A Family Take in 'Nell Gwyn: Mistress to a King' [7min]

England's Restoration did more than simply restore a king to his throne. The return of Charles II in 1660 upended the cramped, rigidly controlled world of Oliver Cromwell and his Puritans. Theaters -- long closed -- reopened. Bright colors replaced sober black. Licentiousness triumphed over repression, and freethinking and cynicism over faith. Charles Beauclerk is a direct descendent of Charles II –- and one of history's most famous mistresses, Nell Gwyn. Beauclerk has written the story of their 17-year affair, and how it came to be that their son became the duke of St. Albans, when Gwyn started out as a child of the streets and the daughter of a madame. In Nell Gwyn: Mistress to a King, Beauclerk explains how Gwyn's upbringing -- learning how to entertain and charm the men around her while serving rum to customers -- helped her later woo the king.