Nell Gwyn: Actress and Royal Mistress

<p>How did a lowly orange seller become the most famous actress of her time and mistress of King Charles II?</p><br><p>In 1660, King Charles II ruled that female stage roles must be played by women, leading to the rise of the 'Covent Garden Goddesses'. As a result, Nell Gwyn - born 375 years ago this month - went from being a humble orange seller to a celebrated actress and Charles II's most enduring and famous mistress.</p><br><p>Professor Suzannah Lipscomb explores how Nell Gwyn became an 'It girl' - one of England's first celebrities and cherished folk heroine - with Professor Laura Engel and Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford, a direct descendant of Nell Gwyn and King Charles II.</p><br><p>Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.</p><p>Theme music from All3Media. Other music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.</p><p><em>Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcast.</em></p><br><p><strong>Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at </strong><a href="https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong><u>https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe</u></strong></a><strong>.</strong>&nbsp;</p><br><p>You can take part in our listener survey, here:&nbsp;<a href="https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>