Picture Acknowledgements

1. Charles II in the early years of his reign. (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

2. Charles II, c.1680. The elaborate clothes and shoes cannot hide the ravages of time. (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

3. Princess Mary Stuart, Charles II’s sister, and her husband, William II of Orange. (Peter Horree / Alamy Stock Photo)

4. A miniature of Lucy Walter, Charles II’s first mistress, painted after her death. No contemporary likenesses of Lucy survive. (The Buccleuch Collections)

5. James, duke of Monmouth, Charles II’s son by Lucy Walter, as a child. (19th era / Alamy Stock Photo)

6. Eleanor Needham, Lady Byron, one of Charles II’s mistresses in exile. (Bridgeman Images)

7. Barbara Palmer, née Villiers, countess of Castlemaine and duchess of Cleveland, painted as Mary Magdalene by Sir Peter Lely. (National Trust Photographic Library / Jane Mucklow / Bridgeman Images)

8. Barbara Palmer as the Madonna with her eldest son. (Art Collection 4 / Alamy Stock Photo)

9. Roger Palmer, earl of Castlemaine, with his secretary. (© National Trust Images / John Hammond)

10. Philip Stanhope, second earl of Chesterfield and one of Barbara Palmer’s earliest lovers. (Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo)

11. Catherine of Braganza, Charles II’s Portuguese queen consort. (Peter Lely [public domain])

12. Queen Catherine shortly after her arrival in England, wearing the Portuguese fashions and hairstyle derided by the king and court. (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

13. John IV of Portugal, Catherine of Braganza’s father. (Workshop of Peter Paul Rubens [public domain])

14. Luisa de Guzmán, Catherine of Braganza’s Spanish mother. (The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)

15. Catherine of Braganza’s arrival at Portsmouth and the king and queen leaving Hampton Court by river for Whitehall, in two contemporary German prints. (Photo © Historic Royal Palaces / Bridgeman Images)

16. Frances Teresa Stuart. The daughter of Scottish royalists, she evaded Charles II’s advances and secretly married the duke of Richmond. (The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)

17. Charles Stuart, duke of Richmond and Lennox. (Artokoloro Quint Lox Limited / Alamy Stock Photo)

18. Cobham Hall in Kent, one of the homes of Frances and her husband, in a nineteenth-century painting. (Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo)

19. Eleanor (Nell) Gwyn, painted c.1670, with a prim expression, in marked contrast to her half-exposed left breast. (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

20. Nell Gwyn with her elder son, posing very revealingly as Venus and Cupid. (The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo)

21. Mary (Moll) Davis, actress, singer, dancer and rival of Nell Gwyn. She was the mother of Charles II’s youngest illegitimate child, Lady Mary Tudor. (Photo © Philip Mould Ltd, London / Bridgeman Images)

22. A romantic nineteenth-century painting showing Nell Gwyn leaning over the wall of her Pall Mall house in conversation with Charles II. (V&A Images / Alamy Stock Photo)

23. Louise de Kéroualle, duchess of Portsmouth, painted towards the end of Charles II’s reign, looking more mature but also very regal. (Bridgeman Images)

24. Princess Henrietta Stuart, also known as Henriette Anne, duchess of Orléans. The youngest child of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, she was Charles II’s favourite sibling. (ACTIVE MUSEUM / Alamy Stock Photo)

25. Henry Bennet, earl of Arlington. Credited with facilitating Charles II’s seduction of Louise de Kéroualle. (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

26. Thomas Osborne, earl of Danby. (Studio of Peter Lely [public domain])

27. James, duke of Monmouth, as an adult, painted in his Garter robes. (National Trust Photographic Library / Bridgeman Images)

28. The chateau of Aubigny-sur-Nère, Louise de Kéroualle’s home after her return to France. (Prisma by Dukas Presseagentur GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo)

29. Hortense Mancini, Cardinal Mazarin’s niece. (Art Collection 3 / Alamy Stock Photo)

30. Armand Charles de La Porte de La Meilleraye, the husband chosen for Hortense Mancini by her uncle, Cardinal Mazarin. (Royal Collection [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)])

31. Chelles Abbey outside Paris. Hortense was confined here as a troublesome teenager. (Bridgeman Images)

32. Ralph Montagu, Charles II’s ambassador to France. (Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo)

33. Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the wily successor to Richelieu. (GL Archive / Alamy Stock Photo)