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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Nell Gwyn
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(1650–87)
Illiterate daughter of a brothel keeper near Covent Garden, seller of oranges in the theatre, actress, and finally a rarity among royal mistresses in endearing herself to the crowd – in her own time but also to posterity. Her success, both on the stage and in the affections of *Charles II, derived from a delightfully direct quality combined with vivacity and wit (in *Pepys's phrase she was 'pretty witty Nell'). A good example is the remark with which she disarmed a hostile crowd, mobbing her carriage in the belief that she was another royal mistress, the Roman Catholic Louise de Kéroualle: 'Pray, good people, be civil,' she shouted, 'I am the Protestant whore.'
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She was on the stage from the age of 14 and became the king's mistress at 19, giving up the theatre the following year. He set her up in a fine house in Pall Mall, where she entertained lavishly. Of the two sons she bore the king, one died in childhood and the other was created duke of St Albans. *James II honoured his brother's dying wish ('Let not poor Nellie starve') and provided her with a pension.
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