Synopses & Reviews
Throughout the centuries, royal mistresses have been worshiped, feared, envied, and reviled. They set the fashions, encouraged the arts, and, in some cases, ruled nations. Eleanor Herman's
Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe's most powerful monarchs. Alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, this glittering tale of passion and politics chronicles five hundred years of scintillating women and the kings who loved them.
Curiously, the main function of a royal mistress was not to provide the king with sex but with companionship. Forced to marry repulsive foreign princesses, kings sought solace with women of their own choice. And what women they were! From Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for nineteen years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped none other than the glamorous Diana, Princess of Wales.
The successful royal mistress made herself irreplaceable. She was ready to converse gaily with him when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim. Wearing a mask of beaming delight over any and all discomforts, she was never to be exhausted, complaining, or grief-stricken.
True, financial rewards for services rendered were of royal proportions -- some royal mistresses earned up to $200 million in titles, pensions, jewels, and palaces. Some kings allowed their mistresses to exercise unlimited political power. But for all its grandeur, a royal court was a scorpion's nest of insatiable greed, unquenchable lust, and vicious ambition. Hundreds of beautiful women vied to unseat the royal mistress. Many would suffer the slings and arrows of negative public opinion, some met with tragic ends and were pensioned off to make room for younger women. But the royal mistress often had the last laugh, as she lived well and richly off the fruits of her "sins."
From the dawn of time, power has been a mighty aphrodisiac. With diaries, personal letters, and diplomatic dispatches, Eleanor Herman's trailblazing research reveals the dynamics of sex and power, rivalry and revenge, at the most brilliant courts of Europe. Wickedly witty and endlessly entertaining, Sex with Kings is a chapter of women's history that has remained unwritten -- until now.
Review
"History made as buoyant as fiction." Brad Hooper, Booklist
Review
"A smart, keenly researched history written with wry wisdom." Dallas Morning News
Synopsis
From the dawn of time, power has been a mighty aphrodisiac. The royal mistress, having conquered a king, ofter ran his kingdom, wielding her sexuality as a scepter. Sex With Kings is trailblazing in its exploration of this intriguing phenomenon the position of royal mistress at European Courts, the fascinating women who filled it, and how their responsibilities and rewards changed over the centuries. It's a nonfiction journey through 500 years that takes the reader into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe's most powerful kings, and a chapter of women's history which has remained unwritten until now.
Synopsis
She was the royal mistress. She was ready to converse gaily with the king when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim. She was never to be exhausted, complaining, or grief-stricken. Hundreds would vie to unseat her or push her toward a tragic end. But she often had the last laugh, living well and richly off the fruits of her "sins."
Eleanor Herman's Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and the bedrooms of Europe's most powerful monarchs and the women who loved them from Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for nineteen years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped the beloved and glamorous Diana, Princess of Wales.
Based on impeccable research from diaries, personal letters, and diplomatic dispatches, and alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, Sex with Kings "will please readers who like their history liberally spiked with glamour and gossip" (Boston Globe).
About the Author
Eleanor Herman is named after Eleanor of Aquitaine, her grandmother twenty-eight times removed, and is related to most of the royal families of Europe. She is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Sex with Kings. Formerly the North American associate publisher for NATO's Nations and Partners for Peace magazine, she is an accomplished lecturer and TV and radio broadcast commentator on royal issues. She lives in McLean, Virginia.