Charles II a surprise marriage

So I was doing some reading around, and found that apparently Charles II once considered making a distant cousin Frances Stewart his Queen when it was thought his wife Catherine was not going to live.

Say Catherine does die in 1663, how likely is it that Charles goes ahead and makes Frances his bride? It is said that he was in love with her, but also that she had refused to become his mistress.

If he does marry her, how does the kingdom react?
 
Probably with cautious optimism since a new wife could mean a legitimate heir, and means that Charlie's very Catholic brother James will never be King.

Not to mention that a new Queen could see Charles put less attention (not to mention the realm's money) into his various mistresses.
 
Alright interesting, I suppose Frances would kind of have to accept should the King ask for her hand.

Would Parliament approve of him marrying a noble instead of a foreigner do you think?
 
Also, seeing as he supposedly loved her, could we see Charles stop philandering enough to keep things on an even keel with his wife?
 
Alright interesting, I suppose Frances would kind of have to accept should the King ask for her hand.

Would Parliament approve of him marrying a noble instead of a foreigner do you think?

At that point there would be an overwhelming sense of relief at the idea that Charles II is getting a new wife, and a new shot at a legitimate heir that any objections would be ignored by the majority of people.

Also, seeing as he supposedly loved her, could we see Charles stop philandering enough to keep things on an even keel with his wife?

This is Charles II of England we are talking about, the answer to that is 'no'. The man was a sex addict in an era that wouldn't have viewed that as a problem for a King to have, Charlie was just unusual for creating a harem in all but name.


Also in the thread title you should make it more apparent that this is Charles II of England that we're discussing, not Charles II of Spain. :D
 
I think the hope for an heir would outweigh any objections as well. It's not as though foreign brides were universally popular, especially by the 1660s.
 
Portugal will be fine. Promise to marry his potential eldest son to a Portuguese Infanta and they get another chance at producing an Anglo-Portuguese heir to England. All he has to do is wait a few months in between the death of Catherine and the marriage to Frances. One interesting thing that could come from their relationship is later disdain. Charles held on to affection for her after she was disfigured in 1669 due to smallpox, but that may have been more pity for a formally beautiful but dim girl. After all:

The Count de Gramont said of her that "it would be difficult to image less brain combined with more beauty". - Wikipedia

So maybe, married to her rather than simply having pined over her, the King of England might come to be less infatuated with her, although that depends on who writes their story. She had no children I could find OTL, but that may just have been issues with the Duke of Richmond and Lennox. So let's say she's healthy and can produce children. With a marriage date around 1663/1664, she'd be about 17 when they'd start sexual relations. Let's say it takes a year or two to get that all running, so their first child is born around 1666/1667. Let's have a boy, just to make it fun.

I'd say she'd be able to have between 3 to 7 children overall. Her sister had six, her parents had two that I can find. So let's say 4 surviving children, 2 boys and 2 girls. Naming wise will be standard Stuart naming conventions: Charles, Robert, Henry, James, Sophia, Catherine, Anne, Elizabeth ect. Charles was somewhat conservative, so let's have Charles Stuart, the Prince of Wales, his brother the Duke of Clarence, Robert Stuart, and the Princesses Sophia and Elizabeth Stuart. These children can come between 1667 and 1677, allowing 2/3 years between each birth, which should make sure the Queen is allowed to be pretty healthy.
 
Alright interesting, so we've got a secure succession, avoiding things like the Popish Plot, the Exclusion Bill, the Glorious Revolution etc?

And also potentially changing who James Duke of York marries if indeed he does marry a second time.
 
I wonder would parliament be opposed to another Anglo Portuguese
Marriage then?

And how might this influence the dynamic between monarch and parliament ?
 
Portugal will be fine. Promise to marry his potential eldest son to a Portuguese Infanta and they get another chance at producing an Anglo-Portuguese heir to England. All he has to do is wait a few months in between the death of Catherine and the marriage to Frances. One interesting thing that could come from their relationship is later disdain. Charles held on to affection for her after she was disfigured in 1669 due to smallpox, but that may have been more pity for a formally beautiful but dim girl. After all:



So maybe, married to her rather than simply having pined over her, the King of England might come to be less infatuated with her, although that depends on who writes their story. She had no children I could find OTL, but that may just have been issues with the Duke of Richmond and Lennox. So let's say she's healthy and can produce children. With a marriage date around 1663/1664, she'd be about 17 when they'd start sexual relations. Let's say it takes a year or two to get that all running, so their first child is born around 1666/1667. Let's have a boy, just to make it fun.

I'd say she'd be able to have between 3 to 7 children overall. Her sister had six, her parents had two that I can find. So let's say 4 surviving children, 2 boys and 2 girls. Naming wise will be standard Stuart naming conventions: Charles, Robert, Henry, James, Sophia, Catherine, Anne, Elizabeth ect. Charles was somewhat conservative, so let's have Charles Stuart, the Prince of Wales, his brother the Duke of Clarence, Robert Stuart, and the Princesses Sophia and Elizabeth Stuart. These children can come between 1667 and 1677, allowing 2/3 years between each birth, which should make sure the Queen is allowed to be pretty healthy.


The fertility issues lay with the duke - he was (rumored to be) impotent IIRC. Whether Frances had any of her own I have no idea. And as for being unintelligent - it's not as though they were looking for a political mastermind in a queen-consort. Hell, I mean Maria Teresa of Spain was seemingly not overly exertive in the intellectual sphere, and of her rivals, only La Montespan actually had brains - La Valliere was beautiful as an angel, and dumb as a basket; La Fontanges was considered little more than a pretty little bedwarmer for the king (although surprisingly La Montespan did consider her a threatl and Bignette, La Maintenon was hardly an intellectual giant in her own right).
 
If Charles has heirs, I don't see James needing to be married again. And I'm pretty sure Charles would see it the same way. I don't think Parliament would oppose another Portuguese match, and it could change the life of Isabel Luisa, who seems to be the only Portuguese Infanta at the time. Assuming it can all be arranged before her OTL death in 1690.
 
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If Charles has heirs, I don't see James needing to be married again. And I'm pretty sure Charles would see it the same way. I don't think Parliament would oppose another Portuguese match, and it could change the life of Isabel Luisa, who seems to be the only Portuguese Infanta at the time.
Interesting change her life how?

Hmm could we see some of James' sons by Anne Hyde survive?
 
None of her (Isabel) proposed marriages happened. So if she gets to England before contracting smallpox, she'd be married and live at least a bit longer.
 
Alright interesting so we could see Charles prince of Wales married to Isabel around 1689 do you think?
 
Seems sound: would make a birth possible in summer of 1690 - make it a healthy boy, just to get that out of the way.
 
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