Royal Affairs: A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures That Rocked the British Monarch y

325 Pages·2008·2.26 MB·English

by  Leslie Carroll

Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Foreword

THE ANGEVINS 1154–1216
HENRY II - 1133-1189 RULED 1154-1189

THE PLANTAGENETS 1216–1399
EDWARD II - 1284-1327 RULED 1307-1327

LANCASTER 1399–1471 AND YORK 1461–85
EDWARD IV - 1442-1483 RULED 1461-1470 AND 1471-1483

THE TUDORS 1485–1603
MARY TUDOR - 1496-1533 Queen of France 1514-1515 and Charles Brandon
1484-1545
HENRY VIII - 1491-1547 RULED 1509-1547
ELIZABETH I - 1533-1603 RULED 1558-1603

THE STUARTS 1603–1714
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS - 1542-1587 MONARCH OF SCOTLAND 1542-
1567 QUEEN CONSORT OF ...
JAMES I OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND (ALSO JAMES VI OF
SCOTLAND) - 1566-1625 RULED ...
CHARLES II - 1630-1685 RULED 1660-1685
JAMES II OF ENGLAND/ JAMES VII OF SCOTLAND - 1633-1701 RULED
1685-1688 (DEPOSED)
WILLIAM AND MARY - WILLIAM III 1650-1702 AND MARY II 1662-1694
RULED ( JOINTLY ...
ANNE - 1665-1714 RULED 1702-1714

THE HANOVERS 1714–1901
GEORGE I - 1660-1727 RULED 1714-1727
GEORGE II - 1683-1760 RULED 1727-1760
GEORGE IV - 1762-1830 REGENT 1811-1820 KING 1820-1830
CAROLINE OF BRUNSWICK, PRINCESS OF WALES - 1768–1821 QUEEN
OF ENGLAND ...
FREDERICK, DUKE OF YORK - 1763-1827 and Mary Anne Clarke 1776-
1852
WILLIAM IV - 1765–1837 RULED 1830–1837 and Dorothy Jordan 1761–1816
VICTORIA - 1819-1901 RULED 1837-1901 (GREAT BRITAIN AND
IRELAND) EMPRESS OF ...

SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA 1901–1910
EDWARD VII - 1841-1910 RULED 1901-1910 KING OF THE UNITED
KINGDOM OF GREAT ...

THE WINDSORS 1910–
EDWARD VIII - 1894-1972 RULED JANUARY 20 TO DECEMBER 11, 1936
(ABDICATED)
CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES
Acknowledgements
Selected Bibliography
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published by New
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First Printing, June 2008
Copyright © Leslie Carroll, 2008
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Carroll, Leslie.
Royal affairs: a lusty romp through the extramarital adventures that rocked the British
monarchy/Leslie Carroll.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-44063477-2
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http://us.penguingroup.com
For my loving, patient, wildly supportive, and remarkably understanding
husband, Scott, who endured my devoting nearly every waking hour of our first
half year of marriage to a book on adultery
Foreword
Sex and power have always gone hand in glove, and monarchs have been merry
throughout history. Nothing can bring down a government—not even high
treason—like a good sex scandal. Nowadays people yawn through newspaper
accounts of civil warfare, economic downturns, even reports of appalling
corporate greed. But give them a juicy sex scandal peppered with high and
mighty protagonists, and it’s the first story readers turn to. We can never seem to
get enough of them.
Americans, in particular, enjoy a collective love affair with monarchies—
probably because we don’t have one, and can sanctimoniously feel superior to
those benighted blighters who God and birthright have placed above the peons of
their respective nations, yet who still manage to be more than human. Americans
have “Hollywood royalty” instead, or myriad professional sports stars, pop
icons, and politicians who behave badly. But nothing seems to be quite as
alluring as a royal affair.
We’re hopelessly hooked because these people with titles straight out of fairy
tales or romance novels are behaving humanly, yet at the same time they remain
larger than life. The royals have the same desires and passions as the rest of us,
but the consequences of their choices are bigger—and in some cases, disastrous.
How did their spouses feel about their amorous romps? Most of the time the
kings’ wives were “queen consorts”—queens only by virtue of their marriage—
not “regnant” queens who ruled the realm in their own right by virtue of
succession, such as Elizabeth I, Anne, or Victoria. Queen consorts were
expected to put up and shut up when the king strayed from the conjugal bed, and
to produce the requisite heir and a spare that would guarantee the healthy
succession of the kingdom.
Most marriages, especially royal ones, were primarily political and economic
alliances, so it’s hard to vilify these imperial adulterers for seeking sexual
satisfaction outside the marital bed. And, given the state of hygiene at the time,
one might imagine that an unattractive spouse was made all the more repulsive
by an inattention to such delicacies. When in 1795 the future George IV was
introduced to his betrothed, the odiferous, piggy-looking Caroline of Brunswick,
he exclaimed to the Earl of Malmesbury, “Harris, I am not very well, pray get
me a glass of brandy.” The prince remained drunk for the next three days until