168. Charles II in Exile | Lucy Walter

As the English Civil War ground on and the tides began to turn against the Royalist forces, Charles II decamped to Europe for his own safety. His mother was in Paris, but he also spent a lot of time in The Hague, where his sister Mary was the wife of William II, Prince of Orange.

Charles, then still just the Prince of Wales, met a Welsh lass there named Lucy Walter. Lucy had skipped out on the UK to get away from her parents, whose ugly divorce had risen to high scandal, and was hoping to find her fortune - via a husband or lover - in the English Court-in-exile.

In May of 1648, Lucy met Charles, and a relatively brief romance transpired, but one that produced Prince Charles's first child. Happily, Charles eagerly acknowledged his son, who would go on to become the Duke of Monmouth. Less happily, agents of English dictator Oliver Cromwell kidnapped the boy for 10 days, and years later, long after the romance was over, his own father would successfully kidnap him to hide him from Cromwell and other dangers.

Sadly, Lucy died some time in 1658, and never saw her old flame on the English throne, or her son as a Duke.

Listen ad-free at patreon.com/trashyroyalspodcast.

To advertise on this podcast, reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.