Gossip: *is dead wrong, but fits the climate of the times. When Charles' marriage with Catherine of Braganza won't produce any living offspring, while Charles has illegitimate children galore, Anne's father will be accused by gossip of having matched Charles knowingly to an infertile woman, which is absolutely insane*
Ummmmm, wow! Because... it's so easy to tell that virgins are infertile *headdesk*
Meanwhile, James: I don't want to marry a girl I got pregnant ahead of marriage anyway. She's not worthy of me.
FACEPALM FOREVER
"So 'Est-il possible' is gone too", James supposedly remarked.
heeeeee!
However, since he had only one female mistress in his life (while Uncle Charles and Uncle James were merrily screwing around), rumors started (mostly by his Jacobite enemies) that maybe his preferences ran to the male form anyway.
William tersely dismissed these suggestions, however, saying, "It seems to me very extraordinary that it should be impossible to have esteem and regard for a young man without it being criminal."
Yep, I hear you too, WIlliam. One of the fascinating things I think about all this history is that all the trash talking I thought was of modern invention... totally isn't. (Only even more so!) I mean, regardless of whether it was true about William in particular.
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Re: War of the Spanish Succession: Hanovers and Stuarts
Gossip: *is dead wrong, but fits the climate of the times. When Charles' marriage with Catherine of Braganza won't produce any living offspring, while Charles has illegitimate children galore, Anne's father will be accused by gossip of having matched Charles knowingly to an infertile woman, which is absolutely insane*
Ummmmm, wow! Because... it's so easy to tell that virgins are infertile *headdesk*
Meanwhile, James: I don't want to marry a girl I got pregnant ahead of marriage anyway. She's not worthy of me.
FACEPALM FOREVER
"So 'Est-il possible' is gone too", James supposedly remarked.
heeeeee!
However, since he had only one female mistress in his life (while Uncle Charles and Uncle James were merrily screwing around), rumors started (mostly by his Jacobite enemies) that maybe his preferences ran to the male form anyway.
William tersely dismissed these suggestions, however, saying, "It seems to me very extraordinary that it should be impossible to have esteem and regard for a young man without it being criminal."
Yep, I hear you too, WIlliam. One of the fascinating things I think about all this history is that all the trash talking I thought was of modern invention... totally isn't. (Only even more so!) I mean, regardless of whether it was true about William in particular.