The royal European courts were unsurpassed for their glamour, wealth, fame, danger, treachery, and politics. The royal mistress was at the center of that world -- admired for her beauty and sensuality; feared for the power she wielded; even vilified, envied, and resented. In times when women had very little power, the royal mistress had enormous influence, and yet she is seldom mentioned in official histories. <P> In <I>Cupid and the King,</i> Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent recounts the stories of five very different women, each of whom became a celebrated -- or notorious -- courtesan: <P> <b>Nell Gwyn,</b> the bawdy, vivacious orange seller turned actress who endeared herself to Charles II -- and the country -- with her wit and down-to-earth manner <P> <b>Madame de Pompadour,</b> the extravagant, elegant maitresse-en-titre of Louis XV who became one of the great patrons of her time while enraging the people of France <P> <b>Marie Walewska,</b> who became Napoleon's mistress to save her country <P> <b>Lola Montez,</b> the flamboyant, scandalous Irish beauty who reinvented herself as a Spanish aristocrat to win the heart of Ludwig I of Bavaria <P> <b>Lillie Langtry,</b> the legendary beauty immortalized by the most famous artists of her day and the only woman to completely monopolize Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VII <P> Written with an insider's keen understanding of court life and filled with delicious details born of impeccable research, <I>Cupid and the King</i> explores a little-known chapter of the history of women's roles in the royal bedrooms of Europe.