Charles with his dogs, his ducks, his wit, his engaging manners, his doubtful morals, is the central figure of many a picture in St. James's Park, but it does not often form a background to his Queen. One scene described by Pepys has much charm. The party, returning from Hyde Park on horseback with a great crowd of gallants, pass down the Mall; the Queen, riding hand in hand with the King, looking "mighty pretty" in her white laced coat and crimson petticoat. Again, on another occasion, the Queen forms an attractive vision, as she walks with her ladies from Whitehall to St. James's dressed from head to foot in silver lace, each holding an immense green fan to shade themselves from the fierce rays of the June sun, while a delighted crowd throng round them.
[Charles's wife was Queen Catherine, originally from Braganza, in Portugal]
