beau–brummell:15 Things You May Not Know About Nell GwynnEleanor “Nell” Gwynn

beau–brummell:15 Things You May Not Know About Nell GwynnEleanor “Nell” Gwynn (c. 1650-1687) was one of King Charles II’s most famous mistresses, one of Britain’s first actresses and celebrities, a sex symbol, a wit and the nation’s sweetheart. The diarist, Samuel Pepys, famously named her “Pretty, witty Nell.” She rose from a poor, sometimes traumatic background, to working for Mary “Orange Moll” Meggs as an orange & sweetmeat seller at the theatres and eventually, becoming an immensely popular actress and subsequently catching the eye of the King who bound himself to her for 17 years. Nell’s story, from pauper to royal mistress, is often compared to the classic fairytale of Cinderella. She entered the public imagination posthumously as “Cinders Nell.” Coincidentally, in Nell’s accounts, we can see that she spent almost £150 on a coach made entirely of glass. Actresses from this period were often expected to play “breeched” roles a.k.a roles in male attire (usually to bring on comedic misunderstandings). Nell was, according to Samuel Pepys, brilliant at playing “young sparks” and this is probably because she would often go out with her friends, in male clothing and adopting the name of “William Nell” in order to better study and perfect masculine gestures and nuances.  Breeched roles were considered immensely sexually charged to the male population, mainly because male attire produced for the roles accentuated female curves and showed off an actress’s legs. Nell’s legs were one of King Charles II’s favourite things about her and he spent a lot of money on buying rhinegrave dresses for Nell to perform in (dresses with skirts that would fly up often and provocatively).Along with her friend, the playwright and proto-feminist, Aphra Behn, Nell laced tea and a pie with laxatives to give to her fellow actress and rival for Charles II’s bed, Moll Davis. The plan worked: Moll was indisposed and Charles spent the night with Nell instead. Nell called Charles II “my Charlie the Third,” in reference to the fact he was the third Charles she had taken to her bed. The first being the actor and her mentor, Charles Hart, and the second, the notorious rake and Nell’s brief keeper, Charles Sackville, Duke of Dorset and Lord Buckhurst. It was said that Nell caught the eye of Charles Sackville when she played a character who has to roll across the stage to escape an undesirable lover, sending her skirts flying about and treating the audience to a view of her under-the-waist assets. Two potential full nude portraits exist of Nell. Indeed, full nudes of Nell were certainly produced from life for King Charles II, as it was said he would often show these pictures, proudly, to his friends. The first one can be found here, and the second here. A nude print of Nell as Cupid was also kept by Samuel Pepys in his office at the Admiralty (she was an early precursor of the Page 3 girl!)Whilst Nell almost certainly worked as a child prostitute for some of her early life, she was schooled in the art of being a kept mistress to gentlemen of the aristocracy by the notorious Earl of Rochester. He was one of her first aristocratic keepers but he acted more as a sexual mentor. In the succeeding century, people viewed the relationship between Rochester and Nell enthusiastically, often producing little romances about the two. In reality, once Rochester had taught Nell all he could, he became her close friend and ally during her rise and even spared her from the acid he often aimed at courtiers in his poetic satires. For a time before Nell took to the stage, she was in the keeping of a man named Duncan, but she soon became bored, presumably aware she was made for other things.Her mother, Helena/Eleanor Gwynn, known to those who knew her as “Old Ma Gwynn” was a bawd and an alcoholic, an affliction precipitated by her husband’s early death. She reportedly died after falling into a deep puddle whilst drunk. Nell also had an older sister, Rose, who worked for a time as a prostitute and also spent time in Newgate Prison, accused of theft, though was miraculously freed. She nicknamed her rival, Louise de Kerouaille, another of Charles’ long-term mistresses, “Squintabella,” as well as “Weeping Willow” on account of Louise’ propensity to cry in order to get what she wanted. She also probably popularised Louise’ nickname amongst the English people which was “Mrs Carwell” (”Carwell” was an Englishman’s poor attempt at pronouncing her French name.)In appearance, Nell was barely 5ft, with very small feet and hands. She was chubby, voluptuous, buxom and very pretty: she was said to have a glittering smile, dimpled face, copper hair flecked with gold, a turned up nose, full lips, and big, dark eyes. Her beauty was ideal for the Restoration period but there was also something distinctly English and earthy about her beauty. Her biographer and ancestor, Charles Beauclerk, has argued that her beauty showed something of what he calls “the melancholy of the jester.” Indeed, though Nell is known for her wit, she was prone to bouts of depression that holed her up in her bedroom, with migraines and a lack of enthusiasm for life. Nell bore the King two sons: Charles Beauclerk, Duke of St. Albans and Earl Burford, and James Beauclerk, who died very young whilst he was being tutored in France. “Beauclerk” is pronounced “Bo-clare.” Read how she got her sons titled and acknowledged here. King Charles purchased a few houses for Nell (one of them is now, coincidentally, a respected gentlemen’s club). Her main home, however, was 79, Pall Mall, which Charles gave to her. The back garden of the house looked over into St. James Park, so that Nell could converse with her royal lover when he went walking there. The diarist, John Evelyn, wrote, disapprovingly, that he once witnessed just this happening, with Nell flirting and joking with the King, and the pair pressing kisses on each other. She was one of only three women that King Charles mentioned on his deathbed (the other two being Charles’ wife, Queen Catherine of Braganza, and his mistress, Louise de Kerouaille.) He famously told his brother “Let not poor Nelly starve!” but Nell herself was barred by Charles’ closest advisors and ministers from entering the room where he lay dying, due to her low birth. It is said that she could be heard almost howling with tears behind the door. She suffered two strokes in 1687 at the age of 37, probably brought on by the stress of losing so many friends and loved ones in quick succession, and died from it. She was buried in St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields church in London (her gravesite can no longer be seen but probably lies somewhere near the National Portrait Gallery) and the service was attended by Londoners in their hundreds, determined to pay their respects to the woman who had been one of them. Nell left a lot of money to the poor in her will, particularly poor Roman Catholics (citing religious tolerance as her reasoning). By Nell’s request, the Archbishop of Canterbury preached a sermon in her honour about Luke 15:7: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” -- source link

More pics about