The Actress and the King

The Actress and the King

or

Nell Gwyn and her lovers Charles I, Charles II and Charles III

This Covent Garden tour traces the life of the first great English actress Nell Gwyn, Queen of the bawdy Restoration Theatre, from her 1650 birth in a brothel to her 1685 death in her own grand mansion paid for by the king. She was buried in the Royal parish church St Martin-in-the-Fields. She was an actress. Before her time, boys played the women’s parts: Nell Gwyn brought a new era of equality to show business. Her theatrical home was the Theatre Royal Drury Lane where she played 19 roles in 8 years between 1664 and 1672 including 5 by the first poet laureate John Dryden. Her tutor and first lover was Charles Hart, great-nephew of William Shakespeare, her second was the riotous poet Charles Buckhurst Earl of Dorset who was responsible for one of the most scandalous drunken escapades in London’s history and her third was The Merry Monarch himself, Charles King of England whose father Cromwell had beheaded. Nell Gwyn liked to refer to her three Charlies as Charles the First, Second and Third. Her descendants are the Dukes of St Albans, one of the wealthiest families in the country. The present Duke has written a biography of his illustrious low-born ancestor. As an artiste, she paved the way for the great actresses of later generations like Sarah Siddons, Anne Bracegirdle, Ethel Barrymore and the  stars of the Music Hall, Marie Lloyd and Vesta Tilley. The tour includes poetry by Dryden, a recitation of Nell Gwyn’s last speech on the stage and one use of the C word. It ends with a visit to the Nell Gwyn pub where the guide Rick Jones will play the piano in songs of the Music Hall tradition.

N for Nell. A Peabody housing estate now covers the slum where Nell Gwyn was born.

 

For a decade Nell Gwyn lit up the stage of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, one of the most famous theatres in the world. She was the biggest draw in Restoration London.

Nell Gwyn liked a drop of ale as well as tarts and cheesecake. She was a woman of great appetites for all the pleasures.

The first Poet Laureate John Dryden wrote many of the roles that Nell Gwyn made famous.

Dryden was beaten up outside the Lamb and Flag on the orders of the Earl of Rochester.

….and gave her a mansion next to the palace.

A new walking tour from distinguished London arts critic and ace Blue Badge guide Rick Jones!

The walk begins at 6 pm outside the defunct underground station Aldwych / Strand on the corner of Surrey Street and The Strand.

This Covent Garden tour traces the life of the first great English actress Nell Gwyn, Queen of the bawdy Restoration Theatre, from her 1650 birth in a brothel to her 1685 death in her own grand mansion paid for by the king. She was buried in the Royal parish church St Martin-in-the-Fields. She was an actress. Before her time, boys played the women’s parts: Nell Gwyn brought a new era of equality to show business. Her theatrical home was the Theatre Royal Drury Lane where she played 19 roles in 8 years between 1664 and 1672 including 5 by the first poet laureate John Dryden. Her tutor and first lover was Charles Hart, great-nephew of William Shakespeare, her second was the riotous poet Charles Buckhurst Earl of Dorset who was responsible for one of the most scandalous drunken escapades in London’s history and her third was The Merry Monarch himself, Charles King of England whose father Cromwell had beheaded. Nell Gwyn liked to refer to her three Charlies as Charles the First, Second and Third. Her descendants are the Dukes of St Albans, one of the wealthiest families in the country. The present Duke has written a biography of his illustrious low-born ancestor. As an artiste, she paved the way for the great actresses of later generations like Sarah Siddons, Anne Bracegirdle, Ethel Barrymore and the  stars of the Music Hall, Marie Lloyd and Vesta Tilley. The tour includes poetry by Dryden, a recitation of Nell Gwyn’s last speech on the stage and one use of the C word. It ends with a visit to the Nell Gwyn pub where the guide Rick Jones will play the piano in songs of the Music Hall tradition.

 

It will visit the site of the brothel where she was brought up, the market where she advertised and sold fruit and veg in a loud and vulgar voice, the theatre where she became the leading comic actress of her day, the mansion she acquired from the king, the church where she’s buried and the pub where she entertained the king and his brother.

On the way, Rick will provide a biography of Nell Gwyn, identifying her different boyfriends, exploring the relationship with her sister and mother, revealing some of her gags and paying tribute to one who amounted to the first great comedienne with a legacy stretching down to today’s stand-ups.

The tour ends at the Nell Gwyn pub where Rick will play a medley of music hall songs…..