Is it me ... or was anyone else mildly perturbed with the inaccurate casting of Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland ?? If I'm not mistaken Barbara was (at most - in her late twenties - when she became Charles II's mistress in 1660.
Helen McCrory was in her mid thirties and while she gives a powerful performance - lacks, in my eyes, the passion Barbara Palmer was known to possess.
http://www.costumes.org/history/17thcent/lely/BARBARAVILLIERS.jpg
In terms of age, I think McCrory was too old to play her. But she gave a wonderful enthralling performance. The real Barbara Villiers received harsh criticism, particularly after her death; she was accused of being greedy and extravagant by some. This came through in McCrory's performance yet simultaneously we could sympathise with her in the end when she is sent from court. It would have been nice though if they showed Barbara Villiers again the last episode. I believe she was on friendly terms with Charles again near the end of his life (apparently he last saw her about two evenings before he died).
‘Noli me tangere; for Caesar's I am’
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Well, remember though that standards were much different in the 1600s than they are now. Helen McCrory did seem a little older, but she exuded that overpowering and domineering quality which was Babs's trademark, and I think that's what the filmmakers were going for. We had to believe that this woman could hold such sway over a man such as Charles II.
"To have an idea is noble; to execute it is servile." -Leonardo da Vinci
And i just love the gold toe ring!
shareThe grosset thing ever was the bishop necrophilia bit. Anyone know if there's any basis of truth in this? It seemed so disgusting and unnecessasry...
shareAdmittedly I don’t know much about Barbara Villiers’s life however she certainly had her critics and was frequently the subject of hostile rumours. If such a story existed I would not be surprised that it was invented by political enemies to highlight her alleged immorality and decadence.
IIRC she became more unpopular following her conversion to Catholicism in the 1663 and faced even more hostility from certain quarters. So perhaps she was unpopular enough that persons would make up such explicit and distasteful stories.
And I agree; the scene was disgusting!
‘Noli me tangere; for Caesar's I am’
I just saw the series, and I thought she was not nearly attractive enough. Wasn't the real Barbara Villiers supposed to be a great beauty? She looks very pretty in her portraits. This actress was unattractive in my opinion, and it wasn't believable that she was so sought after. I wonder if she really had that many lovers?
That corpse scene was just awful!!!!
I liked the actress who played Nell though.
Her portraits do show her to be beautiful, although I think McCrory is quite pretty (but I think she was slightly too mature for the role). Great actress though.
As for lovers – she had many, before, throughout and after her relationship with Charles. She was, for example, the mistress of the 3nd Earl of Chesterfield before she married and she was linked to several courtiers during her time as the king’s mistress. In the show they depicted her having an affair with one man who admitted to doing so for money. I think this is a reference to her relationship with the John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. He may have also fathered her youngest daughter.
‘Noli me tangere; for Caesar's I am’
Wow..Did she really have an affair with Charles's son? I was also confused as to how many of her five children he fathered. Was it the first four? In the show, he said that he youngest couldn't have been his.
shareAdmittedly it is been a while since I read Fraser’s biography on Charles II, but I don’t think Barbara Villiers was ever said to have had an affair with the duke of Monmouth (Charles’s eldest son). Monmouth did have affairs with other women at court (and like his father was connected with actresses), but I don’t know about his relationship with Barbara.
She did have a son who Charles at first refused to acknowledge owing to her other affairs. However after some time Charles financially provided for the child indicating that he came to see the boy as his. Then there was one time when she was pregnant and Charles refused to endorse that the child was his, however I don’t know whether she had a girl or boy or whether the child died. This came around the end of her period of influence at court.
‘Noli me tangere; for Caesar's I am’
I kind of thought that the affair with the son wasn't real. I guess today Charles could have just ordered DNA tests on all of her children!
shareLol!
DNA testing would have been handy back then! Particularly for Henry VIII...
‘Noli me tangere; for Caesar's I am’
lol
It also would have come in handy for Elizabeth I, in order to prove those people wrong who implied that she wasn't Henry's child. Although I never understood how they could possibly think otherwise since she looked the most like him out of all his children.
They could just go on Maury and have the testing done. "Charles you ARE the father of Barbara's son..."
"Whom are you going to dance with?"
She had an affair with almost everyone in possesion of a penis..
shareBeauty was perceived differently back then so who knows if she was actually pretty or not.
shareI agree, I asked myself, why is restored King Charles II shacking up with a skanky woman like Barbara Palmer? But I understand that in real history she was much prettier.
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She was too old and plain to play this part. Another miscasting: Charles' son was 14 but the actor playing him looked at least 17 and had a lot of hair on his chest.
shareI'm sorry to say the same: she was old and plain for the part, but then, I just realized she was cast as ANNA KARENINA!!! back in 2002, so the mistery es even deeper: why would she portrait two absolutely beautiful, enchanting women, when she is obviously not?
If someone can explain, please, do it!
Thanks!
I think you need to blame the hair and make-up people for this. She's gorgeous in Harry Potter.
http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Helen-McCrory-as-Narciss a-narcissa-malfoy-635924_329_488.jpg
Barbara Palmer was born in 1640 and became involved with Charles right before his accession to the throne in 1660. She was therefore 20 when they became lovers. Helen McCrory was 35 when this movie was made, so yes, she was a bit old for the part, IMHO. Though I do like McCrory as an actress--just the wrong looks for Barbara.
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