93-454: Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), better known as Anthony Hope , was a British novelist and playwright. He was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels but he is remembered predominantly for only two books: The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau (1898). These works, "minor classics" of English literature , are set in the contemporaneous fictional country of Ruritania and spawned
186-527: A stroke that left her paralysed on one side. In May, a second stroke left her confined to the bed in her Pall Mall house; she made out her will on 9 July and a codicil on 18 October with her executors, Laurence Hyde (the Earl of Rochester) , Thomas Earl of Pembroke , Sir Robert Sawyer the Attorney General , and Henry Sidney each receiving £100. Gwyn died from apoplexy "almost certainly due to
279-574: A tragicomedy written by the theatre's house dramatist, John Dryden , was performed in March 1667. It was a great success: King Charles "graced it with the Title of His Play" and Pepys's praise was effusive: ... to the King's house to see 'The Maiden Queen', a new play of Dryden's, mightily commended for the regularity of it, and the strain and wit; and the truth is, there is a comical part done by Nell, which
372-429: A considerable number of mistresses through his life, both short affairs and committed arrangements. He also had a wife, Portuguese Queen consort Catherine of Braganza , whose pregnancies all ended in miscarriages , and she had little or no say over Charles's choice to have mistresses. This had come to a head shortly after their marriage in 1662, in a confrontation between Catherine and Barbara Palmer, which became known as
465-438: A dagger. Rassendyll is only wounded in the shoulder. They take captive Johann, a servant working at the castle, and bribe him into telling all he knows. At the first sign of an assault, King Rudolf is to be killed, and his corpse dropped secretly into the water. Michael would be no worse off than before, as Rassendyll could hardly accuse him of regicide. A few days pass. Rassendyll swims the moat at night to reconnoiter. He kills
558-536: A daughter. He was knighted in 1918 for his contribution to propaganda efforts during World War I . He published an autobiographical book , Memories and Notes , in 1927. Hope died of throat cancer at the age of 70 at his country home, Heath Farm at Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey. There is a blue plaque on his house in Bedford Square , London. The Prisoner of Zenda The Prisoner of Zenda
651-590: A farce about a company of Cavalier soldiers during the English Civil War , based on Lacy's own experiences. Possibly, Gwyn's father had served in the same company, and Gwyn's part—the company whore—was based on her own mother. As her commitment to the King increased, though, her acting career slowed, and she had no recorded parts between January and June 1669, when she played Valeria in Dryden's very successful tragedy Tyrannick Love . King Charles II had
744-472: A frequent theme in restoration comedies. The gay couple, broadly defined, is a pair of witty, antagonistic lovers, he generally a rake fearing the entrapment of marriage and she feigning to do the same in order to keep her lover at arm's length. Theatre historian Elizabeth Howe goes so far as to credit the enduring success of the gay couple on the Restoration stage entirely to "the talent and popularity of
837-619: A lawyer and barrister, being called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1887. He served his pupillage under the future Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith , who thought him a promising barrister and who was disappointed by his decision to turn to writing. Hope had time to write, as his working day was not overfull during these early years and he lived with his widowed father, then vicar of St Bride's Church , Fleet Street . His short pieces appeared in periodicals but for his first book, he
930-443: A long-time mistress of King Charles II of England (c. April 1668 – 6 February 1685). Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England , and has come to be considered a folk heroine , with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of Cinderella . Gwyn had two sons by King Charles: Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726) and James Beauclerk (1671–1680). Charles Beauclerk
1023-524: A manuscript of 1688 to have been a daughter of "Tho [Thomas] Guine a Cap [captain] of ane antient fammilie in Wales ", although the reliability of the statement is doubtful as its author does not seem to have hesitated to create or alter details where the facts were unknown or perhaps unremarkable. There is some suggestion, from a poem dated to 1681, again of doubtful accuracy, that Gwyn's father died at Oxford , perhaps in prison. It has been suggested, based on
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#17327809272611116-501: A month and the book was in print by April. The story is set in the fictional European kingdom of 'Ruritania', a term which has come to mean "the novelist's and dramatist's locale for court romances in a modern setting." Zenda achieved instant success and its witty protagonist, the debonair Rudolf Rassendyll, became a well-known literary creation. The novel was praised by Mason, literary critic Andrew Lang , and Robert Louis Stevenson . The popularity of Zenda persuaded Hope to give up
1209-690: A new playhouse, the Theatre in Bridges/Brydges Street, which was later rebuilt and renamed the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane . Mary Meggs, a former prostitute nicknamed "Orange Moll" and a friend of Madam Gwyn's, had been granted the licence to "vend, utter and sell oranges, lemons, fruit, sweetmeats and all manner of fruiterers and confectioners wares" within the theatre. Orange Moll hired Nell and her elder sister Rose as scantily-clad "orange-girls", selling small, sweet "china" oranges to
1302-517: A powerful laxative into Davis's tea-time cakes before an evening when she was expected in the King's bed. The love affair between the King and Gwyn allegedly began in April 1668. Gwyn was attending a performance of George Etherege 's She Wou'd if She Cou'd at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields . In the next box was the King, who from accounts was more interested in flirting with Gwyn than watching
1395-417: A school for young actors developed by Killigrew and one of the fine male actors of the time, Charles Hart , and learned dancing from another, John Lacy ; both were rumoured by satirists of the time to be her lovers, but if she had such a relationship with Lacy (Beauclerk thinks it unlikely), it was kept much more discreet than her well-known affair with Hart. Much as in the dispute over her date of birth, it
1488-512: A sentry in a boat. He hears King Rudolf talking to one of his captors, then returns to his friends. However, they are discovered by three of the Six. Two of the Six are killed, at the cost of three of Sapt's men, but Rupert reaches the safety of the castle. Later, they encounter Rupert again, this time accompanying the body of his friend, one of the Six killed earlier. Rupert privately makes another proposal: Have Sapt and von Tarlenheim lead an assault on
1581-525: A single actress, Nell Gwyn". The Great Plague of London shut down the Bridges Street theatre, along with most of the city, from mid-1665 until late 1666. Gwyn and her mother spent some of this time in Oxford , following the King and his court. The King's Company is presumed to have mounted some private theatrical entertainments for the court during this time away from the virulent capital. Gwyn and
1674-564: A soldierly attitude, a dry sense of humour, "quiet, easy manners", and an air of shrewdness. In 1898, he wrote Simon Dale , a historical novel involving actress and courtesan Nell Gwyn . Marie Tempest appeared in the dramatisation, called English Nell . One of Hope's plays, The Adventure of Lady Ursula , was produced in 1898. This was followed by his novel The King's Mirror (1899), which Hope considered one of his best works; and Captain Dieppe (1899). In 1900, he published Quisanté and he
1767-507: Is Florimell, that I never can hope ever to see the like done again, by man or woman. The King and the Duke of York were at the play. But so great performance of a comical part was never, I believe, in the world before as Nell do this, both as a mad girl, then most and best of all when she comes in like a young gallant; and hath the notions and carriage of a spark the most that ever I saw any man have. It makes me, I confess, admire her. After seeing
1860-633: Is a name of Welsh origin might support Hereford, as its county is on the border with Wales ; The Dictionary of National Biography notes a traditional belief that she was born there in Pipe Well Lane, renamed to Gwynne Street in the 19th century. There is also the legend that Nell Gwyn chose red coats for the pensioners of Chelsea Hospital , which she allegedly influenced King Charles II to found, because she remembered that similar coats had been worn at Coningsby Hospital in Hereford. London
1953-494: Is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope , in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in order for the king to retain the crown, his coronation must proceed. Fortuitously, an English gentleman on holiday in Ruritania who resembles the monarch is persuaded to act as his political decoy in an effort to save
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#17327809272612046-414: Is collected from various sources, including the plays she starred in, satirical poetry and pictures, diaries, and letters. As such, much of this information is founded on hearsay, gossip, and rumour, and must therefore be handled with caution. Her mother Ellen (or a variant, being referred to in her lifetime as "Old Madam", "Madam Gwyn" and "Old Ma Gwyn") was born, according to a monumental inscription , in
2139-502: Is evident that she had become a more prominent actress by 1665. It is around this time when she is first mentioned in Pepys's diary, specifically on Monday 3 April 1665, while attending a play, where the description 'pretty, witty Nell' is first recorded. This unusual use of only her first name would imply that Gwyn had made herself known both on the stage and off as her celebrity status started to emerge. Her first recorded appearance on-stage
2232-480: Is not out of the question that Gwyn was merely echoing the satirists of the day, if she said this at all. Various anonymous verses are the only other sources describing her childhood occupations: bawdyhouse servant, street hawker of herring , oysters , or turnips , and cinder-girl have all been put forth. Tradition has her growing up in Coal Yard Alley, a poor slum off Drury Lane . Around 1662, Nell
2325-466: Is presented a bottle of drugged wine. His friends cannot rouse him the next morning. Not showing up for the coronation would prove disastrous, but Sapt believes that fate has sent Rassendyll to Ruritania. He persuades the Englishman to impersonate the King. They hide the King in the cellar of the lodge and proceed to the capital. The ceremony goes off without a hitch. However, when they go to retrieve
2418-527: Is restored to his throne, but the lovers are trapped by duty and honour, and must part. The novel has been adapted many times, mainly for film but also stage, musical, operetta, radio, and television. Probably the best-known version is the 1937 Hollywood film . The charismatic but Machiavellian Rupert of Hentzau has been interpreted by Ramon Novarro (1922), Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1937), and James Mason (1952). Many subsequent fictional works can be linked to The Prisoner of Zenda ; indeed, this novel spawned
2511-484: Is said to have complained that "she had always conveyed free under the Crown, and always would; and would not accept [the house] till it was conveyed free to her by an Act of Parliament." In 1676, Gwyn was granted the freehold of the property, which remained in her family until 1693; as of 1960 the property was still the only one on the south side of Pall Mall not owned by the Crown. Gwyn gave birth to her second child by
2604-462: Is said to have taken a lover by the name of Duncan or Dungan. Their relationship lasted perhaps two years, and was reported with obscenity-laced acidity in several later satires; "For either with expense of purse or p---k, / At length the weary fool grew Nelly-sick". Duncan provided Gwyn with rooms at a tavern in Maypole Alley, and the satires also say he was involved in securing Nell a job at
2697-473: Is that Gwyn grabbed young Charles and hung him out of a window of Lauderdale House in Highgate , where she briefly resided, and threatened to drop him unless he was granted a peerage. The King cried out "God save the Earl of Burford!" and subsequently officially created the peerage, saving his son's life. On 21 December 1676, a warrant was passed for "a grant to Charles Beauclerc, the King's natural son, and to
2790-735: Is the poorest company I ever was in!" Having previously been the mistress of Charles Hart and Charles Sackville, Gwyn jokingly called the King "her Charles the Third". By mid-1668, Gwyn's affair with the King was well-known, though there was little reason to believe it would last for long. She continued to act at the King's House, her new notoriety drawing larger crowds and encouraging the playwrights to craft more roles specifically for her. June 1668 found her in Dryden's An Evening's Love , or The Mock Astrologer , and in July she played in Lacy's The Old Troop ,
2883-568: Is the simplest choice, perhaps, since Gwyn's mother was born there and that is where she raised her children. Alexander Smith's 1715 Lives of the Court Beauties says she was born in Coal Yard Alley in Covent Garden and other biographies, including Wilson's, have followed suit. Her noble descendant Beauclerk pieces together circumstantial evidence to favour an Oxford birth. One way or another, Gwyn's father seems to have been out of
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2976-568: Is unclear when Gwyn began to perform professionally on the Restoration stage. It is possible that she first appeared in smaller parts during the 1664–65 season. For example, The Bodleian Manuscript of The Siege of Urbin has the part of Pedro (Melina- a maid servant in breeches) played by a 'Mrs. Nell'. Additionally, 'Nelle' was intended to play the small role of Paulina, a courtesan, in Killigrew's Thomaso, or The Wanderer in November 1664, but
3069-485: Is very poor, and hath lost my Lady Castlemayne, who was her great friend also but she is come to the House, but is neglected by them all'. Late in 1667, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham , took on the role of unofficial manager for Gwyn's love affairs. He aimed to provide King Charles II with someone who would supplant Barbara Palmer , his principal current mistress and Buckingham's cousin, moving Buckingham closer to
3162-481: The election of 1892 but was not elected. In 1893, he wrote three novels ( Sport Royal , A Change of Air and Half-a-Hero ) and a series of sketches that first appeared in The Westminster Gazette and were collected in 1894 as The Dolly Dialogues , illustrated by Arthur Rackham . Dolly was his first major literary success. A. E. W. Mason deemed these conversations "so truly set in
3255-413: The "Bedchamber crisis". Ostracised at Court and with most of her retinue sent back to Portugal, Catherine had been left with little choice but to acquiesce to Charles's mistresses being granted semi-official standing. During Gwyn's first years with Charles, there was little competition in the way of other mistresses: Barbara Palmer was on her way out, while others, such as Moll Davis, kept quietly away from
3348-480: The "brilliant legal career [that] seemed to lie ahead of him" to become a full-time writer but he "never again achieved such complete artistic success as in this one book." Also in 1894, Hope produced The God in the Car , a political story, which the late nineteenth-century English novelist George Gissing thought was "of course vastly inferior to what I had supposed from the reviews". Hope wrote 32 volumes of fiction over
3441-618: The Duchess's "great lineage," dressing in black at Court, the same mourning attire as Louise when a prince of France died. Someone there asked, "What the deuce was the Cham of Tartary to you?" to which Gwyn responded, "Oh, exactly the same relation that the French Prince was to Mademoiselle de Kérouaille." The Duchess of Portsmouth's only recorded riposte was, "anybody may know she has been an orange-wench by her swearing". Their relationship
3534-526: The French and English sides. She and Gwyn would prove rivals for many years to come. They were opposites in personality and mannerism; Louise a proud woman of noble birth used to the sophistication of Versailles , Gwyn a spirited and pranking ex-orange-wench. Gwyn nicknamed Louise "Squintabella" for her looks and the "Weeping Willow" for her tendencies to sob. In one instance, recorded in a letter from George Legge to Lord Preston , Gwyn characteristically jabbed at
3627-429: The King is being held in the castle at Zenda. Rassendyll, Sapt, von Tarlenheim and ten picked men go "hunting" nearby. An attempt is made on Rassendyll's life by three of the Six, Duke Michael's most trusted henchmen. When that fails, Rupert Hentzau, one of the Six, visits Rassendyll to present Michael's offer of a million crowns to leave the country. When Rassendyll turns him down, Rupert flees after trying to kill him with
3720-428: The King's ear. The plan failed; reportedly, Gwyn asked £500 a year to be kept and this was rejected as it was regarded as too expensive. Buckingham had an alternative plan, which was to set the King up with Moll Davis , an actress with the rival Duke's Company . Davis would be Gwyn's first rival for the King. Several anonymous satires from the time relate a tale of Gwyn, with the help of her friend Aphra Behn , slipping
3813-622: The King's house, lies with her, and gives her £100 a year, so she hath sent her parts to the house, and will act no more." Gwyn was acting once more in late August, and her brief affair with Buckhurst had ended. Pepys reports that by 22 August 1667, Gwyn had returned to the King's Playhouse in The Indian Emperour . On 26 August, Pepys learns from Moll Davis that, 'Nell is already left by my Lord Buckhurst, and that he makes sport of her, and swears she hath had all she could get of him; and Hart, her great admirer, now hates her; and that she
Anthony Hope - Misplaced Pages Continue
3906-639: The King, christened James Beauclerk, on 25 December 1671, or Christmas Day. There are two stories about how the eldest of her two children by Charles was given the Earldom of Burford, both of which are unverifiable. The first, and most popular, is that when Charles was six years old, on the arrival of the King, Gwyn said, "Come here, you little bastard, and say hello to your father." When the King protested against her calling Charles that, she replied, "Your Majesty has given me no other name by which to call him." In response, Charles created him Earl of Burford . Another
3999-488: The King. The doctor sacrifices himself, grappling with Detchard before being murdered, giving Rassendyll time to catch up to and kill Detchard, with the King's assistance. Rupert appears at the drawbridge, defying Michael's men, and challenges Michael to fight him for Antoinette. However Antoinette cries out that Duke Michael is dead. Rassendyll has obtained a pistol, but cannot bring himself to shoot Rupert. Antoinette has no such qualms, but she misses, and her target leaps into
4092-457: The London of their day that the social historian would be unwise to neglect them," and said that they were written with "delicate wit [and] a shade of sadness." The idea for Hope's tale of political intrigue, The Prisoner of Zenda, being the history of three months in the life of an English gentleman , came to him at the close of 1893 as he was walking in London. Hope finished the first draft in
4185-441: The acquired variety of syphilis " on 14 November 1687, at ten in the evening, less than three years after the King's death. She was 37 years old (if she was born in 1650). Her balance at Child's Bank was reported to be well over four figures, and she possessed almost 15,000 ounces of plate. The Oxford Dictionary of Actors therefore suggests that 'perhaps most of her wealth was in trust or not in liquid assets' which might explain why
4278-441: The actress appeared in men's clothes under one pretence or another, and as Bax supposes "was one of the first occasions upon which a woman appeared in the disguise of a man"; if nothing else this could draw an audience eager to see the women show off their figures in the more form-fitting male attire. The attraction had another dynamic: the theatres sometimes had a hard time holding onto their actresses, as they were swept up to become
4371-436: The audience inside the theatre for a sixpence each. The work exposed her to the theatre and to London's higher society: this was "the King's playhouse", and King Charles II frequently attended performances. The orange-girls would also serve as messengers between men in the audience and actresses backstage; they received tips for this role, and some of these messages would end in sexual assignations. Whether this activity rose to
4464-467: The available evidence indicates that Nell was not a member of their family. Gwyn was assigned arms similar to those of the Gwynnes of Llansannor . However, her specific connection to that family, if any, is unknown. Three cities make the claim to be Gwyn's birthplace: Hereford , London (specifically Covent Garden ) and Oxford . Evidence for any one of the three is scarce. The fact that "Gwyn"
4557-444: The castle. With them and Duke Michael all dead (with Rupert's assistance), the two of them would have all the spoils to themselves. Rupert reveals a contributing motive; he is attracted to Antoinette de Mauban. Rassendyll turns him down. More information is extracted from Johann, including the alarming news that King Rudolf is very ill: Ill enough for Duke Michael to send for a doctor. Rassendyll offers Johann another large bribe to open
4650-472: The course of his lifetime and he had a large popular following. In 1896 he published The Chronicles of Count Antonio , followed in 1897 by a tale of adventure set on a Greek island, entitled Phroso . He went on a publicity tour of the United States in late 1897, during which he impressed a New York Times reporter as being somewhat like Rudolf Rassendyll: a well-dressed Englishman with a hearty laugh,
4743-490: The date of this claim (1913), and the lack of any evidence to back it up, suggest that Witte made up his story after seeing the first film version of the novel. The novel Every Inch a King (2005) by Harry Turtledove takes Witte's story and places it in a high fantasy setting. Author Salman Rushdie cited The Prisoner of Zenda in the epigraph to Haroun and the Sea of Stories , the novel he wrote while living in hiding in
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#17327809272614836-583: The death of the current incumbents. King Charles died on 6 February 1685. James II , obeying his brother's deathbed wish, "Let not poor Nelly starve," eventually paid most of Gwyn's debts and gave her an annual pension of £1,500. He also paid off the mortgage on Gwyn's Nottinghamshire lodge at Bestwood , which remained in the Beauclerk family until 1940. At the same time, James applied pressure on Gwyn and her son Charles to convert to Roman Catholicism , something she resisted. In March 1687, Gwyn suffered
4929-422: The eye of Killigrew, she still had to prove herself clever enough to succeed as an actress. This was no easy task in the Restoration theatre; the limited pool of audience members meant that very short runs were the norm for plays and fifty different productions might be mounted in the nine-month season lasting from September to June. She was reputed to have been illiterate. She was taught her craft of performing at
5022-435: The front door at two in the morning. Rassendyll enters the castle by stealth before then, then watches as Rupert, caught trying to force himself on Antoinette, stabs the outraged Michael. Then, outnumbered by Michael's men, he dives into the moat. Rassendyll kills one of the Six and takes the key to the cell holding King Rudolf. The King is guarded by Detchard and Bersonin. Rassendyll slays Bersonin, but Detchard hurries to murder
5115-476: The front wall of the present building, shows a carved mask which is probably a reference to her stage career. Just after the death of Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans on 5 January 1684, King Charles granted his son Charles the title of Duke of St Albans , gave him an allowance of £1,000 a year, and also granted him the offices of Chief Ranger of Enfield Chase and Master of the Hawks in reversion; i.e., after
5208-684: The genre known as Ruritanian romance , books set in fictional European locales similar to the novels. Zenda has inspired many adaptations , most notably the 1937 Hollywood movie of the same name and the 1952 version. Hope was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead , Marlborough College and Balliol College, Oxford . In an academically distinguished career at Oxford he obtained first-class honours in Classical Moderations (Literis Graecis et Latinis) in 1882 and in Literae Humaniores ('Greats') in 1885. Hope trained as
5301-476: The genre known as Ruritanian romance . What follows is a short list of those homages with a clear debt to Anthony Hope's book. In a popular but very questionable account, a German circus acrobat named Otto Witte claimed he had been briefly mistaken for the new King of Albania at the time of that country's separation from the Ottoman Empire , and that he was crowned and reigned a few days. However,
5394-402: The heirs male of his body, of the dignities of Baron of Heddington, co. Oxford, and Earl of Burford in the same county, with remainder to his brother, James Beauclerc, and the heirs male of his body." A few weeks later, James was given "the title of Lord Beauclerc, with the place and precedence of the eldest son of an earl." Shortly afterwards, the King granted Gwyn and their son a house, which
5487-495: The idea. A 1667 entry in Samuel Pepys 's diary records, second-hand, that: Here Mrs. Pierce tells me ... that Nelly and Beck Marshall , falling out the other day, the latter called the other my Lord Buckhurst's whore. Nell answered then, "I was but one man's whore, though I was brought up in a bawdy-house to fill strong waters to the guests; and you are a whore to three or four, though a Presbyter 's praying daughter!" It
5580-437: The kept mistresses of the aristocracy. In 1667, Gwyn made such a match with Charles Sackville , titled Lord Buckhurst at that time. She supposedly caught his eye during an April performance of All Mistaken, or The Mad Couple , especially in one scene in which, to escape a hugely fat suitor able to move only by rolling, she rolls across the stage herself, her feet toward the audience and her petticoats flying about. A satire of
5673-618: The late 1980s. The novel has been part of the syllabus of higher secondary schools in Pakistan for over three decades. Nell Gwyn Eleanor Gwyn (2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687; also spelled Gwynn , Gwynne ) was an English stage actress and celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances as one of the first actresses on the English stage, she became best known for being
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#17327809272615766-478: The level of pimping may be a matter of semantics. The new theatres were the first in England to feature actresses; earlier, women's parts had been played by boys or men. Gwyn joined the rank of actresses at Bridges Street when she was fourteen (if we take her birth year to be 1650), less than a year after becoming an orange-girl. If her good looks, strong clear voice, and lively wit were responsible for catching
5859-454: The maiden surname Smith. This appears to be derived from a fragmentary pedigree by Anthony Wood that shows signs of confusion between different Gwyn families and it has not been firmly established. Nell's mother is said to have drowned when she fell into the water at her house near Chelsea. She was buried on 30 July 1679, in her 56th year, at St Martin in the Fields. Nell Gwyn is reported in
5952-403: The moat. Then Rassendyll hears Sapt's voice he realizes that reinforcements have arrived. With King Rudolf no longer needing his protection, Rassendyll pursues Rupert. Rupert allows him to catch up. Before their duel can reach a conclusion, however, von Tarlenheim arrives, and Rupert races away on horseback. When Princess Flavia learns, by accident, about Rudolf Rassendyll, she faints. King Rudolf
6045-548: The neighbouring countries of Syldavia and Borduria in the Tintin comics. On the eve of the coronation of Rudolf V of Ruritania, he encounters his distant relative, English nobleman Rudolf Rassendyll, come to witness the festivities. The two men look very much alike. The future king and his loyal attendants, Colonel Sapt and Fritz von Tarlenheim, wine and dine their new acquaintance at a hunting lodge. However, Rudolf V's younger half-brother Michael, Duke of Strelsau, sees to it he
6138-699: The next year. Hope wrote and co-wrote many plays and political non-fiction during the First World War, some under the auspices of the Ministry of Information . Later publications included The Secret of the Tower , and Beaumaroy Home from the Wars , in 1919 and Lucinda in 1920. Lancelyn Green asserts that Hope was "a first-class amateur but only a second-class professional writer. Hope married Elizabeth Somerville (1885/6–1946) in 1903 and they had two sons and
6231-701: The other ten "women comedians in His Majesty's Theatre" were issued the right (and the cloth) to wear the King's livery at the start of this exile, proclaiming them official servants of the King. After the theatres reopened, Gwyn and Hart returned to play role after role that fit the mould of the gay couple, including in James Howard's The English Monsieur (December 1666), Richard Rhodes ' Flora's Vagaries , an adaptation of John Fletcher 's The Chances by George Villiers , and then in their greatest success, Secret Love, or The Maiden Queen . This play,
6324-464: The parish of St Martin in the Fields , which stretched from Soho and Covent Garden to beyond Mayfair, and is thought to have lived most of her life there in the West End. She is also believed, by most Gwyn biographers, to have been "low-born". Her descendant and biographer Charles Beauclerk calls this conjecture, based solely on what is known of her later life. Madam Gwyn is sometimes said to have had
6417-436: The pedigree by Anthony Wood, that Gwyn was a granddaughter of Edward or Edmund Gwyn, Canon of Christ Church from 1615 to 1624. However, administration records show that Edmund Gwyn died unmarried. Moreover, Wood did not give a forename for the supposed grandfather of Nell and there are reasons to think that the "Dr ... Gwyn" in the pedigree was intended to be not Edmund Gwyn but rather his brother Matthew . In either case,
6510-422: The picture by the time of her childhood in Covent Garden, and her " dipsomaniac mother, [and] notorious sister", Rose, were left in a low situation . She experimented with cross-dressing between 1663 and 1667 going under the name "William Nell" and adopting a false beard; her observations informed a most successful and hilarious character interpretation acting as a man on the stage in March 1667. Old Madam Gwyn
6603-550: The play for the third time, Pepys writes, "It is impossible to have Florimel’s part, which is the most comical that ever was made for woman, ever done better than it is by Nelly." Killigrew must have agreed with Pepys's opinion. Once Gwyn left the acting profession, it would be at least ten years before his company revived The Maiden Queen and even the less favoured The Indian Emperour because "the management evidently felt that it would be useless to present these plays without her." The Maiden Queen featured breeches roles , where
6696-477: The play seems to have been cancelled. The use of 'Mrs' would imply that Gwyn was more likely born in 1642 than 1650 as it indicates an actress over the age of 21 (not her marital status) for which certain roles would be more suitable. Nonetheless, since players of less substantial parts are seldom mentioned in cast lists or playgoers' diaries of the period, an absolute date for Gywn's debut cannot be ascertained. Whatever her first role as an actress may have been, it
6789-458: The play. Charles invited Gwyn and her escort, Mr. Villiers, a cousin of Buckingham's, to supper along with his brother the Duke of York . The anecdote turns charming if perhaps apocryphal at this point: the King, after supper, discovered that he had no money on him; nor did his brother, and Gwyn had to foot the bill. "Od's fish!" she exclaimed, in an imitation of the King's manner of speaking, "but this
6882-549: The real King Rudolf, they find that he has been abducted. Rassendyll must continue his deception, but at least Duke Michael cannot unmask him without incriminating himself. While Sapt searches for the King, Rassendyll becomes acquainted with the beautiful Princess Flavia, who is beloved by the people. He learns that everyone expects them to wed. Despite himself, he falls in love with her, and she with him. Help comes from an unexpected source. Antoinette de Mauban, Michael's mistress, does not want to lose him to Flavia. She confirms that
6975-429: The rich woman was so poor. A letter from Wigmore to Etherege, the day after Gwyn's burial, reports that Gwyn left about £1,000,000, "a great many say more, few less". The majority of her estate went to her son. Gwyn's will also conveys her charitable side with her leaving £100 to be distributed to the poor of the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields and Westminster and £50 to release debtors from prison every Christmas. She
7068-419: The spotlight of public appearances or Whitehall . Gwyn gave birth to her first son fathered by Charles II, Charles Beauclerk , on 8 May 1670. He was the King's seventh son by five separate mistresses. Several months later, Louise de Kérouaille came to England from France, ostensibly to serve as a maid of honour to Queen Catherine, but also to become another mistress to King Charles, probably by design on both
7161-434: The stage by this point. In February 1671, Gwyn moved into a brick townhouse at 79 Pall Mall . The property was owned by the crown and its current resident was instructed to transfer the lease to Gwyn. It would be her main residence for the rest of her life. Gwyn seemed unsatisfied with being a lessee only—in 1673, a letter written by that of Joseph Williamson stated that "Madam Gwinn complains she has no house yet." Gwyn
7254-541: The story was filmed twice, in Italy in 1916 as Sofia De Kravonia , and in the United States in 1920 as Sophy of Kravonia or, The Virgin of Paris . Both adaptations featured the actress Diana Karenne in the title role (billed as "Diana Kareni" in the latter film). In 1907, a collection of his short stories and novelettes was published under the title Tales of Two People ; as well as the novel Helena's Path . In 1910, he wrote Second String , followed by Mrs Maxon Protests
7347-618: The theatre being built nearby. During the English Commonwealth era, pastimes regarded as frivolous, including theatre, had been banned. King Charles II had been restored to the English throne in 1660, and he reinstated the theatre. One of Charles' early acts as king was to license the formation of two acting companies and to legalise acting as a profession for women. In 1663, the King's Company , led by Thomas Killigrew , opened
7440-414: The time describes this and also Hart's position now, in the face of competition from the upper echelons of society: Yet Hart more manners had, then not to tender When noble Buckhurst beg'd him to surrender. He saw her roll the stage from side to side And, through her drawers the powerful charm descry'd. Beauclerk describes Buckhurst: "Cultured, witty, satirical, dissolute, and utterly charming". He
7533-554: The unstable political situation of the interregnum . A sequel, Rupert of Hentzau , was published in 1898 and is included in some editions of The Prisoner of Zenda . The popularity of the novels inspired the Ruritanian romance genre of literature, film, and theatre that features stories set in a fictional country , usually in Central or Eastern Europe , for example Graustark from the novels of George Barr McCutcheon , and
7626-441: Was almost certainly her last season. Gwyn's theatrical career spanned seven years and ended at the age of 21 (if we take 1650 to be her birth year). In the cast list of Aphra Behn's The Rover , produced at Dorset Garden in March 1677, the part of Angelica Bianca, "a famous Curtezan" is played by a Mrs. Gwin. This has sparked some confusion. The spelling of 'Gwin' does not refer to Nell Gwyn, but to Mrs. Anne Quin. Nell Gwyn had left
7719-452: Was born about 1642. The earlier date of birth was asserted without documentation, but various scholars have supported both the earlier and later dates. The eight-year difference between these two possible birth years can offer different readings of what Gwyn achieved during her lifetime. The obscurity surrounding Gwyn's date of birth parallels numerous other obscurities that run through the course of her life. The information we have about Gwyn
7812-496: Was by most accounts an alcoholic whose business was running a bawdy house (or brothel ). There, or in the bawdy house of one Madam Ross, Nell would spend at least some time. It is possible that she herself was a child prostitute ; Peter Thomson, in the Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre , says it is "probable". However, a rare mention of her upbringing from the source herself might be seen to contradict
7905-552: Was created Earl of Burford and Duke of St. Albans ; Murray de Vere Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St. Albans is her descendant, and the current holder of the duchy . The details of Gwyn's background are somewhat obscure. A horoscope in the Ashmolean manuscripts gives her date of birth as 2 February 1650. On the other hand, an account published in The New Monthly Magazine and Humorist in 1838 states that she
7998-628: Was elected chairman of the committee of the Society of Authors . He wrote Tristram of Blent in 1901, The Intrusions of Peggy in 1902, and Double Harness in 1904, followed by A Servant of the Public in 1905, about the love of acting. In 1906, he produced Sophy of Kravonia , a novel in a similar vein to Zenda which was serialised in The Windsor Magazine ; Roger Lancelyn Green is especially damning of this effort. Nevertheless,
8091-461: Was forced to resort to a self-publishing press . A Man of Mark (1890) is notable primarily for its similarities to Zenda : it is set in an imaginary country , Aureataland, and features political upheaval and humour. More novels and short stories followed, including Father Stafford in 1891 and the mildly successful Mr Witt's Widow in 1892. He stood as the Liberal candidate for Wycombe in
8184-517: Was in March 1665, in John Dryden 's heroic drama The Indian Emperour , playing Cydaria, daughter of Moctezuma and love interest to Cortez , played by her real-life lover Charles Hart. However, Pepys, whose diary usually has great things to say about Gwyn, was displeased with her performance in this same part two years later: "...to the King's playhouse, and there saw 'The Indian Emperour;' where I find Nell come again, which I am glad of; but
8277-521: Was in the new form of restoration comedy that Gwyn would become a star. In May 1665, she appeared opposite Hart in James Howard 's comedy All Mistaken, or the Mad Couple . There is some debate over the year The Mad Couple debuted, with earlier authorities believing it to be 1667. This was the first of many appearances in which Gwyn and Hart played the "gay couple", a form that would become
8370-503: Was most infinitely displeased with her being put to act the Emperour's daughter; which is a great and serious part, which she do most basely." Gwyn herself seems to agree that drama did not suit her, to judge from the lines she was later made to say in the epilogue to a Robert Howard drama: We have been all ill-us'd, by this day's poet. 'Tis our joint cause; I know you in your hearts Hate serious plays, as I do serious parts. It
8463-538: Was not strictly adversarial; they were known to get together for tea and cards, for example. Basset was the popular game at the time, and Gwyn was a frequent—and high-stakes—gambler. Gwyn returned to the stage again in late 1670, something Beauclerk calls an "extraordinary thing to do" for a mistress with a royal child. Her return was in Dryden's The Conquest of Granada , a two-part epic produced in December 1670 and January 1671. This may have been her last play; 1671
8556-533: Was one of a handful of court wits, the " Merry Gang " as named by Andrew Marvell . Sometime after the end of April and her last recorded role that season (in Robert Howard's The Surprisal ), Gwyn and Buckhurst left London for a country holiday in Epsom , accompanied by Charles Sedley , another wit in the merry gang. Pepys reports the news on 13 July: "[Mr. Pierce tells us] Lord Buckhurst hath got Nell away from
8649-760: Was renamed Burford House, on the edge of the Home Park in Windsor . She lived there when the King was in residence at Windsor Castle . In addition to the properties mentioned above, Gwyn had a summer residence on the site of what is now 61–63 King's Cross Road, London, which enjoyed later popularity as the Bagnigge Wells Spa. According to the London Encyclopedia (Macmillan, 1983) she "entertained Charles II here with little concerts and breakfasts". An inscribed stone of 1680, saved and reinserted in
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