17. Barbara Villiers won power and influence for herself and her friends — and founded several aristocratic dynasties.
Barbara Villiers was one of Charles II of England’s most long-standing mistresses, becoming the King’s lover when he was an exile in Holland. She remained a prominent figure in Charles’s life for 14 years. Barbara’s love affair made her rich and powerful, and she used her position to benefit her friends and relatives. Barbara’s husband received a peerage and became the Earl of Castlemaine as compensation for his cuckolding, and some of her friends became members of Charles’s privy council.
Charles also acknowledged five of Barbara’s seven children as his own, awarding them the surname “Fitzroy” and paying lavishly for their weddings. Those children became the founders of some of England’s major noble families.