Book Reccomendation: Ravenous

[canadianwittol]

Recently read a new book titled "Ravenous" about the life of King Charles II's favourite mistress, Barbara Palmer.

Barbara was the wife of Roger Palmer, later the Earl of Castlemaine, who suffered the misfortune of serving a King who took an immediate and passionate interest in his young wife - an interest which she immediately reciprocated.

The social mores of the time (divorce not being an option) and his loyalty to the King put him in the awkward position of being forced to accept life as a cuckold. This by itself was not uncommon in the English court, what was uncommon was how much joy it brought King Charles to publicly humiliate Roger Palmer at every opportunity. Although Roger was legally regarded as the father, Charles claimed paternity to all six of Barbara's children, a fact he chose to make public knowledge. One of the boys was even named "Charles" for his mother's lover.

What's more is that Barbara herself seemed to delight in her husband's humiliation and in her reputation as "The Royal Whore". To quote from Academic.com:

"In addition to the King, the Earl of Chesterfield and the future Duke of Marlborough, Roger was cuckolded by amongst others the playwright William Wycherley, Ralph Montagu the 1st Duke of Montagu, Henry Jermyn, Charles Berkeley, James Hamilton, a rope-dancer named Jacob Hall plus others too numerous to mention. Thanks to her promiscuity Roger found himself the laughing stock of London."

The book focuses more on Barbara and her relationship to the King than it does on her marriage to her husband, but it is a fascinating read that will leave you wondering how anyone could deal with the notoriety of being, at that time, the most famous cuckold in the world.

https://www.amazon.ca/Ravenous-Barbara- ... 1526769107

[MarriedMasturbator]

Thanks for the reminder! I read a rebiew of this on telegraph.co.uk. Thry liked it. Looks like fun!

[avid fan]

Interesting, I see the author did a spot on a podcast about the era call "Not Just the Tudors"... worth a dip.

[wannabecUKold]

Recently read a new book titled "Ravenous" about the life of King Charles II's favourite mistress, Barbara Palmer.

Mrs Palmer was better known by her maiden name, Villiers. Her children by the King took the surname Fitzroy (son of the King) even though legally Palmer was their father. Villiers and Fitzroy and most of the names mentioned above feature in London street names.