In an interview with Charles II, I would ask the following:
- Were you frightened that the same fate that befell your father would eventually happen to you?
- Once and for all, were you, or were you not, married to Lucy Walter?
- If not, why do you believe there was such intense speculation surrounding your relationship with her? Where did this idea of the Black Box come from?
- Your romantic affairs are quite legendary. Which, if any of your mistresses, was the love of your life?
- What did you hope would be your legacy as King?
I remember my dad who taught European & British history telling me that Charles II never got past having had to hide in the oak tree while Cromwell’s men searched underneath him saying that he would keep talking about it over and over to different courtiers while biting his fingernails (which I also did which is probably why I was told it. That and when king his great desire was to not go on his travels again as he put it. . . . .main ambition was to die in his own bed in the palace and he managed that.
Thank you for sharing this story with us, Sarah. Hiding in the oak tree, and really the whole ordeal surrounding his father must have been devastating. What a chap! 🙂
I don’t think I would have gotten over it either although apparently it drove the courtiers nuts being forced to listen to him talk about it over and over but as he was the king there was nothing they could do. . . .