11 thoughts on “TBT: The Last King (2003) Episode 4

  1. The costumes aside, I have a hard time believing that that ornately carved and gilded coronation throne is period accurate. I’ve been around 17thc. British furniture and I don’t recall anything that OTT. It looks like a Disney fantasy chair for some production like Beauty and the Beast.

  2. I think those garter floofies are a nod to the portrait, which has some kind of ruffles behind the real Charles’ knees, which might be part of his robe.

  3. By all accounts Louise de Keroualle was on the whiney side. Charles seems to have had a weakness for high maintenance women.
    I don’t know but I doubt the women had much to say to each other. Louise was under the delusion that Catherine liked her rather than merely tolerating her but she and Nell were always at daggers drawn.
    Charles’loyal defense of his queen against the anti-Catholics makes up for a lot. At least Catherine thought so.
    Charles made no secret that his sole goal was to remain king but he was probably doing his best to secure the succession of his brother who he regarded as his rightful heir even though he knew James would muck it up. How catholic Charles was is questionable. He may have been more pro France and royalist.

  4. And Charles died a Catholic, something he probably realised he couldn’t have espoused and ruled England. Or maybe in 1660 hecould have, but im 99.9% sure he couldn’t have. And was the portrait of Catherine of Braganza you included was the only one showing a slightly P.O.C. descent or were they others? Considering how Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz is her descendant. What happened to Barbara Cleveland in episode?

    1. Sadly no Helen McCrory/Barbara Villiers in this episode, other than a quick “here’s what happened to her at the end of her life” at the very end.

      I haven’t seen any other images of Catherine of Braganza that make her look anything other than white, but I noticed that on this image too!

      1. Thanks for the prompt response. I’m going to have to re-watch this. But I keep on remembering the line in THE FIRST CHURCHILLS, Charles: ‘Jamie, you have the soul of a Medieval pope.’ James looks proud. Missing the point.

    2. “And was the portrait of Catherine of Braganza you included was the only one showing a slightly P.O.C. descent or were they others? Considering how Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz is her descendant.”

      Okay, I’m not following this. How could Charlotte be Catherine’s “descendant” when Catherine had no living offspring?

      Are they actually related to each other, beyond Charlotte having distant ancestry in Portugal?

      1. They have a common ancestor. Charlotte of Mecklenburg Strelitz wasn’t a descendant – your right there.

    3. Catherine of Braganza was olive skinned with very dark hair and eyes. So for that matter was Charles. That’s a common coloring of mediterranean europeans and far from unknown north of the Alps.

      1. Hair curl, nose shape and lip shape also vary greatly among Europeans as well. Some Europeans have broad noses and broad, full lips.

        And on top of it all, there’s the whole issue of how accurately a portrait actually captures features in the era before photography.

  5. I think about that carriage scene with Nell Gwynn a lot. Especially now the people originally cursing Louise cheer for Nell.

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