Royal Cumberland Dukes--

Ernest Augustus
Duke of Cumberland
King of Hanover
the Satan King
@Wikipedia

Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland

(1771-1851)
Duke of Cumberland 

1799-1851
King of Hanover

1837
(Ernst August I von Hannover)

Son of George III of Great Britain & Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Husband of Frederika of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, mar 1815.

"The king's fifth son, Ernest the Duke of Cumberland, was an extraordinarily sinister figure. He was disliked by his father, feared by his own mother and sisters and shunned even by his debauched brothers. His sister-in-law Princess Caroline of Brunswick simply described him as 'very odious.' If there had been a popularity poll between Cumberland and Napoleon in Britain in 1810, it would have been too closed to call. In appearance he was quite different from the other members of his dynasty. Whereas most of the Hanoverians were short and portly, Cumberland was very Prussian-looking---tall, lean, his face alarmingly disfigured by a deep saber-cut above his right eye. His looks did much to encourage the popular view that he was some sort of royal monster---many people were even convinced that he was somehow involved in the deaths of his niece Princess Charlotte, who died in childbirth, and her baby. Georgian press was happy to Satanize him at every opportunity." (Royal Babylon: The Alarming History of European Royalty: 213)

Ernest Augustus
Duke of Cumberland
@Wikipedia

"That Ernest made 'attempts' on Sophia or, in plain language, tried to rape his sister is certainly possible or even likely. The Prince -- that boisterous, rude darling of his nurse Mrs. Cheveley -- knew no boundaries where appetite or decency were concerned, and all his life not only used the grossest language about women, but made the grossest of physical assaults on them -- all women, married, unmarried, young, old, innocent and knowing. As a young soldier on the Continent he had to be restrained from trying his luck at a nunnery. In later life one of his victims' husbands committed suicide." (Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III)

His lovers were:

1) Mrs. Charlotte Nugent

Lover in 1812

2) Countess Grote

Lover in 1842

3) Countess of Oxford

Lover in 1809

4) Friederike von Solms-Braunfels

Lover in 1815

5) Mary Paget, Baroness Graves

Lover in 1829-1832

6) Lady Lyndhurst

Lover in 1829

7) Mrs. Mary Ann Sellis

Lover in 1809

"On the night of 31 May 1810 the duke was found in his apartments in St. James's Palace with a terrible wound on his head, which would have been mortal had not the assassin's weapon struck against the duke's sword. Shortly afterwards his valet, Sellis, was found dead in his bed with his throat cut. On hearing the evidence of the surgeons and other witnesses, the coroner's jury returned a verdict that Sellis had committed suicide after attempting to assassinate the duke. The absence of any reasonable motive caused this event to be greatly discussed, and democratic journalists did not hesitate to accuse the duke of horrible crimes, and even to hint that he really murdered Sellis. In 1813 Henry White was sentenced to fifteen months' imprisonment and a fine of £200 for publishing this rumour." (A Web of English History)

8) Miss Knissel

Lover in 1793-1796

9) Princess Sophia

Lover in 1800

10) Violetta

Lover in 1790

11) Girl in St. Giles

Lover in 1801

Henry Frederick
Duke of Cumberland
@Pinterest

Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland

(1745-1790)

Duke of Cumberland

1766-1790

Duke of Strathearn 1766

Earl of Dublin 1766.

Son of: Frederick, Prince of Wales & Augusta von Sachsen-Gotha.

Physical appearance & personal qualities.
"Born in October 1745 at the height of the Jacobite rebellion, Prince Henry Frederick, the Duke of Cumberland, was seven years younger than the King. although he had what one observer called 'the thick speech' and the light complexion common to all Prince Frederick's children, he was slighter than the King and fairer too. In form and colouring he was closer to the Duke of York, sharing his small frame and startling white eyebrows. But he quite obviously lacked Prince Edwards intelligence and eye for detail; his own sister Augusta writing from Brunswick in 1764 declared in faint praise that, 'dear Henry' would be generally approved of, 'f he can learn to think before he speaks'." (A Royal Affair: George III and his Troublesome Siblings:149)

More trouble for mother, more scandal for the nation.
The King's third brother, Henry Frederick, created Duke of Cumberland a short time after the demise of his grand-uncle, 'Billy the Butcher,' was destined to give his royal mother more trouble, and the nation more scandal, than either the Dukes of York and Gloucester. In appearance he had the advantage of his brothers; in intellect he did not surpass their dull level; in stature he was small; and in habits degraded. This is Prince concerning whom a writer in the daily press declared he would not say any more just then; 'for to reproach a man with being an idiot is an insult to God,' said this religious scribe. From the strict confinement in which he had been kept until he had obtained his majority, he sallied forth to satiate himself with reckless vice, and bring ridicule and disgrace upon his name and family. The morals and manners of the age, and the proverbial frailty of Princes, would not perhaps have rendered his coarse amours in any way notorious, had he not intrigues with the wife of the first Earl Grosvenor, then young and beautiful, willy and accomplished." (Court Life Below Stairs, Vol. 2: 100)

The most abandoned, but least vicious of the royal brothers.
"Of the sons of the profligate Frederick, Prince of Wales, Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, was, by universal consent, the most abandoned, as his eldest brother, George III, of 'revered memory,' in spite of his intrigue with the first Quakeress, was the least vicious. Each brother had his amours---many of them highly discreditable; but for unrestrained and indiscriminate profligacy Henry Frederick took the unenviable palm." (Love Romances of the Aristocracy)

Mixing Low-life intrigue & high-life flirtation.
"Like his older brother, however, Prince Henry liked to mix low-life intrigue with high-life flirtation, going from courtesans to countesses, Mewmarket to the opera, Covent Garden bagnios to levees at St. James's Palace. . . ." (A Royal Affair: George III and his Troublesome Siblings:149)

His lovers were:

Mrs. James Davey.
Lover in 1765-1766.

Anna Maria Zamperini.

Lover in 1766.

Anne Elliott

Ann Elliott (1743-1769)
Lover in 1767-1768.

British courtesan & actress

"Ann Elliott was a member of the company at Covent Garden in 1762-5 and 1766-7: her only known appearance during the 1765-6 season was on 20 March 1766 at Drury Lane, the benefit night for the actor Charles Holland, where she played the role of Maria in the afterpiece The Citizen and read a 'new occasional prologue'.  The Citizen was by the actor-author Arthur Murphy, and Elliott had been his mistress since about 1760; around this time she had also formed a liaison with the King's younger brother Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland...." (Music and Theatre in Handel's World: 470) [Ref1:399]

"There was a famous 'Ann Elliot,' an actress (1743-1769), mistress of the dramatist Arthur Murphy, and later of Frederick, Duke of Cumberland.  She is recollected in the Life of Arthur Murphy (1811) by Jesse Foot, whose description makes her seem a little like Austen's Emma:  'Somewhat above the middle stature . . . her eyes were dark hazle [sic] and her hair a beautiful brown.' Foot memorably remarks, 'Every thing about her was sylphic and enchanting.'  The enchantment of the short-lived graceful Ann floats over the heroine of Persuasion, a woman of 'slender form' with 'delicate features and mild dark eyes'. . .  This is not how Anne sees herself, but the actress suggests the 'sylphic' young woman Frederick first saw."  \(Jane Austen's Names: Riddles, Persons, Places: 195)

Ann Elliott's other lover:

Arthur Murphy

Arthur Murphy
(1727-1805)

Lover in 1760.

Irish barrister, journalist, actor and playwright

"Though he was never married, Murphy lived for some time with the actress Ann Elliot, who was his protege and played the original Maria in his The Citizen at the Haymarket in July 1761. About 1766 he gave her up to the Duke of Cumberland.  Yet, as Thraliana claimed, Murphy's 'heart was exhausted of Love by Miss Elliot,' and they remained friends until her death in 1769. He declined her bequest of most of her money, but he served as one of the executors of her estate and proved her will on 15 July 1769."  (A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: 398)

" . . . Murphy brought on the stage and lived with a Miss Ann Elliot, an uneducated girl of natural abilities, who was his original Maria in the 'Citizen.'  He took great interest in her and wrote her biography (1769, 12mo.).  She died young and left him her money, which he transferred to her relatives." (Wikisource)

Murphy's physical appearance & personal qualities:
"Murphy was a well-built man, with an oval face of fair complexion but marked with the smallpox." (A Biographical Dictionary: 399)

"Though he was never married, Murphy lived for some time with the actress Ann Elliot, who was his protegee and played the original Maria in his The Citizen at the Haymarket in July 1761. About 1766 he gave her up to the Duke of Cumberland...." (Highfill, et. al., 1984, p. 398) [Ref1]

Camilla, Countess D'Onhoff.

Lover in 1769.

"Camilla, Countess D'Onhoff was one of the shadier figures in the undergrowth of London society. Although she claimed to the be widow of a Polish count, she was rumoured to have in fact been the mistress of the King of Poland, and to earn her living as the highest sort of courtesan. She kept an elegant new house in Cavendish Square just south of Oxford Street where she held routs, assemblies and card parties. The Town and Country hinted that she was really a business woman rather than a hostess, and that her entertainments were 'supported by subscription'. Furthermore her declaration that she lived on a Polish pension of 400 pounds a year was nonsense. She was maintained by Prince Henry and, indeed, he had already bought her 'a snug retreat near his hunting seat' at Windsor." (A Royal Affair: George III and his Troublesome Siblings:152)

Henrietta Vernon
Countess Grosvenor

Henrietta Vernon, Countess Grosvenor (d.1828).

Lover in 1769-1770.

British aristocrat & royal mistress.

Daughter of Henry Vernon & Lady Henrietta Wentworth.

Wife of: 
1. Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor, mar 1764
2. Lt.-Gen. George de Hochepied, 6th Baron de Hochepied, mar 1802.

"Henrietta's attention fell on the King's brother, Henry Duke of Cumberland who just happened to be the same age as her. Henry himself, already had a rebellious history, it was rumoured that he had married a commoner, Olivia Wilmot and there was to be more commoner marriages in his future as well. Henry was young and royalty; there was a dangerous appeal to having an affair with him. The couple would meet in secret in inns around the country. One time, while they were out at a friend's house in Cavendish Square Henrietta asked for a private meeting with the Duke to talk about her brother in the dining room. They were excused but after a half hour, the friend decided there had been enough talking and went in to interrupt. She found Henry on top of Lady Grosvenor, "with her petticoats up" on her couch.There is nothing I hate more than rude house guests! A crim con trial was soon underway." (Tart of the Week: Lady Henrietta Grosvenor @The Duchess of Devonshire's Gossip Guide to the 18th Century)

"Whatever the actual number of aristocratic adulteresses, the public representations of crim. con. trials helped convince observers that aristocratic wives were often unfaithful. One of the most famous cases of crim. con. in this period was the 1769 action brought by Lord Grosvenor against the King's brother the Duke of Cumberland for adultery with Lady Grosvenor. The high social rank of the individuals involved and the embarrassing details revealed in the lovers' letters would have drawn attention in any period, but in 1769 the case heightened existing concern about adultery and aristocratic vice. . . ." (McCreery. The Satirical Gaze: Prints of Women in Late Eighteenth-century England: 156)

"In 1769, the Duke of Cumberland was sued by Lord Grosvenor for “criminal conversation” (that is, adultery), after the Duke and Lady Grosvenor were discovered in flagrante delicto. Lord Grosvenor was awarded damages of £10,000, which together with costs amounted to an award of £13,000 (£1,570,000 in 2015)." (The Things that Catch My Eye)

Lady Grosvenor &
Duke of Cumberland
@The British Museum

"On 19 July 1764 Grosvenor married Henrietta Vernon, daughter of Henry Vernon of Hilton Park, Staffordshire; they had four sons. However the marriage was not happy, and Henrietta had an affair with Henry, Duke of Cumberland, the younger brother of George III. The couple were discovered in flagrante delicto in 1769, which led to Grosvenor bringing an action against the Duke for “criminal conversation” (that is, adultery). He was awarded damages of £10,000, which together with costs, amounted to an award of £13,000. But Grosvenor was also known to be guilty of adultery himself, so he could not sue for divorce. The couple separated and he settled an annual allowance of £1,200 on his estranged wife, who entered the demi-monde and was a leading member of The New 
Female Coterie." (The Things that Catch My Eye)

Anne Luttrell
Duchess of Cumberland

Anne Luttrell. (1743-1808)

Duchess of Cumberland

Lover in 1771.

Daughter of: Simon Luttrell, 1st Earl of Carhampton & Judith Maria Lawes.

Wife of:
1. Christopher Horton of Catton Hall, a commoner, mar 1765
2. Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland, mar 1771.

Royal duke's marriage to a "supremely beautiful creature".
" . . . On October 2, 1771---the very same month in which Prince William Henry revealed the fact of his marriage to his equerries at Leghorn. . .  The principals of this second royal Fleet marriage were George the Third's brother, Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, and the Honourable Anne Horton, widow of Major Christopher Horton, of Carlton Hall, Derbyshire. . . Mrs. Horton was a lady of good family, great beauty, and considerable possessions. The daughter of Lord Irham, subsequently raised to an earldom in the peerage of Ireland, the Honourable Anne Luttrell was a supremely beautiful creature at the time of her first marriage; and her personal  attractiveness was but little, if at all, diminished when she was united, without banns or license, in irregular wedlock to the young Duke of Cumberland, who at the time of the wedding was still in his twenty-fifth year. . . [T]he younger Duke's nuptials were solemnized in the bride's house; but more prudent than Lady Waldegrave, perhaps rendered prudent by what she had heard of doubts respecting the evidence of the Duchess of Gloucester's marriage, Mrs. Horton had induced her sister, the Honourable Elizabeth Luttrell, to be present as a witness at the secret wedding , and had caused the Reverend William Stevens, clerk, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge---the clergyman who celebrated the wedding in Hertford Street--- to make a memorandum of the occurrence. When his brother Cumberland's matrimonial arrangement came to the King's knowledge, soon after the Duke of Gloucester had brought up his domestic case under His Majesty's consideration, the King saw at a glance that Mrs. Horton's position differed materially from Lady Waldegrave's. The former lady had sufficient legal testimony of her royal alliance, the latter had none." (Brides and Bridals, Vol 2: 240)

A coquette beyond measure.

"The Duke of Cumberland, Gloucester's younger brother, fared no better in his marital choice of Mrs. Anne Horton, who although of respectable ancestry, she was the daughter of Simon Luttrell, Earl of Carhampton, was still unequal in rank to her husband. According to Horace Walpole, she 'had the most amorous eyes in the world and eyelashes a yard long; coquette beyond measure, artful as Cleopatra and completely mistress of her passions and projects'. The King refused to acknowledge the marriage or receive them at Court. Fortunately there were no children of the union." (Royal Sex)

From a family noted for the beauty of the women.

"Such was the degenerate brother of the King when the most memorable of his victims crossed his blighting path one summer day in 1771, at Brighton---a radiantly beautiful young woman who had just discarded her widow's weeds, and was arrayed for fresh conquests. Anne Luttrell, as the widow had been known in her maiden days, was one of the three lovely daughters of Lord Irham, in later years Earl of Carhampton, and a member of a family noted for the beauty of the women, and the wild, lawless living of its men. Her brother, Colonel Luttrell, was the most reckless swashbuckler and the deadliest duellist of his time---a man whose morals were as low as his temper and courage were high. At seventeen, Anne had become the wife of Christopher Horton, a hard-drinking, fast-living Derbyshire squire, who left her a widow at twenty-two, in the prime of her beauty, and eager, as soon as decency permitted, to enter the matrimonial lists again." (Love Romances of the Aristocracy)

"Since 1779, when he first came to Brighton and rented the house which Dr. Russell had built on the Steined, the Duke of Cumberland had been the leader of the hunting, racing and gambling set in the town. Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland (born 1744, died 1790), was by no means the favourite brother of the King. In 1770 Lord Grosvenor had obtained 10,000 pounds damages from him on a charge of having seduced Lady Grosvenor, and in 1771 he married Lady Anne Luttrell, a widow who was much older than himself. She was not only blasphemous and indecent in her conversation, but the marriage was felt by the King to be likely to increase the influence of the Irish families with whom the Duke's bride was connection, and who were antagonistic to the King, though this new connection with the Royal Family. In consequence the King caused to be passed in 1772 the Royal Marriage Act, by which none of the descendants of George II, unless of foreign birth, can marry under the age og twenty-five without the consent of the monarch. It was this Act that was to be one of the causes of a great deal of misery to the Prince of Wales before many years had passed." (Life in Brighton)

Elizabeth Foster, Duchess of Devonshire (1758-1824)

Lover in 1786.

" . . . [T]he list of Lady Elizabeth Foster's lovers reputedly included the Duke of Dorset, the Duke of Cumberland, Gustavus III of Sweden and Cardinal Bernis." (The Whig World: 1760-1837: 43)

Mrs. Elizabeth Billington.

Lover in 1786-1790.

"Mrs. Billington, according to one admirer 'the greatest singer England has ever produced', was previously the mistress of the Duke of Cumberland and subsequently of the Duke of Sussex, both younger brothers of George IV but also of the 4th Duke of Rutland. However, 'the coarseness of her manners soon disgusted him' and he moved on. . . ." (Royal Sex)

Mrs. Elizabeth Fox (?)

10) Mrs. Maria Bayley.
Lover in 1770-1771.

11) Mary Robinson.

12) Olive Payne.
Lover in 1767-1772.

13) Polly Kennedy.
Lover in 1769.

"At Windsor, where he took over his uncle's office of Ranger and Keeper of the Great Park in 1766, Prince Henry chased hares, foxes and women together.  Soon after his arrival he installed a young woman, Polly Jones, as his companion and playmate.  According to the famous courtesan Ann Sheldon, Polly Jones was spotted as a girl on the streets of London by Mrs. Mitchell, a notorious procuress who ran one of the many brothels in King's Place near the clubs and mansions of St James's.  Small and auburn-haired with dark eyes and an inviting smile, she was persuaded to abandon her meagre living selling salad stuffs to passers-by and to go into Mrs Mitchell's house as a friend and guest. . . Soon after her initiation . . ., Polly was noticed by the Duke of Cumberland parading along the walks of Vauxhall Gardens. After handing over 70 pounds, the Duke too her down to Windsor as his exclusive property. . . ."  (A Royal Affair: 150)

William of Great Britain
Duke of Cumberland

William of Great Britain

Duke of Cumberland

(1721-1765)

Son of George II of Great Britain & Caroline of Ansbach.

His lovers were:

1) Anne Montagu.
Lover in 1744.

"Although Prince William never married, it is fairly clear from anecdotes dealing with his youth that he possessed the typical raging hormones of a young man, and that he bedded a number of young women. Details are in short supply here, because Prince William left few written notes (about anything), and the authors of material dealing with his youthful sexual adventures often had political axes to grind, which inhibited trustworthy disclosures. We know that Prince William had a fondness for actresses, and that he had a summer affair about 1744 with Anne Montagu, who was six years older than the prince. After the affair, Anne married Joseph Jekyll." (The English Royal Family of America, from Jamestown to the American Revolution: 155)

2) Anne Williams, Lady Prendergast.

3) Fanny Murray.
British courtesan.

4) Lady Coventry.

5) Lucy Yonge, Countess of Rochford.

6) Margaret Eleanor Banks.

7) Miss Elliot.

8) Mrs. George Pitt.

9) Nancy Wilson.

10) Sarah Burt.

11) Wibrow Davey, Mrs. Suckling.

Rupert of the Rhine

Prince Rupert of the Rhine

(1619-1682)

Duke of Cumberland

Noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor & amateur artist.

Count Palatine of the Rhine

Duke of Bavaria

Earl of Holderness.

Commander of Royalist Cavalry 1642

Governor of Hudson's Bay Company

General of Horse.

Son of: Friedrich V von Pfalz & Elizabeth of England.

Prince Rupert was a Wittelsbach prince whose German name was Rupprecht von der Pfalz and full title was Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, but he was known as Prince Rupert of the Rhine. He was also Duke of Cumberland, Earl of Holderness and a Knight of the Garter.

Rupert was born in 1619 to his father Frederick of the Palatinate and mother Elizabeth of England, newly crowned king and queen of Bohemia. The following year, imperial forces defeated the Bohemians, and the "winter royal family" had to flee Prague.

". . .So precipitate was their flight from the city that poor little Prince Rupert was forgotten in the general confusion; and had it not been for Baron d'Hone, the king's chamberlain, picking up the child and flinging him into the last coach as it dashed out of the castle-yard through the snow-covered streets into the winter's night, his career would probably have ended somewhat abruptly." (Rupert of the Rhine: A Biographical Sketch of the Life of Prince Rupert, Prince Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, etc.:5)

Physical Appearance & Personality.

What his appearance was at this time [1635], we can judge of by the portrait which Vandyck (sic) painted of him during this visit. It still hangs at Coombe Abbey. . . In that portrait Rupert appears as a comely youth as any of the great Flemish master painted. Tall, and stately, with regular and delicate features, frank eyed, and thoroughly engaging." (Prince Rupert of the Rhine. . .:8)

"Prince Rupert was as soldier of fortune and loved war for its own sake. Had his head been as cool as his heart was valiant, he would probably have changed the fortunes of the civil wars. But his headstrong and imprudent valour was frequently more fatal than cowardice itself. Though generally successful whenever he led the charge, he was ever dissatisfied with present advantages, and by pushing his fortunes too far, invariably lost the superiority he had previously obtained, Rash, enterprising, and opinionated, he turned with contempt from the counsels of others, and yet was a loser whenever he followed his own." (Memoirs of the Court of England During the Reign of the Stuarts, including the Protectorate, Volume 3:276)

". . . By the time he was 18 he stood 6 ft 4 in tall with the Stuart dark looks." (Hoydens & Firebrands)

Prince Rupert at Age 23.

"Rupert was now in his twenty-third year. The following description of his appearance at this very important part of his life is worth quoting. 'His portraits represent to us the ideal of a gallant Cavalier. His figure, tall, vigorous, and symmetrical, would have been somewhat stately but for its graceful bearing and noble ease. A vehement, yet firm character predominated in the countenance, combined with a certain gentleness, apparent in the thoughtful but not pensive eyes. Large, dark, and well-formed eyebrows overarch a high-bred Norman nose; the upper lio is finely cut, but somewhat supercilious i expression; the lower part of the mouth and chin have a very different meaning, and impart a tone of iron resolution to the whole countenance. Long flowing hair floats over the wide embroidered collar on the scarlet coat; he wore neither beard nor moustaches, then almost universal; and his cheek, though bronzed by exposure, was marked by a womanly dimple.'" (Prince Rupert of the Rhine. . .:19)

Romantic Fling While a Prisoner in an Imperial Fortress on the Danube.

"An incident as romantic as any to be found in a tale or a play, occurred to our prince during his imprisonment. With Count Kuffstein [governor of the fortress holding Prince Rupert in captivity] lived his daughter. She is described by Rupert's unknown chronicler as being 'one of the brightest beauties of the age,' and 'no less excelling in the charms of her minde than of her faire bodyi.' What probably happened when two such beautiful and gifted young creatures as Rupert and the count's daughter met, I will leave to the imagination of the reader. It may be that the reason of Rupert never having married, although he had many inducements in later life to do so, was owing to this romantic affait during his confinement at Lintz." (Prince Rupert of the Rhine::13)

Portrait of a versatile royal prince.

"The prince is portrayed as impetuous and imperious, but also courageous and industrious. A man interested not only in the art of war, on land and on sea, but also an amateur scientist, who invented new armaments and explosives; an artist who developed the mezzotint engraving technique; and an ardent, founding member of Charles II's Royal Society. In his later years, Prince Rupert became the Constable of Windsor Castle, First Lord of the Admiralty, and in his semi-retirement became the lightning force for the enterprising Hudson Bay Company, which placed Canada in possession of England rather than America, while enterprising in the lucrative fur trade." (Hacienda Publishing)

His lovers were:

1) Catherine Scott (d.1686)

Daughter of: George Goring, Earl of Norwich, & Mary Neville

Wife of: Edward Scott of Scot's Hall (1611-1663) mar 1632

"Lady Catherine Scott, third daughter of George Goring, Earl of Norwich, and wife of Edward Scott, D.C.K., of Scot's Hall, co. Kent. She lived twelve years apart from her husband, and it was during this period that she was supposed to have been too intimate with Prince Rupert. Proceedings instituted by her husband in the Ecclesiastical Courts for a divorce were afterwards withdrawn, and before his death and in his will he acknowledged his son Thomas and left him heir to his estate. He died at Scot's Hall, and was buried at Smeeth, May 22nd, 1663." (The Diary of Samy Pepys, Vol 3: 230)

"Evelyn and Richard Hoare sailed back to France that summer with Lady Catherine Scott, daughter of the former ambassador George Goring, the earl of Norwich. She too was parted from her husband and engaged in secret missions. It was said that she was Prince's Rupert's mistress. . . ." (John Evelyn: Living for Ingenuity: 93)

"Lady Catherine Scott, third daughter of George Goring, Earl of Norwich, and wife of Edward Scott, D.C.L., of Scot's Hall, co. Kent. She lived twelve years apart from her husband, and it was during this period that she was supposed to have been too intimate with Prince Rupert. Proceedings instituted by her husband in the Ecclesiastical Courts for divorce were afterwards withdrawn, and before his death and in his will he acknowledged his son Thomas and left him heir to his estate. He died at Scot's Hall, and was buried at Smeeth, May 22nd, 1663. Lady Catherine Scott died in 1686." (The Diary of Samuel Pepys: 216)

"In about 1632 Edward Scott of Scot's Hall married Catherine, the daughter of the first Baron Goring, but the couple only lived together for about two years. While her husband was serving at the front, Catherine Scott gave birth to children at Oxford and elsewhere. Her husband disowned them and brought action in the ecclesiastical courts for separation, while she brought an action for alimony in Chancery. Then the husband brought a petition to Parliament in 1656. But a divorce was never obtained. Thomas Scott was thus perforce acknowledged by his 'father' as his heir, and succeeded to Scot's Hall at Edward Scott's death in 1663." (The Weaker Vessel: Woman's Lot in Seventeenth-Century England)

Lady Catherine's personal & family background.

" . . . George Goring, created first earl of Norwich in 1655, held the appointment briefly before being replaced by Henry Jermyn, the earl of St. Albans and favourite of Queen Henrietta Maria. Goring's daughter Lady Catherine Scott became a family friend. . . ." (John Evelyn: Living for Ingenuity: 313)

Frances Bard

@Sotheby's 

2) Frances Bard, Lady Bellomont (1646-1708)

Lover in 1664-1667.

Daughter of: Henry Bard, 1st Viscount Bellomont, English explorer and Civil War veteran & Ann Gardiner.

Natural offspring:

a. Dudley Rupert (1666-1686)

"Frances, also known as Francesca, was the eldest of the three daughters of Henry Bard, 1st Viscount Bellomont (1616-1656), and his wife Anne (d.c1686), daughter of Sir William Gardiner of Peckham, Surrey. Following the Restoration she met and had an affair with Prince Rupert of the Rhine (1619-1682), the nephew of Charles I. Frances was Rupert's mistress between 1664 and 1667, and it has been alleged that the couple might even have married. A purported marriage contract, dated at Petersham, Surrey, 30th July 1664, is known to survive. However, if such a relationship did exist it was never acknowledged by the Prince and must certainly have been morganatic. Despite this Frances, a staunch Roman Catholic, maintained that a marriage ceremony had taken place, though contemporaries doubted whether the fact could be proved and Rupert's cousin, Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orleans, believed that she had been deceived, and that one of the royal servants had been disguised as a clergyman. Married or not she had sufficient claim over the Prince to obtain from the Emperor, Leopold I,the sun of 20,000 crowns in 1695)." (Catalogue Notes @ Sotheby's)

"The alleged secret wedding of the Duke of York and Anne Hyde was not the only one of its kind in the Stuart royal family. Once of the most celebrated of Charles I's commanders in the Civil War had been the king's nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, one of the numerous children of Charles's elder sister, Elizabeth (Princess Royal, and subsequently Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia). Prince Rupert was unmarried during the war years, but in the early years after the Restoration he formed an alliance with Frances Bard (1646-1708), the daughter of another Civil War veteran. Frances later claimed to have secretly married Rupert in 1664. Like his first cousin, Charles II, Prince Rupert denied the secret marriage allegation, although -- again like the king -- he recognised the son whom Frances bore him in 1666, Dudley Bard, alias 'Dudley Rupert'. Later still Rupert Lived with his actress mistress, Margaret Hughes, and there was some talk of the possibility of a marriage between them. However, no such marriage ever materialised, although Margaret bore the prince a daughter Ruperta (later Ruperta Howe)." (Royal Marriage Secrets: Consorts & Concubines, Bigamists & Bastards: xx)

Natural offspring.

She had with Prince Rupert a son named, Dudley Rupert, who was killed at the siege of Buda, a volunteer in the imperial army. Dudley Rupert died without issue...." (Gower, 1890, p. 125)

"Prince Rupert had by Frances, daughter and co-heiress of Henry Bard, Viscount Bellarmont (sic) in the peerage of Ireland, a son named Dudley Rupert, who was killed at the siege of Buda, a volunteer in the imperial army. Dudley Rupert died without issue. . . ." (Rupert of the Rhine: 125)

"Bard's eldest daughter Frances (or Francesca) Bard (1646-1708) became Prince Rupert's mistress in 1664 and bore him a son, Dudley Bard, in 1666. Rupert acknowledged Dudley as his son, took an interest in his education and left him some property in his will. Dudley Bard became a soldier and was killed at the siege of Buda in 1686)." (BCW Project)

Margaret Hughes, c1670 

3) Margaret Hughes (1645-1719)

Lover in 1660s
English actress & royal mistress

Natural offspring:

a. Ruperta.

Physical Appearance & personal qualities.

"Like her contemporaries Nell Gwyn and Moll Davies, Margaret (Peg) Hughes was a beautiful and very talented actress. Her portrait at Coombe Abbey, painted in the style used by Sir Peter Lely to portray a courtesan, reveals a woman of great charm, with dark sparkling eyes, a beautiful milk white complexion and an expression of lively intelligence. . . . " (Royal Sex)

" . . . The first actress recorded as having played on the English stage was Margaret Hughes (?-1719), P. Rupert's mistress, who played Desdemona in Othello at the Clare Market theatre, London, in Dec, 1660. . . ." (Arnold-Baker: 7)

"Peg's affair with Prince Rupert is alleged to have begun during Queen Catherine's visit to Tunbridge Wells to take the waters. As only two visits are recorded by Pepys in July 1663 and again July 1666, we can only assume that it must have been the later date. If true then she was already an actress some two years before her first recorded appearances in 1668. However, it is possible that the Court visited the town at a later date and Pepys did not record the event. Either way Rupert quickly became enamoured of Peg and took her under his protection; he also employed her brother was (sic) one of his servants' her last performance was in The Sisters towards the end of 1669)." (Royal Sex)

Margaret Hughes

"An excessive admiration of female beauty had always been a failing of Prince Rupert. Accordingly, at a somewhat advanced age, we him imitating the fashionable vices of the Court of Charles the Second, and even supporting Mrs. Hughes, a handsome actress belonging to the King's company, as his acknowledge mistress. As this person was on the stage as early as 1663, which was very shortly after female characters had ceased to be performed by men, she must have been one of the earliest actresses who figured in public. She was still on the stage as early as 1676. . . . " (Memoirs of the Court of England During the Reign of the Stuarts, Vol 3: 38)

"He had always been an admirer of beauty, and at a somewhat advanced age, we find him imitating the fashionable vices of the court of Charles the Second, and supporting Mr.s Hughes, a handsome actress belonging to the king's company, as his acknowledged mistress. As this person was on the stage in 1663, soon after female characters had ceased to be performed by men, she must have been one of the earliest actresses who figured in public. . . ." (Memoirs of the Courts of England: 281)

" . . . Peg Hughes became the mistress of Prince Rupert, by who, he had a daughter christened Ruperta. The Prince died on the 29th of November 1682, having, two days before, executed a settlement, by which he amply provided for 'Mrs. Margaret Hewes' and his and her daughter Ruperta, appointing the Earl of Craven their trustee. The young lady became the wife of Emanuel Scrope Howe, Esquire; from them descended Sir George Bromley of East Stoke, Nottingham, Baronet, who in 1787 published a volume of Original Royal Letters which come into his possession in right of Ruperta, with a very good engraving of the lady and her husband, Prince Rupert and the Queen of Bohemia, from original paintings---with a plate of autograph and seals. Ruperta, judging from the engraving, must have been a very beautiful woman." (The Dramatic Works of John Crowne: 11)

"The following account of Prince Rupert and his liaison with the actress, Mrs. Hughes, is taken from Dr. Doran's 'Annals of the English Stage:'---'When the former (Mrs. Hughes) subdued Prince Rupert, there was more jubilee at the Court of Charles II at Tunbridge Wells, that if the philosophic Prince had fallen upon an invention that should benefit mankind. Rupert, whom the plumed gallants at Whitehall considered a rude mechanic, left his laboratory, put aside his reserve, and wooed in due form the proudest, perhaps, of the actresses of his day. . . . The Prince enshrined the frail beauty in that home of Sir Nicholas Crispe, at Hammersmith, which was subsequently occupied by Bubb Doddington, the Margravine of Anspach, and Queen Caroline of Brunswick. She well-nigh ruined her lover, at whose death there was little left beside a collection of jewels, worth 20,000 pounds, which were disposed of by lottery in order to pay his debts. . . The daughter of this union, Ruperta, who shared with her mother the modest estate bequeathed by the Prince, married General Emmanuel Scrope Howe. One of the daughters of this marriage was the beautiful and reckless maid to Caroline, Princess of Wales, whom the treachery of Franz Lowther sent broken-hearted to the grave in 1726. Through Ruperta, however, the blood of her parents is still continued in the family of Sir Edward Bromley." (Rupert of the Rhine: 125)

"The first theatre on the site was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early 1660s, when theatres were allowed to reopen during the English Restoration. Initially known as "Theatre Royal in Bridges Street", the theatre's proprietors hired a number of prominent actors who performed at the theatre on a regular basis, including Nell Gwyn and Charles Hart. In 1672 the theatre caught fire and Killigrew built a larger theatre on the same plot, designed by Sir Christopher Wren; renamed the "Theatre Royal in Drury Lane", it opened in 1674. This building lasted nearly 120 years, under the leaderships of Colley Cibber, David Garrick and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the last of whom employed Joseph Grimaldi as the theatre's resident Clown." (Wikipedia)

". . . Margaret left the stage at the end of the year [1669] in order to set up home with Prince Rupert (1619-1682), cousin of Charles II. How and when she met the prince are uncertain. According to Anthony Hamilton's Memoirs of the Count de Grammont, she was with the count on a summer visit to Tunbridge Wells in 1668 when she made the acquaintance of Prince Rupert. The old soldier's hamfisted attempts at wooing her cause great amusement to Charles II and his courtiers; for the 'impertinent gipsy (sic)' initially refused Rupert's offers of money and gifts, preferring instead to 'sell her favours at a dearer rate'. This unexpected rejection 'caused the poor prince to act a part [as a suitor] so unnatural that he no longer appeared like the same person', but paid dividends as Margaret gradually assumed the role of Rupert's 'only mistress' and effectively 'brought down and greatly subdued his natural fierceness' (Hauck, 346; Hamilton, 306). When or even if the supposed events occurred is unclear. . . . " (ODNB)

Benefits: ". . . Rupert showed largess towards her family, and employed at least one of her brothers in his household. . . . " (ODNB)

Brandenburg House
@LBHF Libraries

"The prince, soon after the commencement of their intercourse, purchased for his mistress, of Sir Nicholas Crispe, the splendid mansion at Hammersmith, since known as Brandenburg House, the building of which had cost 25,000 pounds. His connexion with this lady appears to have brought a considerable change in his character and habits. . . ." (Memoirs of the Court of England: 281)

"On 27 November 1682, two days before his death,Rupert signed his will, which provided handsomely for Margaret and their daughter. Margaret was to received all of Rupert's money, place, English estates,a nd investments, and the prince listed in detail some of the personal estate she was to have: the string of pearls which once belonged to the winter queen; his diamonds; and all of his tapestries, gold stucco work, and hangings. He was at pains to point out that he had already given her a large cabinet worth an estimated 8000 pounds and that was now her own property. . . ." (ODNB)

Natural offspring: ". . . Prince Rupert had also, by Margaret Hughes, a daughter Ruperta, who married Emmanuel Scroope Howe, brother of Scroope, Viscount Hood in the peerage of Ireland. Emmanuel Scroope Howe was a lieutenant-general in the army, and had issue three sons by Ruperta his wife, namely, William, Emmanuel, and James, and also a daughter, who was maid of honour to Queen Caroline, the wife of George the Second. . . . " (Rupert of the Rhine: 125)

4) Mary Villiers, Duchess of Richmond (1622-1685)

Personal & family background.

"The Prince's friendship with Mary Villiers, who possessed a delicate and almost ephemeral beauty, begun during the 1st Civil War and was already common gossip by 1645. As well as being the daughter of the infamous Duke of Buckingham, the cherished royal favourite of James I, the duchess could boast of royal descent via Anne, sister of Edward IV and kinship with the famous and still powerful Howard clan which included the notorious and infamous Lady Somerset and her sister Lady Knollys. She was also cousin to Charles II's mistress Barbara Villiers." (Royal Sex: Mistresses and Lovers of the British Royal Family)

Physical appearance & personal qualities.

"According to Madame Dunois, Mary was 'extremely beautiful and of a mien and presence very noble and Majestic' and was 'gay, spirited and unconventional, courageous and quick-witted. . . ." (Royal Sex: Mistresses and Lovers of the British Royal Family)

Prince Rupert of the Rhine's Timeline.

1619: Born in Prague, Bohemia.

1620: Fled to the Netherlands where he spent his childhood. Hie father was deposed as King of Bohemia which cause the royal family to flee from the advancing imperial forces sent by Emperor Ferdinand.

1633: Rupert joined a tournament organized by the Prince of Orange at which he distinguished himself.

1635: He volunteered as a private in the Prince of Orange's Life Guards fighting in the war going on between Spain and Holland. In the winter, Prince Rupert paid his first visit to England. He accompanied his uncle Charles I to Oxford where the Mastership of Arts was conferred on him.

1637: Rupert left the English Court and commanded, together with his brother the Elector Palatine, a regiment of horse in the German wars.

1638: Accompanying his brother, the Elector Palatine, into Westphalia, they were completely routed by the Imperial General Hatzfield (sic) and Prince Rupert was taken prisoner.

1639-1642: Rupert was imprisoned in the Imperial fortress of Lintz on the Danube.

1642: After visiting his mother in the Hague, Rupert arrived at Dover after being summoned by his uncle the King. He hastened to England to offer his services to his uncle and joined the King in York. He was elected a Knight of the Garter

1642: Prince Rupert joined his uncle Charles I's army in the English Civil War. He fought his first major battle of the war at Edgehill where his cavalry charge completely routed the parliamentarians. The King named Rupert 'General of the Royal Horse.'

1644: Rupert lef the spectacular relief of the siege of York, but was later defeated by a parliamentary army at Marstoon Moor.

1645: He took part in the Battle of Baseby at which the royalists were defeated. He surrendered Bristol to parliament. The king withdrew his commission and Prince Rupert left for exile in Holland.

1649: The Prince of Wales gave Rupert command of the English navy.

1650: Rupert was defeated by the Commonwealth in Spain. He escaped and he escaped spending the next decade in the West Indies and then in Germany.

1660: Prince Rupert returned to England at the Restoration and was shortly afterwards made a Privy councillor, Vice-Admiral of England, Constable of Windsor Castle, and granted a pension by Charles of 4,000 pounds a year. Rupert held a series of British naval commands, fighting in the Second and third Anglo-Dutch Wars. (Ref1: BBC History)

1665: Rupert was second-in-command to the Duke of York in the great sea-fight with the Dutch.

1673: He was admiral of the English fleet in the wars with Holland. (Ref:Memoirs of the Courts of England...)

5) Susan Kuffstein.

Daughter of: Count Kuffstein, his gaoler.

Prince Rupert of the Rhine Gallery.

Portrait of a Nobleman

thought to be Prince Rupert of the Rhine

by Gerrit van Honthorst

Prince Rupert of the Rhine 

Prince Rupert of the Rhine

in Garter robes

by After Sir Peter Lely 

Prince Rupert of the Rhine

by Sir Peter Lely, 1666-1671

@ Yale Center for British Art 

Prince Rupert of the Rhine 

References for Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

[Ref4:24] [Ref5:Madame Guillotine]