Inside History Sample (14 page)

I S S U E N O . 4
V O L U M E N O . 1
INSIDE
HISTORY
P O W E R B E H I N D T H E T H R O N E
PARLIAMENT VS
CHARLES I
*John of Gaunt * Margaret of Anjou * eleanor of aquitaine * The powers behind Tutankhamun*
*Theatrics of the Throne: How the Ottoman Empire performed its power * Richard Neville:
Warwick the Kingmaker * The power of the mistress* Royal Prerogative: Canada's Forgotten
Constitutional Crisis of 1914* Erich mielke: For his eyes only*

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Carr
Helen
Dykstra
Jack
Jobb
Dean
Johnson
Lauren
Kevern
Nick
Kilroy
Debbie
Lewis
Matthew
Miles
Clare
is the author of Shadow
Lauren
The Life and Death of
King:
VI. For Inside History she
Henry
focused her article on the
has
of Henry VI's wife,
Power
of Anjou
Margaret
times, the throne can be an uncomfortable place to
At
Surrounding yourself with trusted advisers can often
sit.
to power struggles as they seek to gain power with
lead
new found influence. In Medieval England this was
their
true as individuals often decided the fate of
particularly
In some cases the most dangerous individuals
kings.
to the throne at a young age could be even more
Rising
as advisers sought to take advantage of their
dangerous
in high office to make make their agendas
experience
fruitful.
more
would also be those who knew your deepest and
There
secrets. As they watched someone rise to power
darkest
knew exactly how to bring them down. The
they
of secrets could be released at anytime in
knowledge
to bring down rivals who were not following the
order
protocol.
issue of Inside History focuses on the topic of The
This
behind the Throne. Here we look at those
Power
who wielded the real power behind some
individuals
most famous monarchs, organisations and
histories
From the boy king, Tutankhamun and those who
states.
him to a red imitation leather briefcase that
controlled
the state secret to bring down Erich Honecker in
held
Germany.
East
shows us that even in history there are the constants of
It
nature. That being the pursuit of power and
human
has written many
Matthew
including Richard III:
books
Binds Me. He has
Loyalty
about Eleanor
wriiten
Aquitaine for this
of
of Inside History
issue
is the host of the
Helen
Histories Podacst
Hidden
a presenter for History
and
TV. Her upcoming book
Hit
on John of Gaunt
focuses
she also writes about
which
A NOTE
BY THE
EDITOR
"THERE IS SOMETHING BEHIND THE
THRONE GREATER THAN THE KING
HIMSELF."
were those closest to you.
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
Speech in the House of Lords
(March 2, 1770)
E D I T O R
Nick Kevern
C O N T R I B U T O R S
survival by any means necessary.
Robert Walsh
FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS
Lauren Johnson Matthew Lewis Helen Carr
for Inside History

and Horemheb: The Powers behind
Ay
(Nick Kevern)
Tutankhamun
of Aquitaine: The Power behind
Eleanor
Thrones" (Matthew Lewis)
Four
of Gaunt: The Rise of the House of
John
(Helen Carr)
Lancaster
of Anjou: Warrior Queen of The
Margaret
(Lauren Johnson)
Lancastrians
Parliament Vs Charles I
Over-Throne:
Kilroy)
(Debbie
Neville "Warwick the
Richard
Kingmaker
Power of Sexual Liaisons:
The
Mistresses of Charles II
The
of the Throne: How the
Theatrics
Empire Performed its
Ottoman
Prerogative: Canada's
Royal
Constitutional Crisis of
Forgotten
Mielke: The Eyes and Ears of
Erich
GDR the
I N S I D E H I S T O R Y
I S S U E 0 4 / P O W E R B E H I N D T H E T H R O N E
CONTENTS
06
10
14
22
26
18
30
34
Power
38
1914
42

The
Power of
Sexual
Liaisons:
The
Mistresses
of
Charles II
Words: Claire Miles
Images: Wikimedia commons
What better way to have the ear of a king, than to spend
the night on a pillow next to him? In a history where
women have often been denied power and influence,
royal mistresses hold a unique position. By sleeping with
crowned monarchs, intimate access meant access to
power for the chosen few.
Charles II stands out in history as one of the few
monarchs that kept multiple principal mistresses at his
court at the same time. At first glance, these mistresses
seem to have held little sway over the Merry Monarch,
especially when you compare Charles to his French peer
Louis XIV and his chosen ladies. However, when you dig
underneath the surface you start to uncover the subtly
different ways Charles’ mistresses influenced him.
The first prominent mistress in Charles’ life was one
Lucy Walters. Born in Wales to a Royalist family, Lucy
met Charles at The Hague during his eleven-year exile
on the continent. Soon after starting their romantic liaison
in 1648, Lucy became pregnant and nine months later a
son, James – the future Duke of Monmouth – was born in
Rotterdam.
History has not remembered Lucy kindly. Several
contemporary sources labelled Lucy ‘a strumpet’, and it
appears her relationship with Charles grew acrimonious
after her sexual encounters with other men. She also
repeatedly used their son as a means of influencing
Charles and extracting money from him. Lucy was finally
persuaded to hand over custody of James in early 1658,
and died six months later in Paris of venereal disease.
"In another instance of her
demanding and volatile
nature, she threatened to
have a miscarriage on the
spot if she was not bestowed
the honour of riding with
Charles in a new type of
carriage."
This experience with Lucy did not deter the lusty Charles.
When he returned to England to claim his crown in 1660,
he did not leave his womanizing ways on the continent.
He returned triumphant with a mistress on his arm – one
Barbara Palmer.
Born Barbara Villiers, she was a beautiful and voluptuous
brunette with a sexual reputation that preceded her.
Married to the unsuspecting but loyal Roger Palmer just a
year before bedding Charles, she rose to become the
monarch’s first official mistress. This rise was accompanied
by constant requests for money and demands for prime
court positions for her friends.
Barbara quickly consolidated her position by giving birth to
a daughter nine months after the Restoration. Immediately
acknowledged by Charles, baby Anne was the first of six
children born to the couple. There were questions over the
paternity of several of the children as Barbara was by no
means faithful to Charles and, in one instance, Barbara
threatened to dash her infant’s brains out if Charles dared
to raise the (reasonable) question of paternity again. In
another instance of her demanding and volatile nature,
she threatened to have a miscarriage on the spot if she
was not bestowed the honour of riding with Charles in a
new type of carriage.
Barbara was secure in her position when Charles’ chosen
wife entered the scene in 1662. It was a fact that Charles
had to make a royal marriage and sire legitimate heirs. He
eventually settled on Catherine of Braganza, the King of
Portugal’s daughter. The £360,000 dowry, along with
POWER BEHIND THE THRONE/ 31

Portrait of Barbara Palmer, née Villiers, Lady Castlemaine
and Duchess of Cleveland by Peter Lely, oil on canvas,
Schorr Collection (Wikimedia Commons)
32 / POWER BEHIND THE THRONE

naval bases in Tangiers and Bombay, made Catherine an
attractive proposition. While Catherine became Charles’
wife, Barbara was nicknamed ‘The Uncrowned Queen’
due to her influence over the king.
Probably the most famous of Charles’ many mistresses,
Nell Gwyn stands out amongst Charles’ long-term lovers
in being the only one not of noble birth. An orange seller
that grew up in her mother’s bawdy house, ‘pretty, witty
Nell’ entranced the king with her quick-thinking humour
and down-to-earth charm.
Portrait of Charles II Stuart, king of England by John Riley circa 1680
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Nell also differed from her rivals in several other ways. She
refused to become involved in political intrigue, describing
herself as ‘a sleeping partner in the ship of state’. A popular
contemporary ballad conveyed the same sentiment in a
less diplomatic way ‘…She hath got a trick to handle his
prick, but never lay hands upon his sceptre’. Nell was also
faithful to Charles, even after his death. This could not be
said of his other mistresses, and hints at a genuine romantic
attachment on Nell’s part.
One way in that Nell did not differ is that she provided
Charles with multiple illegitimate children. On May 8th 1670,
she gave birth to the king’s son and named him Charles. It
was not long before she was again pregnant, and another
boy followed on Christmas Day 1671.
Louise did something none of Charles’ other mistresses
did, and made him wait. She didn’t let Charles take her
virginity until late October 1671 after a mock marriage
ceremony. As if on schedule, exactly nine months later
she gave birth to a boy and was soon after created the
Duchess of Portsmouth.
Louise never had the sexual reputation that marked out
many of Charles’ chosen ladies. After she caught
venereal disease from Charles in 1674 this naturally
affected relations between the two, and sexual activity
all but ceased because of the pain Louise was in. Charles
must have felt a deep and real affection – if not love – for
Louise to keep her as his official mistress.
"He left a legacy we still see in
the English aristocracy to this
day, with five of the twenty-six
present Dukes being direct
descendants of Charles and his
mistresses."
Out of all of Charles’ mistresses, Louise was probably the
biggest political animal. She took the time to form alliances
at court, and even established an amicable relationship
with Queen Catherine. The French recognised this
influence and rewarded Louise handsomely for it. This
discreetly powerful woman is in stark contrast to the
popular image of an emotionally hysterical Louise, which
was underlined by Nell Gwyn’s nickname for her ‘The
Weeping Willow’. These were two very different sides to
her character – but both held sway over Charles.
Charles II passed away on the 6th of February 1685, leaving
fourteen acknowledged illegitimate children but no
legitimate male heir. He had spent his life in the comfort of
his women and children, perhaps trying to make up for a
youth spent in uncertain exile and the loss of his own
father. He left a legacy we still see in the English aristocracy
to this day, with five of the twenty-six present Dukes being
direct descendants of Charles and his mistresses.
Claire Miles is a history writer
In the same month that Charles was starting this family
with Nell, Charles’ beloved sister, Henrietta Anne, travelled
from France to England for a short visit. Charles took an
instant liking to one of her maids-in-waiting – Louise de
Kerouille – but Henrietta insisted Louise returned with her
to France. Henrietta passed away just one month later –
perhaps of poisoning – which left Louise free to return to
England to claim her prize.
of the popular Hisdoryan blog
@hisdoryan
www.hisdoryan.co.uk
POWER BEHIND THE THRONE/ 33

Josiah Wood, New Brunswick’s lieutenant governor for much the First World War,
in his ceremonial uniform. His “resolution to duty,” noted one historian, was “as
hard as granite.” (Photo: Author’s collection)
Royal Prerogative:
Canada's Forgotten
Constitutional Crisis
of 1914
Words: Dean Jobb
Images: Courtesy of Dean Jobb
38 / POWER BEHIND THE THRONE

In 1914, in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the King’s representative and a
corrupt politician were locked in a constitutional crisis. Lieutenant Governor Josiah Wood
was adamant that James Kidd Flemming must resign; the province’s premier, however,
refused to budge. Who would win this showdown between the Crown and the
executive?
The royal commission’s report was political dynamite.
James Kidd Flemming, premier of the Canadian
province of New Brunswick, the inquiry found, had
personally extorted money from a firm receiving
government subsidies to build a railway. And Flemming
had been “well aware” that one of his supporters had
forced lumber firms to funnel money into the coffers of
the governing Conservative party in exchange for the
right to cut timber on public land.
The damning evidence of graft and corruption reached
the desk of the lieutenant governor in October 1914,
barely two months after the world plunged into the
horrors of the Great War. And its arrival put Josiah Wood
– appointed to the office two years earlier to cap a long
career in politics and business – in a quandary. As the
King’s representative in the province, it was his duty to
uphold the dignity of the Crown, and His Majesty’s
government could not tolerate an elected leader who
had abused the public trust and broken the law. But
Wood himself was “a good steady, consistent
Conservative,” as one friend noted, who owed his
appointment to his long service to the party.
New Brunswick, located on Canada’s Atlantic coast and
sharing its western border with the state of Maine, had a
population of just 350,000 on the eve of the war and an
economy dependent on timber, fishing and overseas
trade. Flemming, the province’s premier, had a
stranglehold on power and appeared invincible. A
former teacher, he won a landslide victory in the 1912
election, capturing all but four of the 46 seats in the
legislature. But the opposition Liberals, out of power
since 1908 and relegated to the political wilderness,
fought back in 1914 with the bombshell allegations of
extortion and kickbacks.
“I do not propose to
be driven out of office
under a cloud”
The slightly built 71-year-old, with a neatly trimmed
white beard, read the report with mounting unease. “The
report of the Commission, whether right or wrong, I feel
we are bound to accept and act upon,” Wood confessed
in a letter to a party insider. “It appears to be therefore,
my duty not to retain him as Premier.” Flemming, he
believed, had no choice but to resign. But the premier,
who was adamant he had been wrongly accused,
refused to bow out; resigning, he was convinced, would
be an admission of guilt.
In Canada, the governor general is the titular head of
state – and the monarch’s representative – for the
national parliament and government. Each of the
country’s ten provinces has a lieutenant governor who
fulfills a similar role, as Wood did for New Brunswick’s
government and legislature. The posts are largely
ceremonial and the occupants are expected to act on
the advice of the government of the day.
Wood faced an agonizing, perhaps unprecedented
decision. Did he have the right to force a premier – even
one as corrupt as Flemming – to resign? And if the
premier refused to step down, did he have the power to
remove him from office? As demands grew to reveal the
report’s findings, Wood’s Conservative colleagues
mounted a clandestine effort to defuse the crisis and
keep their party in power. The constitutional showdown
threatened to test the very foundations of the
Westminster model of governance – the division of
powers between the executive and the Crown.
Wood, acting on the government’s instructions, named
two judges and a prominent businessman to the royal
commission mandated to investigate. Witnesses at
public hearings confirmed the secret payments to the
Conservative party and revealed Flemming’s apparent
knowledge of the scheme. Opponents mocked him as
“Captain Kidd,” after the infamous pirate. The
commission’s report condemned the fundraising efforts
as “grievously improper” and found that the premier
himself had “compelled” at least one of the illegal
payments. Flemming scoffed at calls to resign.
“I do not propose to be driven out of office under a
cloud,” was his defiant response.
The next move was up to the lieutenant governor.
When it came to drawing a line between politics and his
business interests, Wood was no saint. As a member of
the federal parliament he had supported tariffs that
encouraged the building of cotton and sugar mills – and
promptly invested in these new industries. He lobbied
for government subsidies to build a railway in his
constituency and no one seemed concerned that he
was also the railway’s president. But Flemming’s crimes
were beyond the pale, even in an era when political
patronage was rampant and conflict-of-interest laws
were unknown. Besides, as he grew older, Wood began
to put the public interest first – he made headlines in
1905, after his appointment to Canada’s senate, when he
refused to accept a pay raise because he now
considered himself “a trustee of the public funds.”
POWER BEHIND THE THRONE/ 39

“Flemming is Guilty”: The findings of the inquiry into allegations of kickbacks and
extortion were splashed on the front page of Saint John, New Brunswick’s Daily
Telegraph. (Photo: Author’s collection)

Wood received the Flemming report on October 8, 1914
and agreed not to make it public for several weeks,
buying time for prominent Conservatives to convince the
premier to step aside before the scandal engulfed the
entire government. Some within the party – mutineers of
“the jelly fish variety,” Flemming called them – were
eager to start again under a new leader. But the
premier, buoyed by those still loyal to him, threatened to
call a snap election that would allow voters to pass
judgement on his conduct. If he lost, which seemed
likely, he would take the government and party down
with him. “Flemming’s intention is not to resign,” one
member of the government confided to a colleague,
“and if the Governor should intimate that he prefers
to have his resignation then the clinch will come.”
There was a flurry of secret meetings, and what was
discussed is recorded in a remarkable cache of letters
preserved in New Brunswick archives. Wood confronted
Flemming and urged him to do the right thing and
“retire to private life.” He refused. Douglas Hazen,
Flemming’s predecessor as premier, intervened and tried
to convince Wood to back down. “The Governor has
absolutely made up his mind, and I was unable to
change it, that Flemming was not to continue as
Premier,” he reported to a colleague. Allowing Flemming
to remain in office, Wood argued, “would be outraging
(to) the public opinion of the Province.”
Wood finally released the royal commission’s report in
mid-November. In order to give the government more
time to deal with the scandal, however, he agreed
privately not to act on the report for at least two weeks.
The revelations created a firestorm in the press –
“Flemming is Guilty,” screamed one headline – and
renewed demands for the premier to resign.
Conservative leaders huddled to deal with the fallout.
“There was a good deal of the spirit of fight to a finish;
fight everybody, from the Governor down,” noted one
participant in the meeting. But in the face of Wood’s
refusal to budge and the sobering realization that
“everything was in his hands,” the premier’s remaining
support fizzled.
He resigned in early December and the Conservatives
chose the province’s attorney general, George Clarke, as
their new leader and premier. New Brunswick voters
finally passed judgment on Flemming’s actions in the
next election, in 1917, when the Conservative government
was defeated and the Liberals were swept back into
power.
Wood devoted the rest of his term as lieutenant
governor to supporting the war effort. New Brunswick
“may be relied upon to assist to the full extent of its
ability with men and money in maintaining the integrity
of the Empire,” he assured Canadian Prime Minister
Robert Borden, and he toured the province to raise
money for the families of servicemen. When he retired in
1917, biographer William Godfrey noted, he was “widely
praised for his integrity, strength of character, sound
judgement, and breadth of vision.”
His handling of the Flemming scandal may have been
his finest hour. Wood’s “resolution to duty,” New
Brunswick author Arthur T. Doyle noted when he
recounted the affair in his book Front Benches &
Back Rooms, proved to be “as hard as granite.” He
refused to bow to pressure from Conservative colleagues
he considered friends. He put the public interest first and
was adamant that Flemming must resign..
Wood’s decision to delay the release of the damning
inquiry proved to be astute; prolonging the scandal not
only made the premier’s position untenable, it averted a
potential constitutional crisis. The power of the Crown’s
representative to dismiss an elected leader was a last
resort, a move sure to be attacked as draconian and antidemocratic.
Thanks to one lieutenant governor’s
steely resolve and moral compass, it did not have to be
put to the test.
James Kidd Flemming
refused to resign as
New Brunswick’s
premier despite
evidence he had
illegally demanded
political contributions
from a government
contractor. (Photo:
Edmonton Journal,
February 10, 1927)
Dean Jobb, author of Empire of
Deception (Algonquin Books and
HarperCollins Canada), writes a true
crime column for Ellery Queen’s
Mystery Magazine.
His next book, set for release in
July 2021, recreates the crimes of
Victorian Era serial killer Dr. Thomas
Neill Cream, who murdered at least ten
people, including four women he
poisoned in London’s Lambeth
neighbourhood.
@DeanJobb.
www.deanjobb.com
POWER BEHIND THE THRONE/ 41

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