WIn the English court, a royal mistress is a woman who is the lover of a member of the royal family, specifically the king. She may be taken either before or after his accession to the throne. Although it generally is only used of females, by extrapolation, the relation can cover any lover of the monarch whether male or female. To date no English reigning Queen is known to have had a lover.
WHelen Azalea "Poppy" Baring was one of the Bright Young Things of the 1920s. She had been the prospective bride of two princes, both times judged not suitable to the match.
WLady Almeria Carpenter was a British courtier and mistress of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.
WMary Anne Clarke was the mistress of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Their relationship began in 1803, while he was Commander-in-Chief of the army. Later in 1809, she wrote her memoirs which were published. She was the subject of a portrait by Adam Buck, and a caricature by Isaac Cruikshank; ten days after the latter's publication, the Duke resigned from his post as Commander of the British Army. In 1811, she commissioned Irish sculptor Lawrence Gahagan to sculpt a marble bust of her; this is now housed in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
WCamilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is a member of the British royal family. She received her title upon her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, on 9 April 2005. It is a second marriage for both of them. Despite being entitled to be known as Princess of Wales, she uses the title Duchess of Cornwall, her husband's secondary designation. In Scotland, she is known as the Duchess of Rothesay.
WSarah Fairbrother was an English actress and the mistress of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, a male-line grandson of George III. As the couple married in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, their marriage was not recognised under the law.
WJane, Lady Archibald Hamilton was a British noblewoman. She was the fifth child and third daughter of James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn and Elizabeth Reading, daughter of Sir Robert Reading, 1st Baronet. She was mistress to Frederick, Prince of Wales and First Lady of the Bedchamber, Mistress of the Robes and Privy Purse to his wife, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
WDorothea Jordan, also known interchangeably as Mrs Jordan and previously Miss Francis or Miss Bland, was an Anglo-Irish actress, courtesan and the mistress and companion of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom for 20 years (1791–1811) while he was Duke of Clarence. Together they had ten illegitimate children, all of whom took the surname FitzClarence.
WMadame Alphonsine-Thérèse-Bernardine-Julie de Montgenêt de Saint-Laurent was the wife of Baron de Fortisson, a colonel in the French service, and the mistress of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn.