Book Review: Sex With Kings
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Posted by Lorri Brown Jan 11, 2007 |
Part history book, part tabloid, all good reading, Sex With Kings recounts over five hundred years of royal infidelity in Europe. Much is written in history about what is was like to be a king or queen, but what was it like to be a royal mistress? How did one become mistress to a king, and what happened when he tired of you? Herman outlines the lives of several powerful women in Europe, whose claim to fame were their royal lovers. From the indomitable Diane de Poitiers, longtime mistress to Henri II, to lesser known, but equally interesting Lola Montez, mistress to Ludwig I of Bavaria, to Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII, Herman gives riveting accounts of torrid love affairs that sometimes ended in happily ever after, but most often did not.
Herman breaks the book up into topics, rather than by persons or countries. Chapters include: Beyond the Bed- The art of pleasing a king, Rivals for a King’s Love- The Mistress and the Queen, and The Fruits of Sin- Royal Bastards. Readers follow the lives of various mistresses, some ending in obscurity, others settling for fortunes, estates, and titles.
Besides being an entertaining Sex With Kings is full of interesting details you won’t find in many scholarly accounts. For instance, Herman points out that royal bastards were generally better liked than the royal heirs. The reasoning was that the King wanted to have sex with his mistress, whereas he had to have sex with his queen., making the mistress’s child more impressive. This coupled with the fact that many royal children in Europe were the results of inbreeding; it was no wonder that royal bastards were more attractive and intelligent.
If you love history, especially Women’s history, this is a must read.
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