With political power comes extraordinary privileges, including the freedom to indulge your deepest sexual desires. So it makes sense then that as long as there were monarchs, there were monarchs who pursued flings, affairs and even life-long romances with lovers of the same gender.
Queen Anne (1665-1714)
This last of the Scottish Stuarts became notorious for the patronage she offered to her childhood friend and long-term lover, Sarah Jennings, later Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. The British public did not mind the Queen's preference much at the time, but Sarah's influence over the Royal Person was the object of much jealousy at court, which eventually led to a bitter break-up.
Anne in her 20s, by Michael Dahl (Curtis, The Life and Times of Queen Anne)
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, playing cards with a Lady (by Godfrey Kneller, Life and Times of Queen Anne)
Popular illustration of Anne and Sarah's break-up. "Upon her Knees famed Somerset receives an Office which another Duchess [Sarah] leaves." Life and Times of Queen Anne
Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689)
Christina was thought to have been a boy at birth; this confusion, combined with her later preference for masculine dress and demeanor, have led some to hypothesize that she was Intersex. Never inclined towards marriage, Christina is thought to have had both male and female lovers, including Ebba Sparre, her lady-in-waiting and 'bed-fellow.' At age 26, Christina abdicated the throne, converted to Catholicism, and moved to Rome where she became a great patron of the arts.
Dashing Christina (by Sébastien Bourdon, from Buckley, Christina, Queen of Sweden)
Chistina laughing as Ebba and another woman read from a bawdy book
The beautiful Countess Ebba Sparre, whom Christina called "Belle."
Gustav V, King of Sweden (1858-1950)
Well-loved as the King who built modern Sweden, but with a legacy of sexual scandal that erupted after the King's death in the intensely anti-Communist and homophobic 1950s. A man named Kurt Haijby announced in the mainstream press that he was Gustav's lover from 1912 until 1932; Swedes were perhaps more upset that the Crown at first tried to buy Haijby's silence.
Gustav with tennis buddies: image here from Hadenius, Gustav V
James VI and I, Scotland and England (1566-1625)
A biography in the collection
James, icon of Scottish-style Protestantism
James greatest legacy: The King James Bible (From an old (date?) edition held at UMN)
Christian VII, King of Norway and Denmark (1749-1808)
The so-called "homosexual half-wit" was never really in control of his court; powerful advisers like his doctor, Johann Friedrich Struensee, allowed him to pursue boys and stay out of the way while they took the reigns of power.
Edward II, England (1284-1327)
Edward I subdued Scotland in a series of masterful military campaigns; Edward II, more interested in boys and parties, is blamed for Scottish rebellions during his reign. Edward's love for the selfish, impudent, but by all accounts extremely cute Piers Gaveston helped anger the court against the both of them. Edward's final tragic end (he is thought to have had a red-hot poker inserted into his anus) is dramatized in the play Edward II by Christopher Marlowe. British director Derek Jarman made a film version in 1991.
Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845-1886)
The reclusive builder of Neuschwanstein realized he was gay as a teenager when he discovered the music of Richard Wagner and the charms of young Bavarian men like Prince Paul von Thurn und Taxis and Richard Hornig. As his life became increasingly extravagant, government ministers moved to depose him, and Ludwig died in a mysterious drowning incident together with a close male friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment