In late 1647, King Charles I was detained in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. For more than a year the deposed king attempted to recover his throne – first by organising a counter-revolution, then by negotiating with parliament.

Charles also found time to initiate a sexual affair with Jane Whorwood, the stepdaughter of a prominent Scottish royalist. Whorwood was a married 36-year-old with bright red hair; according to contemporary accounts her face was scarred by smallpox but she was otherwise “well fashioned”.

From April 1648, the king and his mistress exchanged dozens of coded messages. According to letters deciphered by the historian Sarah Poynting, Charles told Jane Whorwood:

“There is one way possible that you may get a swiving [shagging] from me… you must excuse my plain expressions… you may be conveyed into the stool-room [lavatory] which is within my bedchamber while I am at dinner; by which means I shall have five hours to embrace and nip you.”

Source: Cited in Sarah Poynting, ‘Deciphering the King: Charles I’s Letters to Jane Whorwood’, Seventeenth Century, vol.21, 2006. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.