" Pepys testifies likewise
to her physical attractions so long as she reigned paramount in
the king's affections; but when another woman, no less fair, came
betwixt my lady and his majesty's favour, Mr. Pepys, being a
loyal man and a frail, found greater beauty in the new love,
whose charms he avowed surpassed the old. To his most
interesting diary posterity is indebted for glimpses of the
manner in which the merry monarch and his mistress behaved
themselves during the first months of the restoration. Now he
tells of "great doings of musique," which were going on at Madame
Palmer's house, situated in the Strand, next Earl Sandwich's, and
of the king and the duke being with that lady: again, in the
Chapel Royal, Whitehall, he observed, whilst Dr. Herbert Croft
prayed and preached,"how the Duke of York and Mrs. Palmer did
talk to one another very wantonly through the hangings that part
the king's closet and the closet where the ladies sit." And
later on, when he witnessed "The Humorous Lieutenant" performed
before the court, he noted the royal favourite was likewise
present, "with whom the king do discover a great deal of
familiarity."
Presently, in February, 1661, exactly nine months after his
majesty's return, Mrs. Palmer gave birth to a daughter. To the
vast amusement of the court, no less than three men claimed the
privilege of being considered father of this infant. One of
these was my Lord Chesterfield, whom the child grew to resemble
in face and person; the second was Roger Palmer, who left her his
estate; the third was King Charles, who had her baptized Anne
Palmer Fitzroy, adopted her as his daughter, and eventually
married her to the Earl of Sussex.
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