965
00:55:50,080 --> 00:55:53,160
he became his own spin doctor,
966
00:55:53,160 --> 00:55:57,680
and the Merry Monarch proved to be a very cunning king.
967
00:56:00,240 --> 00:56:04,640
Clearly, this hostility towards the mistresses was risky for the King,
968
00:56:04,640 --> 00:56:08,560
but he was also quite good at exploiting it for his own purposes.
969
00:56:08,560 --> 00:56:11,960
Sometimes he would play off one mistress against another,
970
00:56:11,960 --> 00:56:15,520
and sometimes he would use them to send out political messages.
971
00:56:15,520 --> 00:56:17,720
For example, if he was out with Louise,
972
00:56:17,720 --> 00:56:20,640
the French Catholic one, and people said, "Oh, no, she's French,"
973
00:56:20,640 --> 00:56:24,360
he would sometimes bring with him British Nell, too.
974
00:56:24,360 --> 00:56:26,800
This cancelled it out and made it OK.
975
00:56:28,800 --> 00:56:32,880
By ignoring the comments or spinning them to his own advantage,
976
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:36,080
Charles defeated the critics and he remained on the throne
977
00:56:36,080 --> 00:56:39,720
for nearly 25 years, until his natural death,
978
00:56:39,720 --> 00:56:43,040
the longest reigning 17th-century monarch.
979
00:56:43,040 --> 00:56:46,560
And remarkably, his mistresses survived with him.
980
00:56:47,920 --> 00:56:53,320
When Charles died in 1685, his last words were said to have been,
981
00:56:53,320 --> 00:56:55,800
"Let not poor Nelly starve."
982
00:56:55,800 --> 00:57:00,920
Her popularity ensured that, for the two remaining years of her life,
983
00:57:00,920 --> 00:57:03,440
she went on receiving a state pension.
984
00:57:03,440 --> 00:57:07,520
Although Louise remained a favourite during Charles' lifetime,
985
00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:10,120
she didn't fare so well after his death.
986
00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:13,880
Her assets were stripped from her and she retired back to France.
987
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:15,680
Well, she WAS French.
988
00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:19,320
And as for Barbara, although she'd been the first,
989
00:57:19,320 --> 00:57:23,120
the most formidable, the most durable Restoration mistress,
990
00:57:23,120 --> 00:57:28,200
by the time of his death she'd been sidelined for several years.
991
00:57:28,200 --> 00:57:33,120
As one of her enemies said, "You, too, Madam, will grow old."
992
00:57:33,120 --> 00:57:36,040
But we don't have to feel too sorry for Barbara,
993
00:57:36,040 --> 00:57:39,160
she still had her title, security for her children,
994
00:57:39,160 --> 00:57:43,920
and the King give her one last job - he made her keeper of Hampton Court Palace.
995
00:57:43,920 --> 00:57:46,720
It's not a bad little pad for your retirement.
996
00:57:51,800 --> 00:57:55,640
They really impress me, these Restoration women.
997
00:57:55,640 --> 00:57:59,640
They were a new type of woman, who could only have come forward
998
00:57:59,640 --> 00:58:04,040
in the maelstrom melting pot of the 1660s.
999
00:58:06,040 --> 00:58:08,560
In the next programme, I'm going to be looking at
1000
00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:12,320
the lives of women at home, behind closed doors...
1001
00:58:12,320 --> 00:58:14,440
- It is very, very...
- It's explicit!
1002
00:58:14,440 --> 00:58:16,000
THEY LAUGH
1003
00:58:17,600 --> 00:58:22,360
..when ordinary women were defined as either maids, wives or widows.
1004
00:58:22,360 --> 00:58:27,200
How did the extraordinary twists and turns of the 17th-century affect them?
1005
00:58:27,200 --> 00:58:30,400
And what happened if they stepped out of line?
1006
00:58:30,400 --> 00:58:32,520
MUFFLED SHOUTING
1007
00:58:53,840 --> 00:58:57,000
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
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