QUEEN VICTORIA's MYSTERIOUS DAUGHTER (PRINCESS LOUISE) by LUCINDA HAWKSELY : MISTRESS MANIFESTO BOOK REVIEW

 A Biography of Princess Louise by Lucinda Hawksley

This book held some surprises. Not familiar with Queen Victoria, other than to hear she had married her many children into so many noble households that she was called the Grandmother of Royal Europe, I had no idea that she had a daughter who unconventionally married a commoner, Princess Louise. Louise was Queen Victoria's sixth child and fourth daughter. This Princess was an artist and sculptor who created many excellently designed and executed statues to honor her mother which are still on public display. Much of this book is devoted to Louise's artistic achievement. 

There's a possibility, certainly the author suggests this as an explanation, that Louise was so unconventional that she actually had a child without marriage that was put up for adoption. (Who might that have been, we wonder, but there is no hint.) Officially, she had no children.

She was encouraged to marry but was hesitant to marry at all, as one man after another was dismissed as a possible husband. What Royal Princess could remain unmarried? She accepted the future 9th Duke of Argyll, Lorne, in 1870. Her siblings and her father, Bertie, were against the match but Queen Victoria prevailed. The marriage was no love match. On her honeymoon Princess Louise took along her dogs. It's possible that while the Duke accepted that she was barren, what might have happened is a sterilization by the doctor who delivered her illegitimate child or simply the birth of that child was too traumatic. It may be that the couple lived separate lives from the start. So why?

While I read the book, I considered another possibility, which the author did not, and that was that perhaps Louise, illegitimate child or not, simply wasn't heterosexual. She would not have been the only person who found themselves uninterested in marriage, or men, or who was married to another person who was not heterosexual, in order to be socially acceptable. 

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DO YOU HAVE A VASE?

 

MARTIN ALLWOOD QUOTATION

"If you do not let love reside in the body it is homeless." - Martin Allwood

THE LAST YEARS OF BARBARA VILLIERS - COUNTESS OF CASTLEMAINE - NOW DUCHESS OF CLEVELAND : THE AGING KING WITHOUT AN HEIR LOVES AND VISITS ALL HIS CHILDREN BY SEVERAL MISTRESSES

1668 : Barbara Villiers moved into her new home with her three youngest children, Henry, Charlotte, and George.  Anne and Charles, the two eldest, were in school. The King visited every day but it was generally understood that the King and his longest enduring mistress, Barbara, were just friends! Meanwhile Moll Davies was set up lavishly and also had a child and Nell Gwynn would soon, in 1670, also have a child. He loved his children and made visits to them and their mothers frequently. It was clear he would never have an heir with his Queen, Catherine of Braganza. The King, in an effort to placate Barbara, gave her another title - Duchess of Cleveland. 

In 1671, though Barbara had begun to take lovers at will, she became the mistress of John Churchill, who was a few years younger than she was. She would have a daughter she named Barbara Churchill. Barbara Villiers was in her early thirties and had experienced many pregnancies and as her children with the King grew up, she became concerned with their educations and arranging marriages for them.

Whatever problems that the King's advisors and friends had caused Barbara and her relationship with him over the years, the King kept on giving them honors and her children were desirable when it came to marriages. There was even a competitive spirit when it came to matchmaking.

Excerpt: ... Arms were granted to Anne and Charlotte, who were made Lady Companions of the Order of the Garter, and all three sons were granted arms, crests  and supporters. 

Excerpt page 153 from The Illustrious Lady by Elizabeth Hamilton

Six months after she became a Duchess, the King granted his mistress the house at Nonsuch with its surrounding parkland, with the remainder to Charles and George.... In 1673 her fortunes continued to augment with astonishing rapidity. Camouflaged as usual in the form of gifts to her uncles, the Duchess's new acquisitions included lands in the Duchy of Cornwall, a warrant for 5000 pounds as a free gift, as well as wine licenses....

***

Barbara's husband, Roger Palmer stayed away... Barbara, also concerned with her estate acquired other properties as gifts from the King and her own business dealings.....

In 1685 the King died a natural death, likely heart failure. The King expressed the desire to become a Catholic on his death bed. James II would follow and William III in 1702. Barbara lived through so many historical changes. In 1705 her husband Roger died. They had been married over forty years. Perhaps surprising to everyone Barbara married again, just months after Roger's death to Robert Fielding, another Catholic.  Fielding pursued her and soon enough began to fleece her. Discovering this she raged and he beat her. She charged him also of bigamy but the verdict was that the marriage was void. He got a pardon from Queen Anne. She was humiliated.

In August 1709, Barbara made her will and died within a few weeks of her sixty-ninth birthday. She had swelled with water (sometimes a symptom of cancer) and had finally lost her looks. 

As I survey the genealogy charts that appear on the Internet beginning with Barbara Villiers, I see that one of her daughters is said to have born at least eighteen children.  These days, I do wonder what DNA testing would prove.  Was her last child Churchill's, the King's? 

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BARBARA VILLIERS PREGNANCY CRISIS : A VOLATILE LADY GETS A KING TO BEG FORGIVENESS BUT HE HAS TAKEN UP WITH OTHER MISTRESSES : MOLL DAVIES, NELL GWYNN, AND LOUISE DE KEROUALLE

Was Barbara Villiers on the way out or King Charles II's favorite? Knowing she was living this controversy, Barbara decided to create a situation in which the King would be tested. The two of them did sometimes have a violent argument and this time, pregnant again, the issue was the paternity of the child she was - yet again - pregnant with. The King was having financial problems, his advisors had less influence on him that she did but he had not slept with Barbara in several months, but she insisted that he accept the child.

Excerpt page 105 from The Illustrious Lady by Elizabeth Hamilton

Somebody had said that the Countess of Castlemaine in one of her rages was less like Medea than one of Medea's dragons...

***

This time, based on the King's behavior and Barbara's, it seemed like they were breaking up for good. She left the Palace and stayed close by until the King came begging for forgiveness. Meanwhile Frances Stuart, who had married and was now Frances, Duchess of Richmond, came back to London with her husband and was rumored to be back as the mistress of the King.  And other women were being introduced to the King as others attempted to distract him and gain influence, among them actress Moll Davies, and actress Nell Gwynn.  He would also have a son by mistress Louise de Keroualle. Rumor had it, also that Barbara had fallen in love with another man.

Excerpt page 117 from The Illustrious Lady by Elizabeth Hamilton

Lady Castle Maine was not 'frightened' by her new rival. As always, she had come to terms with the situation, she accepted the fact that she must share the King's affection and remained calm. She saw to it that in spite of the new threat from the world of the there she still extracted the full measure of reward for the trouble she took in bearing the King's children..... gossamer Moll and Cockney Nell would never usurp the position that the shrewd and discerning Barbara had made for herself in the inner circles of government and power.

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RED RED ROSE

 

QUEEN CATHERINE and BARBARA VILLIERS MUST PUT UP WITH EACH OTHER ? SOON BOTH WIFE AND MISTRESS MUST ACCEPT YET ANOTHER MISTRESS : FRANCES STUART

Catherine of Braganza, the Queen, however arranged her marriage to King Charles II was, did hope that she and the King would love each other and have a good relationship. She didn't speak the language, was pretty but not a great beauty, and she had many adjustments to make to get alone. She could not be oblivious to the fact that the King was not spending much time with her and had a Mistress. However, it seems she warmed to him and fell in love with the King herself. Though she was a bit delicate, she took her responsibility to have children seriously. Realizing she had no friends, lonely, the Queen decided to be friendly with Barbara. The King meanwhile kept her close, having Barbara assigned to assist his wife as a Lady of the Bedchamber.

Excerpt page 55 from The Illustrious Lady by Elizabeth Hamilton

The Chancellor and his friends made their greatest mistake in acknowledging the Lady's physical attractions but failing to recognize her intelligence, her instinctive knowledge of the workings of the Court, and her in bread ability to move at east in royal circles...  The Lady outclasses them all (the Kings other mistresses of short duration) in her power not only to capture the King's affection but also to dominate and manipulate his circle of friends.

***

1662: The King's advisors followed him to the house on King Street where the King had put Barbara. She entertained them all there with good conversation. It was politically and socially the best way for them to have his ear. But some found that she could also prevent them from speaking the King. Frances Stuart, a pretty young woman, was introduced to the King to divert his interest to another Mistress.

Excerpt page 68 from The Illustrious Lady by Elizabeth Hamilton

... Shining by virtue of her own luminescence, she had become independent and selfish, and distressingly difficult to bribe.  Nor was it possible to prophesy how long she would keep her hold over the King. Her reign had already lasted longer than any Mistress could rightfully expect, and it had to be admitted that in the early summer of 1663 her looks had deteriorated....

***

However, not to be repressed, Barbara Villiers - Countess of Castlemaine, gave birth to a son, Henry, and a couple days later headed out to be with the King. The King did not accept paternity of this son immediately due to rumors that she had another lover. Aware that she might be loosing her position, Barbara did something to please her Catholic husband, Roger Palmer, and converted to Catholicism herself.  Was it possible she would have to live with him and spend the rest of her life with him?

1664: All three women had to get along, co-exist though rivals, and avoid being hostile openly with each other in order to please the King.  Barbara might have been aging and might have competition with other women and enemies among the men who sought to influence and advise the King on all things, but in September of that year, she gave birth again, her fourth child and second daughter and the King immediately accepted the baby as his offspring.  

Sadly, a little over a week later, Barbara once again determined to entertain the King and socialize and this time it was too much for her.

Excerpt page 79 from The Illustrious Lady by Elizabeth Hamilton

... Her maid and her page, the only attendants who were with her,  helped her back to the Palace, and as soon as she reached her room she fainted.  The King was informed at once, and he showed his concern by the speed with which  he rushed to her apartments and his alacrity in ordering that all the Park gates should be closed and everyone inside arrested ... The incident proved that however great the Lady might become, she would always have her enemies ... But she soon recovered her full beauty and those who had so hopefully sponsored Frances (Stuart) were transferring their loyalty back to the Lady in the knowledge that it was at her evening gatherings they would spend their time most profitably.

***  

Three years into the King's relationship with Frances, Barbara won the more exclusive attention of the King, for neither Frances or his wife, the Queen, had become pregnant.

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JESSE JACKSON PASSED AWAY : KARIN STANFORD - A MISTRESS OF JACKSON, - WAS OUR MISTRESS OF THE MONTH IN MAY 2011!

There's some really interesting posts from way back in the day :  This was the start of May 2011, when I elected KARIN STANFORD as Mistress of the Month!  You can read that month by going into my archived posts: see the sidebar of this blog!  - Missy

Here's a redo of the initial post.

MISTRESS OF THE MONTH KARIN STANFORD :

HE WAS MARRIED WITH FIVE CHILDREN, 

SHE WAS 19 YEARS YOUNGER, 

HE'S PAYING $4000 a MONTH IN CHILD SUPPORT

KARIN STANFORD is Mistress of the Month for May 2011!

She's Jesse Jackson (Sr.)'s ex, with whom he has a daughter, Ashley. Karin has gone after child support and been fairly quoted in the news, though she says it was the FEDS who outed them.

Jesse Jackson is one of those Christian Ministers who has a lifestyle that's barely conservative, a charismatic man, and one who had Presidential ambitions. It was he who counseled then President of the United States, Bill Clinton, when Bill got caught lying about Monica Lewinsky. It just may be that because of his affair with Karin, Jesse had to give up on a White House Future.

Karin says she has "no regrets," and thinks of their daughter as a miracle child, born in 2000. Karin started life over as a professor of Pan-African Studies and Politics - at California State College, Northridge, in Los Angeles California, and is the author of a book titled "Cancer Survivors, Breaking the Silence - Inspirational Stories of Black Cancer Survivors", as well as other books.

Like many modern mistresses, she is an educated woman, who could support herself well, without a man's help. Never the less, love and awe of a man, led her to being a mistress, at least for a time in her life. 

UPDATE AUGUST 2013: Karin, if we count hits only, is probably the most popular mistress I've written about. A recent comment about what would have happened if a CONSERVATIVE Public Figure had been involved with Karin intrigues me. As recent new information comes out about Monica Lewinsky and President William Clinton comes out, I think that in fact there have been many politicians linked with women other than their wives. Some of these mostly men are Republicans, some are Democrats. Some of these men have suffered for it, even if it only appeared they had an affair, or it was discovered they had many affairs, and some have fathered children in long term adultery. Consider Gary Hart. However, defining who is a mistress these days is complicated by the general lack of marriage, couples who lived together, people who have an alternative lifestyle such as living in deliberate polygamy or living with more than one lover all in the same household. I don't dwell on those who have affairs but not RELATIONSHIPS, and where there is a child there is usually a RELATIONSHIP.

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