The Windsor Beauties - 10 Women of the Restoration Court

History Tea Time

Lindsay Holiday

History

4.5 • 566 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I'm at Hampton Court Palace in the Communication Gallery to look at a very special collection of paintings, the Windsor Beauties. These portraits immortalize 10 woman said to be the most stunning members of the restoration court. They exude elegance, confidence, and more than a hint of seduction. It was long whispered that famous philanderer, King Charles II used the paintings like a catalog, to choose which lovely lady would be his bedfellow for the evening. His lascivious majesty would then place his order with the Keeper of his Privy Closet, known as his ‘Pimp-master General’ who would then call for the patiently waiting lucky lady. The Windsor beauties gained such a notorious reputation that by 1835, the now prudish royal court despised them. The collection was consigned to Hampton court Palace, which was no longer a royal residence. But were the Windsor beauties really just restoration Pinups, or is there more to the story? Let’s meet the real women rendered in colorful goop, and find out why they were chosen. We’ll discover who was and was not a royal mistress, and which beauties were sleeping with each others husbands. We’ll learn how they traded beauty for power and wealth, and find out if they were really as attractive as their famous portraits. Let’s get to know the Windsor Beauties: Elizabeth Hamilton, Comtesse de Gramont Mary Bagot, Countess of Falmouth & Dorset Elizabeth Wriothesley, Countess of Northumberland Anne Digby, Countess of Sunderland Jane Needham, Mrs. Myddelton Margaret Brooke, Lady Denham Frances Brooke, Lady Whitmore Henrietta Boyle, Countess of Rochester Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland Frances Stuart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox Anne Hyde, Duchess of York & Albany Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091781568503 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historyteatimelindsayholiday/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@historyteatime Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠advertising@airwavemedia.com⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.1	Everybody shush!
0:31.4	William Shatner has something to say.
0:33.3	Cat and Jethro box of oddities.
0:36.1	The show exam examined weird things.
0:38.8	What do you do when the woman you love dies?
0:42.8	Well, of course you dig her up and you live with her.
0:44.8	Aw.
0:45.3	That is really mysterious.
0:47.8	The strange, the bizarre, the unexpected.
0:51.8	Cat and Jethro, Box of Oddities.
0:54.4	Listen on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:57.9	The Box of Oddities.
1:04.6	Hello and welcome to History Tea Time.
1:09.0	I'm Lindsay Holiday and I'm spilling the tea on history.
1:19.3	The Windsor Beauties.
	...

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