THE SIX LOVES OF JAMES I

His majesty’s secrets.

If King James I (1566-1625) were alive today, he would probably be popular on social media and featured on TMZ. James was a genius linguist, poet, uniter of kingdoms, hunter, scourge of witches, translator of the Bible—even without the love affairs, he would have been a celebrity in any age. But the affairs are the focus of this book by Russell, author of, among other works, The Emperors: How Europe’s Rulers Were Destroyed by the First World War (2014). Five of James’ six loves were men with whom he had homosexual relationships, beginning with adolescent crushes while James was James VI of Scotland. His longest love was Anna, the “dancing queen” he loved for the 30 years of their marriage. It was a complicated union, to be sure, but political and financial goals and the joint interests of the futures of their seven children made it a strong one. James grieved for months after Anna died. Loves No. 5 and 6 were homosexual affairs during the marriage. Robert Carr’s relationship with James began as a social one, with Carr eventually working his way into the political realm to steer the king into unpopular decisions favored by a faction in the court. Anna, distracted by the death of her newborn daughter and by the gynecological problems that would bring an end to her own sex life, eventually realized the need to halt Carr’s influence over James. In a surprising collaboration with the archbishop of Canterbury, she brought “one of the handsomest men in the whole world” to court and persuaded James to appoint him to the royal bedchamber crew, then to promote and eventually knight him. George Villiers, later the duke of Buckingham, quickly found his way to the king’s attention and from there to his bed. Until James died in 1625, he loved George.

A nuanced and compassionate portrait of a complex personality.