MONARCHS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
GEORGE III, who came to the throne in October 1760 aged 22, was a creature of habit who went to Weymouth every year for his annual holiday, where he loved bathing.
A secret tunnel from the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, London, to the inn across the road was built on the orders of Charles II so he could cavort with mistresses during intervals.
Henry VIII was an athletic man for most of his reign, despite consuming 5,000 calories a day (twice the recommended amount). A jousting injury to his leg in 1536 prevented him from taking exercise and his weight ballooned. His legendary bad temper was not helped by constant pain from the injury, which was left open to heal as was the Tudor custom and became infected.
Empress of India was one of Victoria’s titles and she developed a passion for spicy curries. They were cooked by her manservant Abdul Karim, who also taught her Urdu. Among her favourites was calves’ foot Madras. The Queen was a quick eater who suffered terrible indigestion and became obese. A pair of her bloomers kept by Historic Royal Palaces has a huge 50-inch waist. The Great Plague and Fire of London in the 1660s were regarded by Charles II as punishment for his immoral lifestyle. He tried to redeem himself by remaining in London and putting himself among the people during these two disasters in his reign. At the height of the fire he and his brother James joined efforts to fight the blaze.
George III is best-known for the madness that blighted much of his life but in his youth he was a cultured man who loved studying botany.
George III and his son, also called George, were like chalk and cheese and loathed one another. Father was frugal and hardworking while son was a lazy spendthrift. He became Prince Regent in 1811 – when George III was deposed by Parliament because of his declining mental state – and king from 1820 to 1830, but is considered to have been one of the worst rulers in our history. Louis XIV believed he was God’s representative on Earth and France was the centre of the universe, so took the sun as his moniker. To raise cash he charged nobles to watch him sleep, eat and bathe – even building a platform over his bed to hold the adoring crowd.
The post of Groom of the Stool, attending to Henry VIII’s ablutions and cleaning him up, was highly sought after. Nobles securing the job could look forward to becoming confidants of the king and being rewarded with gifts of titles and land.
Although he came from a line of German kings, George III was desperate to be accepted by his adopted homeland. So he lived the life of an English country squire, earning the nickname Farmer George.
Queen Victoria was an avid diary keeper who over the course of her 81-year life wrote about 60 million words. But many of her diaries were altered or destroyed after her death by her children to keep some of the racier details out of public view. FAMOUSLY MAD: George III (1738 to 1820)
A new TV series reveals the private idiosyncracies of Europe’s royals through the centuries – and many of them are surprisingly hair-raising
Louis XIV is always depicted as a vain ruler and commissioned 300 portraits of himself. But there was method in his vanity as he sent them to hang all over country, to reinforce his authority. When he was 29 years old in 1520 Henry VIII fought a wrestling match against King Francis I of France. He suffered a humiliating defeat at the sporting extravaganza held near Calais, which was organised to promote international relations. CHARLES II was famous for having at least 17 mistresses and his sexual prowess earned him the nickname Old Rowley – after his favourite stallion. Charles II cut a glamorous figure but there was a seedy underbelly at his court. He had countless mistresses, resulting in sexually transmitted diseases. He hid sores with a pubic wig known as a merkin. Many portraits of Victoria in later life depict her as gloomy but in her youth she was a vivacious and witty flirt. She is known to have enjoyed a steamy sex life with her husband Albert.
When Charles II died suddenly in 1685 aged just 54 poisoning was suspected. However, modern analysis of his symptoms suggest that he suffered kidney failure.
The madness of King George III is widely believed to have been because of an inherited condition called porphyria but some historians claim he suffered from bipolar disorder triggered by the loss of the American colonies.
Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry, has gone down in history as an ugly woman and was known as the Mare of Flanders. But it is claimed her looks were exaggerated by spin doctors at the time to provide an excuse for the king’s impotency.
Private Lives Of The Monarchs is on the Yesterday channel today at 9pm.