The current Prince of Wales, our future King, has married his mistress and she will become, barring an accident, our next Queen Consort. This is a unique situation and one that is unlikely to be repeated. Of course, only seventy years ago, his great uncle was in a not dissimilar predicament which cost him his throne. Royal Sex shows how a certain number of key aristocratic families appear to have cornered the market in providing our monarchs with mistresses over successive centuries. The present Duchess of Cornwall is a prime example, her greatgrandmother, Alice Keppel was a mistress of Edward VII. The reason? To capture and exploit royal power and patronage by placing a mistress or favourite at the centre of power.