The Private Life of Charles II: The Women He Loved

What manner of man was Charles II? Saturnine, masculine, and irresistibly attractive, his true character as a penniless refugee, as an hysterically acclaimed King ans as the Merry Monarch has been hidden underneath a cloud of puritanical prejudice. Barbara Cartland approaches Charles II from a psychological angle; revealing a lonely and unloved boy, an idealistic lover, a bored seeker of excitement, and a brilliant statesman. Charles's private life was women who seduced and enticed him and yet all managed to disillusion him. Cartland portrays these women as real people: the neurotic and neglectful mother Henrietta Maria; Mistress Wyndham (Charles's first infatuation), Marquerite de Carteret (adolescent love), Minette (his adored sister), Lucy Walter, Barbara Villiers, Moll Davies, Nell Gwynne, Frances Stewart, Louise de Kerouaille, and Hortense Mancini. And always in the background is the sad-faced Queen Catherine.