Lucy Walter (c. 1630 – 1658), also known as Lucy Barlow, was the first
mistress of
King Charles II of England
Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.
Charles II was the eldest su ...
and mother of
James, Duke of Monmouth. During the
Exclusion Crisis
The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion Bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, ...
, a Protestant faction wanted to make her son heir to the throne, fuelled by the rumour that the king might have married Lucy, a claim which he denied.
Life
Ancestry and early life
Lucy Walter was born into minor Welsh gentry as the daughter of William Walter (died 1650) and his wife, born Elizabeth Prothero (died 1652), daughter of John Prothero and niece of
John Vaughan, 1st Earl of Carbery. She was probably born in 1630 at her family's home,
Roch Castle near
Haverfordwest
Haverfordwest ( , ; ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a Community (Wales), community consisting of 12,042 people, making it the secon ...
in
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, and had two brothers, Richard and Justus. She received no formal education but learned
etiquette
Etiquette ( /ˈɛtikɛt, -kɪt/) can be defined as a set of norms of personal behavior in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviors that accord with the conventions and ...
.
As her parents had a strained relationship, they separated in 1640 when Walter was 10 years old. She, her mother and her brothers went to live with her maternal grandmother in London. She may have first met the Sidney family, who held the
earldom of Leicester
Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837.
History
Early ...
, here through her maternal family members. In 1647, when Walter was 17, after a long legal battle between her parents, the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
ordered her and her brothers to live with their father, as their mother could no longer afford to keep them.
Politician
Algernon Sidney (1623–1683), son of the
2nd Earl of Leicester later stated that he had purchased the
sexual services of Walter for 40 or 50
gold coins, but was called away to military services and missed out on his bargain. Walter then sailed to the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
, either alone or with her uncle, to join the exiled court of
Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...
in
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, hoping to find a lover among the many young aristocrats there. She briefly became the
mistress of Robert Sidney, brother of Algernon Sidney.
Relationship with Charles II
In May 1648, Walter managed to meet and charm Prince Charles, who had by then been living in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
but visited
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
for a short time. They were both only 18, and it is usually assumed that she was his first mistress. They might have resumed their relationship in September 1648, when he was again in the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
. On 9 April 1649, Walter gave birth to a son,
James (1649–1685), who was acknowledged by Prince Charles as his
illegitimate child
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce.
Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...
. The child was sent away to a
wet nurse
A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...
near
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, while Walter went to live in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
.
In August 1649, Walter travelled to
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...
, France to see Charles, who had become king in January after the execution of his father,
Charles I. She shared a coach with writer and diarist
John Evelyn
John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society.
John Evelyn's Diary, ...
, who described their encounter.
During July and August 1649 she stayed with Charles in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and she may have accompanied him to
Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
in September. It was around this time that she started using the name of her relative, John Barlow of
Slebech.
Later life
In June 1650, Charles left for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. There was an attempt to kidnap Walter's son, who was missing for 10 days but was eventually found. Her mother took him to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
for his safety, where she had an affair with
Theobald Taaffe, 2nd Viscount Taaffe (later 1st Earl of Carlingford; circa 1603–1677). On 6 May 1651, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary, whose father was probably the Viscount Taaffe. After the
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...
in late 1651, Charles
escaped from England and returned to the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
. This time, he made it clear to Walter that their relationship was over, which she could not accept. For the next four years, she was involved in one scandal after another, causing much embarrassment to the exiled royal court. During this time, she considered marrying Sir
Henry de Vic, 1st Baronet (circa 1599–1671), which eventually came to nothing. She then returned to The Hague and became the mistress of Thomas Howard, brother of the
3rd Earl of Suffolk.
In early 1656, when she was in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, some of the king's friends persuaded her to return to England by giving her cash and a pearl necklace and promising her a yearly
allowance of £400. She went to live in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
with Lord Thomas, her children and a
maid
A maid, housemaid, or maidservant is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era, domestic service was the second-largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids a ...
, Ann Hill. They lived over a barber shop near
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...
. She was suspected of being a
spy, and at the end of June 1656, she and Hill were arrested and imprisoned in the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
. After interrogation, they were released in July and deported back to the Dutch Republic. By this time, Lord Thomas had left her and she had no money to feed her children, as King Charles was unable to pay her allowance. She threatened him with releasing his letters to the public if he did not pay. The king, wanting custody of their eight-year-old son, attempted to kidnap him in December 1657, and succeeded at capturing him in March 1658. James was then sent to Paris and placed in the care of William, Lord Crofts, whose
surname
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
he started using.
Soon, Walter also moved to Paris. She was dying from a
venereal disease
A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, or ...
. She made a
General Confession of her life to
John Cosin
John Cosin (30 November 1594 – 15 January 1672) was an English bishop.
Life
He was born at Norwich, and was educated at Norwich School and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he was scholar and afterwards fellow. On taking orders he was appo ...
, future
Bishop of Durham
The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...
, insisting that she had married King Charles. She allegedly gave proof of this to Cosin, which he kept in a black box. This box was then supposedly inherited by Sir Gilbert Gerard, Cosin's son-in-law. Walter died between 29 August and December 1658 and was probably buried in the
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
cemetery in the
Faubourg Saint-German district of Paris. After his restoration to the throne, King Charles took their son James to England and created him Duke of Monmouth. Because of his complicated childhood, James never learned to read and write properly.
Aftermath during the Exclusion Crisis
The marriage of King Charles and
Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza (; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, King Charles II, which la ...
(1638–1705) did not produce legitimate children, leaving his brother,
James, Duke of York
James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...
(1633–1701) as heir to the throne. The duke was
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, and many people wanted a
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
monarch. Rumours spread that the king had married Lucy Walters, making the Duke of Monmouth legitimate.
Sir Gilbert Gerard, who supposedly had the box containing proof of the marriage was summoned before the
Privy Council in January 1678, and
testified
Testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter.
Etymology
The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness.
Law
In the law, testimony ...
that he knew nothing of the proof. The king also denied the marriage. After King Charles' death in 1685, the Duke of York became king as James II, and the Duke of Monmouth started a
rebellion against him, which was crushed in the
Battle of Sedgemoor
The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last and decisive engagement between forces loyal to James II and rebels led by the Duke of Monmouth during the Monmouth rebellion, fought on 6 July 1685, and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in S ...
. The duke was
beheaded.
Issue
Lucy Walter had two children:
* By
Charles II of England
Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.
Charles II was the eldest su ...
(1630–1685):
**
James Scott, Duke of Monmouth (9 April 1649,
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
– 15 July 1685, London), who married
Lady Anne Scott (1651–1732) and had issue;
* Probably by
Theobald Taaffe, 1st Earl of Carlingford (1603–1677):
# Mary Crofts (born 6 May 1651, The Hague), who married first
William Sarsfield (died 1675) and had issue, and second William Fanshawe (died 1708), with whom she also had issue.
In popular culture
* Her descendant, Lord George Scott, published a biography called ''Lucy Walter Wife or Mistress''. London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1947.
* The novelist
Elizabeth Goudge published a novel about Lucy, ''The Child from the Sea'', in 1970.
* In the 2003 television documentary, ''The Boy Who Would Be King'', Sandra Darnell portrays Lucy Walter.
See also
*
English and British royal mistresses
Notes
References
* Endnotes:
** Steinmann, Althorp Memoirs (1869), pp. 77 seq. and Addenda (1880);
** J. S. Clarke, Life of James II. (2 vols., 1816);
**Clarendon State Papers, vol. iii. (Oxford, 1869–1876);
**John Evelyn, Diary, edited by W. Bray (1890).
*
*
Attribution
* Endnotes: contains 23 sources.
Further reading
*
* — A source that is critical of the tone and some of the facts (such as the daughter Mary's stated date of birth) in Thomas Seccombe's ''DNB'' article.
* – A source that presents the information in the same way Thomas Seccombe's DNB article but with additional details.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Lucy
Lucy
Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...
Mistresses of Charles II of England
1658 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
People from Haverfordwest
17th-century Welsh women
17th-century Welsh people
Infectious disease deaths in France