Rhia Charles, high class escort in London

How the Royal Mistress got her way

The history of political scandal in Britain is the history of sexual intrigue.  What a man wont do for patriotic or even financial reasons he will often do for his mistress and that simple fact explains a very odd historical cirumstance concerning one of London’s most famous streets.

Pall Mall, that street which runs from St James’s Palace to Trafalgar Square , is also one of the most historic in London.  Today, the area is almost entirely offices and clubs, but it was once one of London’s most fashionable addresses and through the bizarre workings of royal patronage and favour it contains a unique building – Number 79.  This is the only building not owned by the Crown.  And the reason?  The original house on the site is long gone, but it was once owned by Charles II’s favourite mistress, Nell Gwynn.

When Charles offered her a house near his own home – St James’s Palace, he discovered that No 79 was free and he simply gave her a long lease and thought no more of it. However, the gift of the lease did not make Ms Gwynn happy .  She refused to move into No 79 on the grounds as she apparently put it, that ‘she had always conveyed free under the crown and always would’.  In other words unless she had the freehold, the deal – and probably much more besides -  was off.

Charles knew when he was beaten and arranged to have the freehold given to Nell. When she died, her son the Duke of St Albans inherited the freehold and it was sold later to pay off his debts. its freehold has been bought and sold ever since and never returned to the Crown.