Henry had several illegitimate children, including one with Mary Boleyn, the sister of his second wife, Anne Boleyn (see Philippa Gregory’s book, ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’). Anne and Mary’s ambitious father offered his wife to the King, but Henry declined, with the immortal words, “Never with the mother,” according to the writer Nigel Cawthorne’s masterful and encyclopedic book on the subject, “Sex Lives of the Kings and Queens of England,” shortly to be reissued on Kindle.

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Master Gardener’ on Hulu, Another Subtly Sinister Drama From Master Storyteller Paul SchraderIn 1314, Philip IV, also called Philip the Fair, was King of France and he arranged several political marriages for his offspring to ensure that his kingdom thrived. He had three sons (Louis, Philip, and Charles) and he paired them all up with countesses and duchesses from Burgundy. Meanwhile, his daughter Isabella became the Queen of England when she married Edward II. Beyoncé Gave The Beyhive A Little Something To Be Thankful For With A “First Look” At ‘Renaissance' During Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Diplomatic marriages were a common practice among the royals and they were used as a valuable political tool to gain land, money, power, and heirs.

The women were stripped naked, had their heads shaved and were imprisoned. Only two of them were found guilty. Although all three were accused, one of them managed to persuade the court and her husband of her innocence. Of the two convicted princesses, one died in prison while the other one was eventually released and sent to a convent. Alyssa Farah Griffin Defends Justin Timberlake Following Britney Spears' Explosive Abortion Claims On 'The View': "They Were Both In A Very Toxic Environment"When it comes to true perversion, there is nobody who can outperform the Roman emperors. We could have done the entire list just about their licentious ways, but instead we are just going to focus on one of them – Tiberius. We’ve all heard about the various deviances of Nero, or Caligula, but the actions of Tiberius might have been the most depraved of all… if they were true. In 1797, she married Charles Emmanuel Leclerc, a dashing general with blonde hair. But, as you might expect, Pauline wasn’t faithful. While Charles was away fighting wars, Pauline juggled three lovers simultaneously: General Pierre de Ruel, General Moreau, and General Etienne-Jacques Macdonald. How 'The Buccaneers' Crafted Josie Totah and Mia Threapleton’s "Joyful" Queer Romance: "Never Even a Discussion" Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Oppenheimer’ on VOD, Christopher Nolan's Sprawling, Urgent Three-Hour Nuclear Biopic Swifties Threaten To Boycott Netflix When 'Taylor Swift: The Reputation Stadium Tour' Is Removed Next Month: "Does Netflix Realize How Many People Are Going To Cancel Their Subscription?"

In 1840, Victoria married Prince Albert. They enjoyed a loving marriage and had nine children together, but Albert died in 1861, 40 years before his wife. The queen was devastated by her husband’s death and, from then on, became a recluse who rarely appeared in public and, instead, preferred to spend most of her time at her various royal residences.

All these things were converging, says Robert Lacey, a historian and royal biographer. It was all part of “the upper-class excess, that led to the Labour [victory] the following year”. It was also a time, he says, when the media were willing to report salacious stories. The Conservative government was already in crisis over the Profumo affair, and when Duncan Sandys, the minister of defence, was rumoured as possibly the person in Margaret’s photograph – as were Hollywood actors and royalty – he offered his resignation. Indeed, the sex life of Prince Charles has been the subject of constitutional importance ever since a 1989 conversation with Camilla, recorded by an amateur radio enthusiast, was published in which Charles expressed a desire to be reincarnated as his lover’s tampon (in fact, when you read the tape in full and hear the tampon quote in context, it’s less creepy and more dumb than it sounds). As talk about their relationship made for hot gossip in the country, Caroline agreed to leave England and spend time around Europe, eventually returning when it was time for George’s coronation. After all, she wanted to be queen, she didn’t put up with him for nothing.

Their union was not a happy one. They had two children together, but afterwards they lost interest in one another. George took a mistress and spent most of his free time with her, so it was not surprising when somebody else eventually caught Sophia’s eye. Queen Victoria is, arguably, the most famous British royal in history and her life has been studied and documented in minute detail. Unsurprisingly, this led to the appearance of plenty of rumors, and perhaps none is more enduring than the queen’s alleged love affair with a Scottish servant named John Brown. Margaret was complicated. “Some people found her snobby, and self-publicising,” says Lacey. “She was a name-dropper and had an attitude of entitlement.” Nothing was ever her fault. As Spence notes in her book, The Grit in the Pearl, Margaret “rarely, if ever, cast herself in an unfavourable light”. The most promiscuous monarch of modern times was Edward VII, the son of Queen Victoria, famous for being the longest-serving Prince of Wales owing to his mother’s longevity. His first sexual experience was with an Irish actress named Nellie Clifton, who was smuggled into his bed when he was on duty with the army at the Curragh. The Kotze Affair refers to one of the greatest sex scandals to hit the German royal court. It happened during the time of Kaiser Wilhelm II and may have involved his own sister, Princess Charlotte of Prussia.

Joy Behar Calls On Will Smith To "Get In The Ring" With Jada Pinkett Smith On 'The View': "He Sits There And Takes It" It was only with her second marriage that she became an aristocrat,” says Lacey. The Duke of Argyll was impoverished by gambling debts; he was also violent and was addicted to alcohol and amphetamines. He was drowning in death duties and his Scottish castle was crumbling; Margaret brought wealth to the marriage, and paid to update and repair the castle.