Nell Gwyn
（重定向自Eleanor Gwynne）
![](/Images/godic/202501/10/Nell_gwyn_peter_lely_c_16752736.jpg")
2736.jpg")
![Nell Gwyn as Cupid c. 1672; engraving by Richard Thomson, of a painting by Peter Cross. Pepys owned a copy of this engraving and displayed it over his desk at the Admiralty.[40]](/Images/godic/202501/10/Nell_Gwyn_as_Cupid2736.jpg")
![Louise de Kérouaille. Painting by Pierre Mignard, c. 1681.](/Images/godic/202501/10/Mignard,_Louise_de_Kérouaille2736.jpg")
Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn (2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687; also spelled Gwynn, Gwynne) was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England and Scotland. Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Samuel Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of Cinderella. She was the most famous Restoration actress and possessed a prodigious comic talent. Gwyn had two sons by King Charles: Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726); and James Beauclerk (1671–1680). The surname of her sons is pronounced 'Bo-Clare'. Charles was created Earl of Burford and later Duke of St. Albans.