Cupid and the king : five royal paramours / Princess Michael of Kent.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Michael, of Kent, Princess

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Courtesans--Europe--Biography.

Courtesans.

Kings and rulers.

Mistresses.

Europe--Kings and rulers--Mistresses--Biography.

Europe.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxix, 378 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, genealogical table ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Simon & Schuster, [2005]

Summary:

In Cupid and the King, Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent recounts the stories of five very different women, each of whom became a celebrated-or notorious-courtesan: Nell Gwyn, the bawdy, vivacious orange seller turned actress who endeared herself to Charles II--and the country--with her wit and down-to-earth manner, Madame de Pompadour, the extravagant, elegant maitresse-en-titre of Louis XV who became one of the great patrons of her time while enraging the people of France, Marie Walewska, who became Napoleon's mistress to save her country, Lola Monlez, the flamboyant, scandalous Irish beauty who reinvented herself as a Spanish aristocrat to win the heart of Ludwig I of Bavaria, Lillie Langtry, the legendary beauty immortalized by the most famous artists of her day and the only woman to completely monopolize Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VII.

Contents:

Family Tree xxx

1 Nell Gwyn 1

2 La Marquise de Pompadour 50

3 Marie Walewska 156

4 Lola Montez 243

5 Lillie Langtry 297.

Notes:

"A Touchstone book."

ISBN:

074327086X

OCLC:

61724494