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00:00Royalty has always been a source of fascination for commoners. Just like any other family,
00:06royal families are not without their share of drama. Except that, royal history can sometimes
00:11be too dramatic. The most dramatic storylines, though, have to be the love stories of royals.
00:18British history, at that, is filled with such stories. Today, we look at some of the most
00:23influential royal lovers in British history. Caroline Matilda and Johan Struenza
00:31There are few stories in British royal history as scandalous as this one. Caroline Matilda was
00:37the daughter of Frederick, the Prince of Wales, who had died four months before she was born.
00:42In 1765, Caroline Matilda was officially engaged to Crown Prince Christian of Denmark.
00:49They were first cousins. They got married in 1766, by which time Christian's father had died,
00:56making him King Christian VII of Denmark. The marriage was never a happy one. Christian took
01:02on multiple mistresses and was resentful of the marriage. Caroline, on the other hand,
01:07was disliked by all her husband's courtiers. It was also apparent from the start that Christian
01:13had some mental illness. His bouts of insanity were treated by a German doctor named Johan
01:19Struenza, who was somehow able to placate the King. Johan even tried to improve the relationship
01:25between the King and the Queen. The Queen disliked him at first, but he helped treat her when she
01:30suffered from dropsy and saved the Crown Prince from smallpox. Caroline was grateful for his help,
01:36and they soon became lovers. Together, they worked to implement liberal reforms in the King's name.
01:42They managed to banish the King's favorites from the court. By 1771, Struenza was given the same
01:49power as the King. There began rumors of the Queen and Struenza plotting against the King,
01:55and this enraged the Dowager Queen. In 1772, Struenza was arrested and executed while Caroline
02:03Matilda was divorced from her husband and separated from her children. Because of the
02:07intervention of her brother, she was sent into exile in Germany rather than imprisoned in Denmark.
02:13She led a life of retirement in Cella and died from scarlet fever on the 10th of May 1775
02:19at the age of just 23. Alice Perers and Edward III
02:27Alice Perers might just be one of the most infamous figures in the history of late medieval
02:32England. For centuries, she has been portrayed as an ugly but intelligent woman who seduced a king
02:38and became one of the wealthiest women in England. While there are no accurate records of her birth,
02:44Alice Perers was born around 1348 in a family named Salisbury. Around the age of 12 in 1360,
02:52she was married to a man named Janan Perers who was a jeweler. He died soon after in 1364.
02:59Around 1366, Alice arrived at court and was employed as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa,
03:05the wife of Edward III. This not only gave her access to the court but also put her in the
03:10presence of King Edward. When Alice turned 18 and King Edward III was 55, she became the king's
03:17mistress. Some records suggest that they already had an affair and the king made her a maid in the
03:23court to cover their affair. Alice came into the king's life when Philippa was ill and bedridden.
03:29After she died of dropsy in 1369, the affair between Alice and the king became even more
03:35public. Edward had already showered her with gifts in the early years of their relationship,
03:40but now Alice had gifts raining on her. She received grants of manors and land, becoming
03:46an extremely wealthy woman. She was even presented as the Lady of the Sun, taking a place of pride
03:52next to the king, which shocked everybody, as mistresses did not take the queen's place in public.
03:58Together, the couple had three illegitimate children. By the early 1370s, the king had become
04:04old and Alice was aware that she would have no protection after he died. So, she contracted a
04:10secret marriage to Sir William Windsor, who was appointed as the king's lieutenant in Ireland upon
04:15her suggestion. She was temporarily banished in 1376, but she soon returned to be with the king
04:21until he died a year later in 1377. Catherine Swinford and John of Gaunt
04:29Catherine Swinford was the daughter of Payne Rowett and knight in the court of King Edward III.
04:35Catherine and her sister Philippa were also placed in the courthousehold of the queen.
04:40In 1365, she served the Duchess of Lancaster, Blanche, who was the wife of John of Gaunt,
04:45Edward III's son. Catherine was married off to one of his tenants, Sir Hugh Swinford.
04:51They had a happy marriage. In 1368, Blanche died and Catherine became the governess for Blanche
04:57and John's children. The next year, John married Constance of Castile. In 1371, Sir Hugh died.
05:05In 1372, there were signs of Catherine's increased status in John's house, which was a nod to their
05:11affair. Between 1373 and 1379, they had four children. The duke's reputation was tarnished,
05:19while Catherine was called an abominable temptress. John publicly announced the end of
05:24their relationship, but they continued to meet in private. Constance died in 1394, and two years
05:30later, John and Catherine were married at Lincoln Cathedral. It caused a public scandal at the time,
05:36but they changed history. Every English monarch since Edward IV and Scottish monarch since James
05:42II has been descended from her. She is also the ancestor of many American presidents,
05:48including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and George W. Bush.
05:56George Villiers and James VI and I
05:59James I, formerly known as James VI, was the son of Queen Mary of Scots and Lord Darnley.
06:06James' sexuality has always been a topic of debate. He met 21-year-old George Villiers in 1614,
06:13and they were most definitely in love. When James first met George, his favorite was Robert Carr.
06:19James' advisors, however, did not like Carr, and they encouraged James to get closer to Villiers
06:25instead. It worked. James soon became besotted by George, who was described as
06:30the handsomest bodied in England. George rose through the ranks from being cupbearer to
06:35becoming the Duke of Buckingham in 1623. Believe it or not, this affair was controversial not
06:42because it was gay, but because James had once again chosen a love who was not fit to be a key
06:47advisor. Indeed, Villiers was corrupt and incompetent. He impeached the man trying to
06:53reform the king's finances, encouraged a row between James and the Parliament to hide his
06:58illegal dealings in Ireland, and called for a war with Spain to distract everybody from his mistake
07:04that almost resulted in the Prince of Wales becoming a hostage. If James was aware of this,
07:09he forgave him. George was by James' bedside as the latter lay dying, plagued by various illnesses.
07:16He finally passed away in March of 1625. Barbara Palmer and Charles II
07:24King Charles II had many mistresses, but nobody made as much noise as Barbara Palmer,
07:30who earned the nickname of the Uncrowned Queen as well as the Curse of the Nation.
07:35Barbara Palmer was born Barbara Villiers in 1640 to the aristocratic Villiers family.
07:41When she was three, her father passed away, leaving the family in massive debt and poverty.
07:47As Barbara grew up, she became a scandalous adult. She was beautiful and one of the most
07:52desirable women in England. There was just one problem ā she was poor. While everybody wanted
07:59her, nobody wanted to put a ring on it. In 1659, she married Roger Palmer. The marriage was doomed
08:07from the start. Palmer was a quiet, serious man, while his wife was wild. By 1660, there were rumors
08:14of an affair between Barbara and Charles II. In 1661, Barbara gave birth to a daughter, Anne,
08:21which Charles II recognized as his own. While Palmer and Barbara decided that they wanted nothing
08:27to do with each other, Barbara had no problem flaunting her powers in front of Charles's wife,
08:32Queen Catherine. Once, while the king and queen were away on their honeymoon,
08:37a pregnant Barbara came along and gave birth to his child right there. While her relationship with
08:42the king wasn't exclusive, she was his most important mistress. She took advantage of that
08:48and took bribes and exploited her powers. In 1670, she was given more titles, making her the Duchess
08:54of Cleveland, but her relationship with Charles declined and became one of friendship. The king
08:59spent an evening with her just a week before he died in 1685. King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
09:09An example of one of the most controversial royal couples in British history is King Henry VIII and
09:15Anne Boleyn, a couple whose union completely changed the religious identity of England.
09:20Henry VIII was quite charming in his prime, tall, athletic, and a sportsman who loved to hunt and
09:26dance. He also loved the arts and languages and could play many instruments. He was married to
09:33Catherine who could not produce him an heir. Anne, too, was intelligent, curious, and cultured.
09:39She joined the English court in 1522 upon returning from France. In 1526, Anne caught
09:46the attention of the king. He pursued her for more than a year before she finally reciprocated.
09:52Now, Henry VIII had multiple mistresses and illegitimate children, including one with Anne's
09:57sister, Mary. And Anne couldn't settle for the status of a mistress, so she denied the king what
10:03he desired until he married her. Henry agreed to end his marriage with Catherine. The Pope,
10:09however, would not grant him an annulment. Henry, desperate for a legitimate male heir,
10:15broke with the Holy Roman Church, sparked the Reformation, and established the Church of
10:20England, declaring himself as its head. In the years after that, Henry permanently injured one
10:26of his legs in a jousting accident. Anne suffered a miscarriage and later gave birth to a baby girl,
10:31Elizabeth I. Their relationship soured. Henry began to hate Anne and set his eyes on her
10:38second cousin, Jane Seymour. Henry couldn't divorce Anne after all he went through to marry her,
10:44so he hatched another plan. On the 2nd of May, 1536, Anne was taken to the Tower of
10:50London amid accusations of adultery and incest and was executed.
10:56Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII
11:03and his second wife Anne Boleyn. In contrast to her father, she declared,
11:08I will have but one mistress here and no master. The Virgin Queen never got married,
11:14but there was one suitor in Queen Elizabeth I's life who came closer than any other.
11:19This man was Robert Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland. Dudley and Elizabeth had
11:24known each other since they were children. They had both been in danger of being killed
11:28during the reign of Queen Mary and had become friends during those difficult times.
11:33His loyalty was rewarded when Elizabeth became queen in 1558 at the age of 25.
11:39She appointed Dudley as her master of horse, which had less to do with horseback riding
11:44and more with them spending time together. Robert was married at the time. It wasn't long before
11:50their relationship caused rumors all across Europe. Robert's wife tragically died in 1560,
11:56sparking rumors of murder in the courts. Even then, the queen refused to marry him.
12:02This frustrated Dudley to no end and he resorted to jealousy to provoke her into reacting.
12:08This involved Lettuce Nollies, who was a decade younger than the queen but very similar in
12:13appearance, not surprising as they were related. The affair between Lettuce and Robert began in
12:191565 when Lettuce went to London for her brother's wedding. Even though she was pregnant at the time,
12:26Robert flirted with her. The queen became extremely jealous but not enough to change her mind.
12:32In 1576, Lettuce was widowed, after which she and Robert started a real romance.
12:39As Robert realized that the queen would never marry him, he allowed himself to fall in love
12:43with Lettuce. They decided to marry in secret on the 21st of September, 1578, knowing that the
12:50queen would be furious. But their secret was out before long and the queen was horrified that
12:55Dudley had betrayed her. The queen banished Lettuce from the courts and made sure she
13:00stayed away for the rest of her life. The queen eventually forgave Dudley and they became friends
13:05again, but she never accepted Lettuce. In September, 1588, Robert died, leaving both the
13:12women devastated. Elizabeth died in 1603. Lettuce died when she was 91 years of age and was laid to
13:19rest beside her husband. James Hepburn and Mary I
13:24James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell, met Mary in 1560 when she was the Queen of France.
13:32He was a protestant but he supported Scotland's Catholic regents. In 1561, he was appointed by
13:39widowed Mary to the Privy Council. The two were described to have a close friendship,
13:44but there is no evidence to suggest that there was anything more going on.
13:48In July of 1565, Mary married Lord Darnley. Within just a year, their relationship had broken down
13:56due to his involvement in the murder of her secretary. In the meantime, her relationship
14:01with Hepburn became stronger. In 1567, Darnley was found half-naked and smothered in the garden
14:08of his house. Mary and Hepburn were accused of plotting his murder. As Hepburn was prosecuted
14:14and acquitted for his murder, Mary supported him from the sidelines. In desperation, Hepburn
14:20abducted Mary and took her to Dunbar Castle where he reportedly raped her and forced her to agree
14:26to marry him. On the 15th of May, 1567, she married the Earl of Bothwell. Because of the scandal,
14:33Mary was forced to abdicate the throne. She fled to England where, in 1587, she was executed on
14:40the 8th of February for plotting to murder Elizabeth I. Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson
14:48The story of these two lovers fully changed the course of history as we know it. When King Edward
14:54VIII and Wallace Simpson began an affair, it caused a complete shift in the royal lineage.
14:59Wallace Simpson, from Maryland, ended up in England in the late 1920s with her then-husband
15:05Ernest Simpson, whose family was British. Wallace Simpson met Edward VIII, who was then a prince,
15:11in 1931 through her friend Thelma Furness, who was reportedly involved with the prince at the time.
15:17They were then invited to a fox-hunting weekend where it all started. Their affair went on for
15:23years, even though she was still married and the British government was uncomfortable with it.
15:28In 1936, Wallace divorced her husband and Edward became king. He expressed his wish to marry Wallace,
15:35but he was the head of the Church of England. He wasn't allowed to marry a twice-divorced American.
15:41The British government even rejected the plan where Edward VIII would remain king,
15:45but their future children would not be heirs to the throne. Edward then decided to denounce the
15:51throne in order to marry Wallace. It is reported that this was the last thing that Wallace wanted.
15:57After just a 326-day reign, the king was stripped of his title and demoted to the Duke of Windsor.
16:04Edward and Wallace moved to France, although technically they were exiled. After his
16:09abdication, his brother Albert took over, giving himself the title King George VI.
16:15According to reports, their relationship deteriorated over the years. The duke died
16:20on the 28th of May 1972 in Paris and was buried at Windsor Castle.
16:25Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend
16:29If you have watched the Netflix series The Crown, you might be familiar with the love
16:33story of Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, described as the most tragic royal love story ever.
16:40Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, was in her teens when she first
16:46met RAF officer Peter Townsend. It is said that George VI had interviewed Peter for a position
16:52on his equerry. At the time, Margaret was just 14, while Peter was 30. It wasn't until eight
16:59years after their first meeting that the pair fell in love, at the time of the death of her father
17:03in 1952. With the 16-year age gap between them, the media tried to put a different spin on the
17:10story, but that was not why the pair had been apart for so long. Peter was married. He had
17:16filed for divorce in 1952 after he learned that his wife had had an affair. Because of his divorce,
17:22the two of them couldn't officially be together. The Parliament and the Church of England were
17:27against this union, but the relationship didn't bode well, especially as Margaret's sister,
17:32Queen Elizabeth II, was the supreme governor of the church. The palace reportedly kept their
17:38relationship a secret, but during the queen's coronation, Margaret was seen picking a piece
17:43of fluff from Townsend's suit, which led people to realize that the pair was together. They wanted
17:49to marry, but everybody was against the union. Townsend was sent abroad for work for two years,
17:54but even after returning, they were denied permission to marry. The government proclaimed
18:00that should they marry, the princess would lose her official title as well as all her royal
18:05privileges. The princess was thus forced to proclaim that she would not be marrying Townsend.
18:11Three years later, she married Anthony Armstrong Jones, who went on to become Lord Snowden.
18:16The couple had two children and divorced in 1978. Townsend moved to France and married
18:22a Belgian woman who looked strikingly similar to Margaret. He passed away at the age of 80,
18:27and seven years after that, Margaret passed away in 2002 at the age of 71.
18:34So, which story had you hooked the most? Tell us in the comment section below.
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18:50Thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next one.