I, Charles II, Have Nothing To Hide. Quiz

Answer: True

My distant cousin Henry VIII divorced Catherine of Aragon in 1633, because she did not give him a male heir (only a girl, Mary). Because Henry's Reformation made the king head of Church, I could have divorced without interference from the Pope. However, I settled for no legitimate heir at all, male or female. I had a younger brother to take over after me, so the dynasty was not endangered.

Answer: more than 15

I often had more than one mistress at a time, and different sources mention 16, 17 or even 20 women. It all started when I was in exile, after my father's execution and my defeat in the third civil war. For nine years, I had little better to do than court the pretty ladies on the continent... My brother James (the future James II) had a similar experience.

Answer: 14-17

Historians mention different numbers - the most reliable sources tend to stick to 17... Yes, indeed, that's a bit embarassing. But I famously said I could not believe that God would damn a man for taking a little pleasure along the way.

Answer: I left her to a life of prostitution in The Hague, where she died of venereal disease.

Lucy Walter, a Welshwoman, was my first love in The Hague (1648). We were inseparable and she became the mother of my first child James. My mistake was to leave the fickle woman on her own in The Hague in 1650. On my return I found her the mistress of a colonel, and broke up with her totally, leaving her to a deserved fate of prostitution, destitution and disease. Our son James Duke of Monmouth was briefly a pretender to the throne, challenging my brother James II.

Answer: False

Not at all, I made him (Roger Palmer) Earl of Castlemaine. Barbara was my mistress from 1660, and she came home to Britain with me to conduct the Restoration. She annoyingly and consistently disagreed with my Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Clarendon. She however remained my mistress for about 10 years.

She gave me several children and I rewarded her (and the Earl) with a dukedom in 1670, just before dismissing her in 1671.

Answer: True

Louise Renée de Keroualle (whom I made Duchess of Portsmouth in 1673) was very costly (£40 000 a year of royal money). She was also said to influence me in favour of France and Catholicism. For these two reasons she was unpopular. However, I hardly needed her encouragement to be drawn to Catholicism. My mother, my favourite sister, as well as my brother (and heir) and his wife, were all Catholics. I admired my French cousin Louis XIV and Catholicism in general, partly because where Catholicism was strong, the monarchy was strong. And indeed the English Catholics had always remained faithful to my father, Charles I. I tried to be very tolerant towards them but was prevented by Parliament.

Answer: She was selling oranges at the King's theatre.

"Pretty, witty Nell", as Pepys called her, was indeed selling oranges in my theatre when I first came across her. She was very entertaining and I never grew tired of her as I did the Duchesses of Castlemaine and Portsmouth. On my deathbed, I asked my brother not to let Nelly starve.

Answer: Nell Gwyn

Welshwoman Lucy Walter never made it back to Britain. As for the scheming Duchesses Louise of Portsmouth and Barbara Villiers of Castlemaine, they were consistently unpopular. A famous anecdote has it that my mistress's carriage was once stopped, and people started throwing stones at it. Nell stuck her head out and shouted "I am the Protestant whore", thus getting through without much difficulty.

Answer: Nell made Moll take a laxative potion before she went to bed with me.

Nell, knowing that Moll had been sent for to spend the night with me, coaxed her into eating some delicacies steeped in laxative. I was not amused.

Answer: I packed her off with a very generous £1000 a year.

I met Moll, a popular singer, dancer, and actress, in 1667. However, regardless of Nell's trick on her, I soon tired of her vulgarity. Samuel Pepys' wife called her "the most impertinent slut in the world". And indeed, she kept parading the coach and the £600 ring I gave her. Since money appealed so much to her, I simply bought her off.