The Playboy Monarch
The scene that unfolded at Whitehall Palace in 1662 was indicative of Charles’ behavior. He had recently married Catherine of Braganza, and a royal parade followed the new queen as she moved from Hampton Court amid much pomp and circumstance. Charles watched the procession unfold from the roof of his banqueting house… with his mistress, Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine. It was clear that Charles didn’t give a thought to appearances as he routinely flaunted his many mistresses in front of his queen, courtiers and the people.
Unlike other monarchs who viewed certain classes of women as ‘beneath them,’ Charles was an equal opportunities womanizer. His servant, William Chiffinch, was known as ‘The Royal Pimpmaster’ and brought his king ‘actresses’ and prostitutes. At one point, it seemed as if Queen Catherine would die because she became gravely ill. There was talk that Charles would marry Frances Stuart, but the queen survived and outlived her husband by 20 years. Charles was pestered by his court to divorce Catherine and marry Frances, but on this occasion, he didn’t bow to peer pressure.
It is likely that Charles had up to 15 mistresses along with the litany of casual dalliances he engaged in. It is impossible to know how many illegitimate children he had, but one would imagine it would be at least a dozen given his numerous conquests.
Money Problems
One of the things Charles liked doing almost as much as sleeping with women, was spending money. To say he was a lavish spender would be something of an understatement. When he became king in 1660, Parliament granted him an annual income of £1.2 million to run the government; a sum that should easily have been enough, but Charles contrived to overspend to an incredible degree. The actual revenue of the government was significantly lower than what Charles spent, so Parliament had to institute unpopular measures such as Hearth Tax to make up for the shortfall.
Barbara was arguably the biggest spender in the entire kingdom. The king’s mistress lived in beautiful palace apartments, and she gleefully accepted his expensive gifts. Not only that, but Charles almost wrote her a blank check by allowing her to take funds destined for the exchequer. For example, she received an estimated £25,000 a year (the equivalent of at least three million pounds today) from Beer Tax, Customs Duties and Post Office Revenue alone; but that was the tip of the iceberg.
One evening, Barbara reportedly lost £25,000 playing cards; Charles picked up the tab. Clearly, Charles didn’t care about the people and was happy to spend at their expense. However, he foolishly didn’t realize that a kingdom needs money for defense and expansion. Within a few years of becoming king, an event occurred that nearly destroyed Britain and claimed his crown.