The current Prince of Wales, our future King, has married his mistress
and she will become, barring an accident, our next Queen Consort. This
is a unique situation and one that is unlikely to be repeated. Of
course, only seventy years ago, his great uncle was in a not dissimilar
predicament which cost him his throne. Royal Sex shows how a certain
number of key aristocratic families appear to have cornered the market
in providing our monarchs with mistresses over successive centuries. The
present Duchess of Cornwall is a prime example, her greatgrandmother,
Alice Keppel was a mistress of Edward VII. The reason? To capture and
exploit royal power and patronage by placing a mistress or favourite at
the centre of power.