Cupid and the King

In this book, Princess Michael of Kent recounts the stories of five very different women, each of whom became a celebrated royal courtesan – Diane de Poiters, the paramour of Henri II of France, Nell Gwyn, the actress who became the mistress of Charles II, Mme de Pompadour, the chatelaine of Louis XV, Marie Walewska, the young Polish woman who became the mistress of Napoleon, and Lola Montez, the Irish woman who dazzled Ludwig I of Bavaria.