We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.
To refer to the private life of Charles II is to abuse the adjective. His personal life was anything but private. His amorous liaisons were largely conducted in royal palaces surrounded by friends, courtiers and literally hundreds of servants and soldiers. Gossip radiated throughout the kingdom.
Charles spent most of his wealth and his intellect on gaining and keeping the company of women, from the lowest sections of society such as the actress Nell Gwyn to the aristocratic Louise de Kérouaille. Some of Charles’ women played their part in the affairs of state, colouring the way the nation was run.
Don Jordan and Michael Walsh take us inside Charles’ palace, where we will meet court favourites, amusing confidants, advisors jockeying for political power, mistresses past and present as well as key figures in his inner circle such as his ‘pimpmasters’ and his personal pox doctor.
The astonishing private life of Charles II reveals much about the man he was and why he lived and ruled as he did. The King’s Bed tells the compelling story of a king ruled by his passion.
Charles spent most of his wealth and his intellect on gaining and keeping the company of women, from the lowest sections of society such as the actress Nell Gwyn to the aristocratic Louise de Kérouaille. Some of Charles’ women played their part in the affairs of state, colouring the way the nation was run.
Don Jordan and Michael Walsh take us inside Charles’ palace, where we will meet court favourites, amusing confidants, advisors jockeying for political power, mistresses past and present as well as key figures in his inner circle such as his ‘pimpmasters’ and his personal pox doctor.
The astonishing private life of Charles II reveals much about the man he was and why he lived and ruled as he did. The King’s Bed tells the compelling story of a king ruled by his passion.
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
While showing that 'never again would an English royal court reverberate with such fun and vigour, so much youthful swagger and sexuality', the book makes clear that Charles's sex addiction had its darker side
The King's Bed violates all the po-faced standards of serious scholarship, but that's precisely what makes it so enjoyable
Don Jordan and Michael Walsh share an unerring nose for a good subject . . . These romps through Charles's bed-chamber are wonderfully lively . . . Narrating a libertine's life with a gusto tempered by sound common sense, they have produced a book that is as pleasantly addictive as might be suggested by its racy title
Entertaining history of the antics of the libidinous King Charles II and his licentious court . . . tells you everything you need to know about 17th-Century sex
In a tone of breezy bravado in keeping with their concept of their subject's character, Don Jordan and Michael Walsh have written a swashbuckling life of Charles II . . . the stuff of a TV mini-series . . . the authors have a keen eye for memorable anecdotes which consistently hold the reader's attention
This hugely entertaining book gives the low-down on the many mistresses who shared [Charles II's] bed