August 27, And the same for his mistresses as well, apart from Anne Hyde, the daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, who he married in after being forced into it by his brother Charles II, who took the view that James 'must drink as he has brewed. Arabella was seventeen when she was appointed a maid of honor to the first Duchess of York, and their relationship continued even through his remarriage to Mary of Modena.
Unlike the Duchess, who after her years of trying to bear a boy had gotten fat, Arabella was tall, pale-faced and nothing but skin and bones. However, the Duke had seen her fall off a horse, and was enchanted to find that she had a great set of gams. Their affair lasted twelve years, until she got too old she was almost thirty when the affair ended , and the Duke needed to find greener pastures.
She gave him four children, two boys and two girls. Catherine's mother, also named Catherine, was the daughter of Earl Rivers. When Catherine was a child, her mother went mad, imagining that she was the Queen of England, and having to be addressed as 'Her Majesty. Although Catherine was his only legitimate heir, her father took a common-law wife named Ann Ayscough by whom he had a son. Although she was an heiress with the prospect of 10, pounds 6, from her mother, with an additional 4, upon her father's death , with this marital history behind her, it was no wonder that Catherine chose the life of a royal mistress as opposed to marriage.
Catherine was fifteen when she joined the court as a Maid of Honor to the Duke of York's second wife Mary of Modena who was also 15 when she married James. She was just as surprised as anyone when James chose her to be his mistress in when she was According to contemporary sources, she was tall, extremely thin, plain as she got older she became almost emaciated and had a squint.
The standard of beauty of that time was plump, with rosy cheeks and golden curls. Catherine Sedley. Heather Carroll saidβ¦. Elizabeth Kerri Mahon saidβ¦. Thanks Heather. Isn't it great? I think she was just a bawdy, awesome woman. Margaret Porter saidβ¦. So rich a coincidence--I've just written a scene featuring one Jamess II's sons by Arabella Churchill, and editing a gossipy scene in which court ladies discuss Catherine Sedley. So glad that you featured her as one of your Scandalous Women, she's such a fab character.
