15. Nell Gwyn was an orange seller turned actress who used her wit to gain her son a title.
Unlike Louise de Kerouaille, Nell Gwyn was popular with the English people — probably because she never attempted to hide her common origins, making fun of herself by dubbing herself the “Protestant whore” to differentiate herself from the Catholic Louise. Nell began her career selling oranges in the slums of London before graduating to the boards of London’s theatres. It was her she caught Charles II’s eye. Nell dubbed the King “Charles the Third” because he was the third of her lovers to bear the same name. Nell held Charles’s attention because she made him laugh — and never sought money or titles for herself. However, Nell did use her wit to gain her son by the King a title. “Come here, you little bastard” she reputedly said to the child in Charles’s presence. Charles was so horrified he immediately made the little boy Duke of St Albans.
