by Alex David
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Monarchs Who
Died Childless
Below is a list of English/British monarchs since the Norman Conquest of 1066 who are recorded to have had no children, either legitimate or illegitimate. It does not include therefore Richard I and Charles II, both of whom are recorded to have had illegitimate offspring. Also, if Lady Jane Grey were considered a legitimate monarch she would be listed after Edward VI as married but with no children.
William II (c.1056/60-1100)
Never married. There are no records indicating he ever fathered illegitimate children. Church chroniclers
suggested that he was homosexual.
Richard II (1367-1400)
Married twice, but both unions were childless. His first wife Anne of Bohemia is not recorded to ever have been pregnant. His second wife Isabella of Valois was only six years old when they were wed and their marriage
remained unconsummated at Richard’s death.
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Edward V (1470-1483)
Died unmarried at 12 years of age.
Edward VI (1537-1553)
Died unmarried at 15 years of age.
Mary I (1516-1558)
Married but the union was childless. Although she
believed herself pregnant at the age of 38, during her first year of marriage to Philip of Spain, this turned out to be a false pregnancy.
Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
Never married. There are no reliable records indicating she was ever pregnant.
William III (1650-1702) & Mary II (1662-1694) The only joint monarchs in British history were married to each other but their union was childless. After early pregnancies that ended in miscarriage Mary never
conceived again.
Edward VIII (1894-1972)
Married Wallis Simpson as Duke of Windsor after his abdication but the marriage was childless. There have been rumours over the years that he fathered at least one illegitimate child before he became king, however there is no reliable evidence for this.
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Monarchs With Confirmed
Illegitimate Children
Listed below are the English/British monarchs who are confirmed to have fathered illegitimate children. The monarchs are ranked by the number of children fathered.
Note that starting from Queen Victoria’s reign illegitimate children ceased to be acknowledged publicly, so no firm evidence exists to confirm royal illegitimate children for the last 150 years.
1. Henry I (c.1068/69-1135)
At least 17 children from at least 8 mistresses.
The children were born both before and during his first marriage to Matilda of Scotland, but before his second marriage to Adeliza of Louvain. The children were born both before and after his accession to the throne. The exact number of children is unclear and is presumed to be even higher.
2. Charles II (1630-1685)
13 children from 7 mistresses.
The first five children were born before his marriage to Catherine of Braganza, the remaining eight during the 328
marriage. The first four children were born before his accession to the throne, the remaining nine during his time as monarch.
3. William IV (1765-1837)
11 children from 2 mistresses.
All the children were born before his marriage to
Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, ten of them borne by his long-term mistress Dorothy Jordan. All children were born before his accession to the throne.
4. John (1166-1216)
At least 8 children from at least 5 mistresses.
It is believed that all the children were born during his first marriage to Isabella of Gloucester (1189-1199) and before his second marriage to Isabella of Angouleme.
Almost all of them are believed to have been born before his accession to the throne.
5. James II (1633-1701)
At least 6 children from 2 mistresses.
Two children were born during his first marriage to Anne Hyde. Three children were born during his second
marriage to Mary of Modena. One child was born
between the two marriages. All of them were born
before his accession to the throne.
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6. Henry II (1133-1189)
At least 4 children from 3 mistresses.
Three of the four children were born during his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Three of them were born during his time as monarch. One child was born before his
marriage and before his accession to the throne.
7=. Edward III (1312-1377)
3 children from 1 mistress.
At least two of the three children are thought to have been born during his marriage, before the death of his wife Philippa of Hainault. All children were born during his time as monarch.
7=. Edward IV (1442-1483)
At least 3 children from at least 2 mistresses.
All children are thought to have been born during his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. All children were born during his time as monarch.
7=. George I (1660-1727)
3 children from 1 mistress.
Two of the three children were born before his divorce from his wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle, one of them was born afterwards. All of them were born in Hanover
before his accession to the British throne.
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10. Richard III (1452-1485)
2 children from 2 mistresses.
Both children were born before his marriage to Anne Neville, and before his accession to the throne.
11=. Stephen (c.1092/97-1154)
At least 1 illegitimate child.
Born before his marriage to Matilda of Boulogne, and before his accession to the throne.
11=. Richard I (1157-1199)
1 illegitimate child.
Born before his marriage to Berengaria of Navarre, and before his accession to the throne.
11=. Henry VII (1457-1509)
1 illegitimate child.
Born before his marriage to Elizabeth of York, and before his accession to the throne.
11=. Henry VIII (1491-1547)
1 illegitimate child.
Born during his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and during his time as monarch.
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11=. George II (1683-1760)
1 illegitimate child.
Born during his marriage to Caroline of Ansbach, and during his time as monarch. Note however that although George was widely believed to be the father of this child he never acknowledged him publicly.
?. George IV (1762-1830)
It is widely believed that George IV fathered several children before his marriage to Caroline of Brunswick and before his accession to the throne. No firm evidence exists however to confirm paternity, and George himself, unlike his brother William IV, refused to publicly
acknowledge any illegitimate children throughout his life.
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Royal Mistresses
Royal mistresses have played a part in the history of the English/British monarchy for almost a thousand years, from the days of the early Norman kings up to our own times. Listed below, in chronological order, is a selection of the most notable mistresses of English/British
monarchs.
Rosamund Clifford
(c.1140s/1150s-c.1176)
Mistress to Henry II
Known for her good-nature, ‘Fair Rosamund’ was
installed at Woodstock Palace by Henry II as his main mistress. Legends later grew that he built a labyrinth around the palace to protect her from his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, who nevertheless found her and poisoned her.
In reality however, the affair ended and Rosamund
withdrew to private life in a nunnery.
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Alice Perrers
(1348-1400)
Mistress to Edward III
A lady in waiting to Edward’s wife Queen Philippa, Alice was 15-years-old when she began an affair with Edward.
He p
ublicly acknowledged her as her official mistress after Philippa died and made lavish gifts to her, making her a very wealthy woman. After Edward died she was tried in Parliament by her enemies for corruption and was banished from the realm. She was a patron of
Chaucer and is said to have been the model for the Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales.
Elizabeth Shore
(c.1445-c.1527)
Mistress to Edward IV
Described by Thomas More as the merriest of Edward
IV’s several mistresses, Elizabeth (also called Jane) was a London merchant’s daughter who was admired for her
beauty, wit and good influence upon Edward. She had other lovers, and after Edward died Richard III forced her to make penance for her promiscuousness by walking
through the streets of London dressed in penitential clothes.
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Elizabeth Blount
(c.1500-1540s)
Mistress to Henry VIII
‘Bessie’ Blount played an important part as a mistress to Henry while he was married to Catherine of Aragon. By giving birth to Henry’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, Elizabeth proved that Henry’s failure to provide male heirs lay not with him but with his wife Catherine. A popular saying on the subject at that time was “Bless ‘ee, Bessie Blount!”
Mary Boleyn
(c.1500s-1543)
Mistress to Henry VIII
Anne Boleyn’s elder sister was allegedly the mistress of the King of France before she came back to England and attracted Henry VIII’s attentions. The affair was
conducted while she was married to William Carey and some historians have argued that their children were in fact fathered by Henry. After her husband died and her affair with Henry ended she controversially married for love beneath her rank and was banished from court.
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Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland
(1640-1709)
Mistress to Charles II
Extravagant, foul-tempered and promiscuous, Barbara was the most notorious of Charles II’s mistresses and the mother of five of his illegitimate children, all of whom were ennobled. She was called the curse of the nation because of her greed, her meddling into politics, and her influence on Charles. Others however described her as great fun and very generous. Her other lovers were
numerous and included John Churchill, Duke of
Marlborough, as well as an actor and an acrobat. Her descendants by Charles II include Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sarah, Duchess of York.
Nell Gwyn
(1650-1687)
Mistress to Charles II
Nell was one of the most famous figures of Restoration England because of her rags to riches story. After starting as an orange seller she became a prostitute, then a comedy actress and eventually she seduced the king.
Samuel Pepys said she was a talented comedian on the stage and that she attracted Charles as much for her wit as for her beauty. Her barbs and tricks to other royal mistresses were legendary, but she was loyal and kind to her friends. On her deathbed, Charles famously asked those around him: "Let not poor Nelly starve.”
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Louise de Kerouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth
(1649-1734)
Mistress to Charles II
‘Fubbs’, as Charles called her because of her plumpness, was a Frenchwoman sent to England by King Louis XIV to be Charles’ mistress and also act as a spy. She grew very wealthy from Charles’ presents but became hated by the people because of her Catholic faith. A very clever woman, she survived intrigues and changes of
government to die at the age of 85 back in her native France. Her descendants through the son she conceived with Charles include Diana, Princess of Wales, and
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Hortense Mancini
(1646-1699)
Mistress to Charles II
Hortense was a niece of Cardinal Mazarin of France and one of five famous sisters celebrated for their beauty.
After leaving her abusive husband at the age of 22 she became one of the most adventurous courtesans of her age, famed for her lesbian affairs. Deciding to try her luck in England as Charles’ mistress, she arrived at court dressed as a man and quickly gained his affections. She lost his favour after having an affair with one of Charles’
own daughters (see Illegitimate Royal Children), but he later forgave her.
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Arabella Churchill
(1648-1730)
Mistress to James II when Duke of York
Arabella was a kinswoman of Barbara Villiers and the sister of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. She
became James’ mistress shortly after becoming a Lady in Waiting to his first wife, Anne Hyde, with her own family encouraging the affair hoping for advancement. She was said to be all skin and bone, and to lack charm or
ambition, however she possessed enough intelligence to retain James’ affections for ten years.
Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester
(1657-1717)
Mistress to James II when Duke of York and when King The daughter of a famous hellrake and a mother who
went insane, Catherine was picked as a royal mistress by James after she became Lady in Waiting to his second wife, Mary of Modena. Like Arabella Churchill, she was notoriously plain but was famous for her wit. ‘What he saw in any of us’, she said of James years later, ‘I cannot tell. We were all plain, and if any of us had wit he would not have understood it.’ Charles II once joked that his brother’s mistresses were imposed on him by his
confessors as a penance.
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Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess
of Kendal
(1667-1743)
Mistress to George I
Melusine’s affair with George started in Hanover and continued in England after he ascended the British
throne. She was nicknamed the Maypole by the London mob on account of her thin tall figure. Since George had divorced his wife Sophia Dorothea in Hanover before he became king, Melusine acted as his principal companion at court and at social functions in Britain. Robert Walpole said of her that she was ‘as much a Queen of England as anyone was.’
Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk
(1689-1767)
Mistress to George II when Prince of Wales and when King
Henrietta became George’s mistress when he was still Prince of Wales and was later made Woman of the
Bedchamber to George’s wife, Queen Caroline. She was noted more for her intelligence than her beauty, and it is said that George’s punctual daily visits to her apartments were spent mostly talking and playing cards, prompting rumours that he kept a mistress more as a mark of status than for pleasure. After the affair ended she formed an intellectual circle in London that included Horace Walpole and Alexander Pope.
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Mary Robinson
(1758-1800)
Mistress to George IV when Prince of Wales
George IV’s first public mistress when Prince of Wales was this successful London stage actress. George fell in love with her when he saw her playing Perdita in
Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, and offered her £20,000
to give up the theatre and be his mistress. She accepted but he soon tired of her, and he later dismissed her without ever paying the sum in full. Intelligent and learned, she later became a writer producing feminist tracts, novels and poetry.
Maria Fitzherbert
(1756-1837)
Mistress to George IV when Prince of Wales
Mrs Fitzherbert was the great love of George’s life. A patient and kind woman, she was one of the few people who could handle George’s volatile personality. She was however twice widowed and a Catholic, and therefore completely unsuited to marry a future king. Nevertheless, the two were wed illegally and in secret in 1785 after George threatened to kill himself unless she agreed to be his wife. The marriage was soon annulled, and he later repudiated
her to marry his cousin Caroline of Brunswick in order to have his debts paid. However he continued to have an on-and-off relationship with Maria for the rest of his life, and when he died he asked to be buried with her miniature around his neck.
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Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey
(1753-1821)
Mistress to George IV when Prince of Wales
George was famously attracted to older women and
Frances was 40 years old—nine years older than
George—and a mother of 10 children when she became
his mistress. A scintillating society woman, it was nevertheless said that she could not be happy without a rival to trouble and torment. To prove the point she first convinced George to marry his cousin Caroline of
Brunswick and then set out to make her life at court very difficult. She remained George’s principal mistress for about 10 years before he replaced her with another
woman.
Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham
(1769-1861)
Mistress to George IV when King