Famous royal mistresses

(Extracted from the Daily Expat Telegraph, which always shows up some nice image galleries)

Hortense Mancini was the daughter of an Italian aristocrat who became Charles II's mistress in 1675. A well-known cross-dresser, she famously enjoyed lesbian dalliances with Anne Lennard, Countess of Sussex and the poet Aphra Behn - which may have contributed to her eventual downfall from the King's favour.

Lillie Langtry, nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a Victorian actress who became the lover of Edward VII. The king met her after deliberately contriving for them to be seated next to each other at a dinner party. Conveniently enough, Langtry's husband happened to be placed at the
opposite end of the table

Mary Robinson was an actress, poet and novelist, known in her time as the "English Sappho". Geoge IV fell in love with her after seeing her onstage in 1779, but later broke off the affair - after which her career was destroyed. The government is said to have paid her five thousand
pounds to return the King's love letters.

Carolina Otero, also known as La Belle Otero, was a Spanish dancer and courtesan. One of the most famous women in Europe, she was involved not only with Edward VII but with Albert I of Monaco as well as several members of the Russian royal family. The cupolas of the Hotel Carlton in Cannes are said to be have been based on her breasts.

Elizabeth Conyngham was the mistress of George IV. The daugher of a self-made banker, she was never fully accepted into polite society, but remained close to the King until his death in 1830. A well-known beauty, she may also have been the lover of Tsar Nicholas I.

Louise de Kérouaille, an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, was born in France in 1649. She was sent to England by the French court to seduce Charles II, and was suspected of being a spy for most of the time she spent as his mistress. The diarist John Evelyn was scandalised by her,
describing her as a "young wanton...for the most part in her undress all day".

Barbara Villiers, one of Charles II's lovers, was as famous for her bad moods as her beauty, held huge influence over the King. "Pretty, witty Nell Gwynn", as Samuel Pepys famously dubbed her, was another mistress of Charles II. She grew up in poverty, and is said to have made her
living as a young woman hawking oranges around theatres. She later became an actress.

Wallis Simpson was the mistress and later wife of King Edward VIII. Their relationship caused a constitutional crisis when he stepped down from the throne in order to marry her in 1936. Madonna is currently directing a film about her life.

There is probably no more famous mistress than Anne Boleyn, for whom Henry VIII divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and broke away from the Church of England. A Venetian ambassador in 1532 said "she was not one of the handsomest women in the world," but admitted she had "black and beautiful eyes". Some claim she had six fingers on one hand.

Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk and mistress of King George II, was born in 1689. Her marriage to Charles Howard, a violent gambler, was unhappy, and he eventually made a financial deal with the King in exchange for allowing her to be his mistress.

Alice Keppel was the mistress of King Edward VII. She met the 56-year-old monarch at the age of 29 and became his lover within just a few weeks. Historian Victoria Glendinning has described her as having "the sexual morals of an alley cat". Alice Keppel's great-grandaughter is of course, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, long-term lover - and now wife - of the Prince of Wales.