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fuckyeahcharlesthesecond:

Happy birthday Nell Gwynne!

Nell Gwynne, comic actress and mistress of Charles II, was born on 2nd February 1650. She is one of the most well-known and loved people from the Restoration period, and her fame is due as much to her career as it is to her royal lover.

Nell worked her way up from selling oranges to become one of the first actresses on the London stage. Although people often assumed she would be stupid due to her ordinary background, in fact she possessed a great talent for comedy and was known as ‘pretty, witty Nell’.

In one particular incident, Nell’s coach was mobbed by people who had mistaken it for that of Louise de Kerouaille. She stuck her head out of the window and said,

“Good people, you are mistaken; I am the Protestant whore!”