Charles II Archives - History of Royal Women

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – The life and death of Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Part two)

Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 6:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Read part one here. Friederike would not survive her tenth childbirth. She gave birth to a girl on 19 May 1782, and the little girl died the following day. Friederike died three days after the birth on 22 May 1782; she was still only 29 years old. Her daughter, Louise, later wrote, “My dear first [read more]

The Year of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – The life and death of Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Part one)

Saturday, 10 October 2026, 6:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Charles II, future Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was the father of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia. Charles was born on 10 October 1741 as the sixth but third surviving child and second son of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Another three siblings would survive to adulthood, including [read more]

The Lady Isabella – Daughter to the Duke of York

Sunday, 28 October 2018, 0:00 Amy Eloise Kelly 0

Isabel or Isabella Stuart was born to James, Duke of York (later King James II of England) and his wife Mary of Modena in 1676. Isabel was the second daughter born to James and Mary, but sadly her older sister had died a year earlier, though she did have two other sisters from her father’s [read more]

Pretty Witty Nell – King Charles II’s mistress

Monday, 10 July 2017, 7:00 Amy Eloise Kelly 0

Eleanor Gwyn was born in February 1650, when her future lover King Charles II of England was already twenty years old. Eleanor or Nell was the daughter of Ellen and Thomas Gwyn, a peasant couple who hailed from a Welsh bloodline. Despite Nell’s fame, there is little available evidence to piece together her early life [read more]

Anne Hyde – Duchess of York

Monday, 26 June 2017, 7:00 Moniek Bloks 0

Anne Hyde was born on 12 March 1637 as the daughter of Frances Aylesbury and Edward Hyde, later created Earl of Clarendon. She was born in Cranborne Lodge in Windsor Park, the home of her grandfather. She was named after Edward’s first wife, Anne Ayliffe of Grittenham who died six months into their marriage. We [read more]

Catherine of Braganza – A forgotten Queen

Tuesday, 30 August 2016, 7:00 Amy Eloise Kelly 1

Catherine was born in 1638 into the House of Braganza; Portugal’s most important noble family. In 1640, Catherine’s father was proclaimed King John IV of Portugal after a revolt of the nobility led to the deposition of the Habsburg King Philip III of Portugal and IV of Spain. Catherine had a quiet and sheltered childhood, [read more]