Margaret_Brooke,_Lady_Denham,_1663-5,_by_Lely

Margaret, Lady Denham (c. 1642 – January 1667), formerly the Honourable Margaret Brooke, was an English courtier during the reign of King

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

and was one of the "

Windsor Beauties The Windsor Beauties are a set of portrait paintings, still in the Royal Collection, by Sir Peter Lely and his workshop, produced in the early to mid-1660s, that depict ladies of the court of King Charles II, some of whom were his mistresse ...

" painted by Sir

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

. She was a mistress of the future King

James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...

. Margaret ("Elizabeth" in some sources) was the third daughter of Sir William Brooke, MP (1601–1643), and his second wife Penelope Hill. Her sister was another of the Windsor Beauties, the

Hon. Frances Brooke Hon. Frances Brooke (1640 – c. 1690) was a British courtier. She was styled Hon. Frances Brooke, and then Lady Whitmore. She was granted the style of a daughter of a baron in 1665. Frances and her sister Margaret, Lady Denham, were two of ...

. In 1665, she married the MP and poet

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Denham ...

, who was about thirty years older than her. While at court she began an affair with James, Duke of York, embarrassing her husband by consorting publicly with James, whose wife (the former

Anne Hyde Anne Hyde (12 March 163731 March 1671) was Duchess of York and Albany as the first wife of James, Duke of York, who later became King James II and VII. Anne was the daughter of a member of the English gentry – Edward Hyde (later created ...

) had commissioned Lely to paint the Windsor Beauties. When Lady Denham became seriously ill, suspicion fell on her husband.

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

was one of those who repeated the rumour that Denham had poisoned his wife. Other suspects included both the Duke and Duchess of York, and James's sister-in-law,

Henrietta Hyde Henrietta Hyde, Countess of Rochester (''née'' Boyle; 1646 – 12 April 1687) was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman. She was one of the Windsor Beauties painted by Sir Peter Lely. She was born in Wiltshire, England to Sir Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl ...

. Following Lady Denham's death, James declared that he would never publicly acknowledge another mistress.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denham, Margaret 1640s births 1667 deaths Mistresses of James II of England