cover image Ladies of the Bedchamber: The Role of the Royal Mistress

Ladies of the Bedchamber: The Role of the Royal Mistress

Dennis Friedman. Peter Owen Publishers, $39.95 (208pp) ISBN 978-0-7206-1160-1

The title of this volume promises a tawdry, gossipy tale, but Friedman instead delivers a psychoanalytic take on five centuries of British royal history, casting the reigns of royals from Henry VIII to Charles, Prince of Wales, in terms of childhood neglect and sex addiction. In workmanlike prose, he chronicles the monarchy's dangerous liaisons: Henry VIII's six marriages (""His long-suppressed emotional needs produced a hunger for sex and power so insatiable that he had difficulty in concentrating on any political issues...""); William IV's violence towards prostitutes (he""probably suffered from what would now be called bipolar mood disorder""); Edward VIII's alliance with Wallis Simpson (he""probably spent most of his adult life looking for the emotional security he lacked as a child""). Readers with a penchant for pop-psychology will appreciate this book, but anyone with a deeper interest in British history--or a desire for a little salacious fun--should probably look elsewhere.