November 16, 2003: Charles II: The Power and the Passion premieres on BBC One. It is a 4-hour miniseries about the the King of England known as "The Merrie Monarch."
Rufus Sewell played Charles II. Shirley Henderson played his wife and Queen, Catherine of Braganza, duaghter of King John IV of Portugal. Apparently, she couldn't have children, because Charles fathered, depending on whose history you believe, anywhere up to 20 children, all of them illegitimate, including James, Duke of Monmouth, played by Christian Coulson. His best-remembered mistress was the actress Nell Gwynn, played here by Emma Pierson.
Martin Turner played the King's father, King Charles I; Diana Rigg his mother, Queen Henrietta Maria; Charlie Creed-Miles his brother, James, Duke of York, and his successor as King James II of England and VII of Scotland; Sean Biggerstaff a younger brother, Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Anne-Marie Duff his sister, Princess Henrietta Anne.
Rupert Graves played George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, whose family had long been connected with the English monarchy. Helen McCrory played Barbara Villiers, then Countess of Castlemaine. She was a 1st cousin once removed of the Duke of Buckingham, and another of King Charles' mistresses, who claimed that 6 of her children were his, including the eventual Dukes of Southampton, Grafton and Northumberland; and the eventual Countesses of Sussex and Litchfield.
Ian McDiarmid, famed as Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars films, played Sir Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, an advisor to both Charles I and Charles II, and eventually the father-in-law of brother James. Martin Freeman played another advisor of Charles II, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury. Shaun Dingwall played Sir Thomas Osborne, 2nd Earl of Danby, eventually 1st Duke of Leeds, effectively England's Prime Minister. Thierry Perkins-Lyaufey played King Louis XIV of France.
Charles was born on May 29, 1630 at St. James's Palace in London, the son of the reigning King, Charles I. When Charles I lost the English Civil War and was executed in 1649, a scene depicted at the film's start in a nightmare of Charles II, the son and the rest of the family fled to France.
Oliver Cromwell then ruled England as a dictator, with the title of "Lod Protector," until his death on September 3, 1658. His son, Richard Cromwell, did not want to rule, and the Stuart Restoration began: Charles II was proclaimed King on May 14, 1660, returned to England on May 25, reached London on May 29 (his 30th birthday), and crowned on April 23, 1661.
The Restoration was the time of "Merrie Olde England," as Charles lost himself in frivolous pursuits, enjoying parties, the theater, and lots and lots of women. The film focuses on those pursuits, and on his conflicts with various political figures, including the fight over his succession: Since he did not have any legitimate children, he wanted it to be his brother, James. But they didn't want James, because, unlike the rest of the Stuarts, he had become a Catholic, and they were afraid of a return to Catholic tyranny and religiously-inspired civil wars.
Charles reigned over 2 major disasters: The Great Plague of London, which was first noted on April 12, 1665, and killed about 100,000 people, one-quarter of London's population, over the next year and a half; and, even before that ended, on September 2, 1666, the Great Fire of London, which led to a major rebuilding of the city.
He also reigned over 2 Anglo-Dutch Wars. The 1st was a defeat for England, but worked out very well for the country in the long term: On September 8, 1664, England took the Colony of New Netherland, including the City of New Amsterdam, from the Netherlands.
The Colony and the City were both renamed New York, for the King's brother, the Duke of York. Brooklyn was named for the Dutch city of Breueklen, but was renamed Kings County for Charles. Queens County was named for Queen Catherine. And Staten Island was renamed Richmond County, for Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, Charles' son with his French mistress Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. The gain of New Netherland included what became New Jersey.
Charles II died on February 6, 1685, at the age of 54, at Whitehall Palace in London, probably from a kidney issue. He was, indeed, succeeded by James. After 3 years, including a failed rebellion by the Duke of Monmouth, who was executed by his uncle James, Parliament had had enough of James' Catholic rule, and invited William of Orange, Prince of Nassau in the Netherlands, and husband of Charles' and James' sister, Mary Stuart, to come and become a Protestant King. This resulted in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
James fled to France, and died in exile in Rome in 1701. His descendants, all Catholic, were cut out of the line of succession. His eldest surviving son, James Francis Edward Stuart, became known as "The Old Pretender," and launched a failed invasion in 1715, and would never be recognized as King James III and VIII, except by House of Stuart loyalists. His son, Charles Edward Stuart, became known as "The Young Pretender," and launched a failed invasion in 1745, known in the family's stronghold of Scotland as "The '45."
That remains the the last attempt to militarily remove a King of England or Great Britain. There is a King Charles III on the throne of England today, but he's in the House of Windsor. The current Stuart claimant to the throne? There are 2: Patrick Stuart, 8th Earl Castle Stewart, born 1923, the senior living member of the royal Stewart family, descended in a legitimate male line from King Robert II of Scotland; and Franz, Duke of Bavaria, born in 1933, also the head of the House of Witteslbach and thus the claimant, to the extinct throne of Bavaria, is the Jacobite claimant. (UPDATE: The 8th Earl Castle Stewart died in 2023, and was succeeded as claimant by his son, Andrew, 9th Earl Castle Stewart, born 1953.)
Catherine of Braganza returned to her native Portugal, and died in 1705.
Charles II has also been portrayed by, among others, Cedric Hardwicke in the 1934 film Nell Gwyn, Vincent Price in the 1941 film Hudson's Bay, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in the 1947 film The Exile, George Saunders in the 1947 film Forever Amber and again in the 1955 film The King's Thief, future Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee in the 1949 film Helter Skelter, Lester Matthews in the 1951 film Lorna Doone, Mark Burns in the 1983 version of the film The Wicked Lady, Michael York in the 1989 film The Lady and the Highwayman, Sam Neill in the 1995 film Restoration, Rupert Everett in the 2004 film Stage Beauty, John Malkovich in the 2004 film The Libertine, Jeremy Northam in the 2014 Channel 4 series New Worlds, and Jack Huston in the 2014 ITV miniseries The Great Fire.
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November 16, 2003 was a Sunday. These games were played in the NFL:
* The New York Giants lost to their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
* The New York Jets lost to the Indianapolis Colts, 38-31 at the RCA Dome (formerly the Hoosier Dome) in Indianapolis. Hunter Smith ran for a 21-yard touchdown with 3:21 left in regulation.
* The New England Patriots beat the Dallas Cowboys, 12-0 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
* The Carolina Panthers beat the Washington Redskins, 20-17 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte.
* The Green Bay Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 20-13 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Baltimore Ravens, 9-6 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Olindo Mare kicked a 43-yard field goal with 8:48 left in overtime.
* The Tennessee Titans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 10-3 at The Coliseum (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.
* The New Orleans Saints beat their arch-rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, 23-20 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* The Houston Texans beat the Buffalo Bills, 12-10 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
* The Cleveland Browns beat the Arizona Cardinals, 44-6 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field) in Cleveland.
* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 24-19 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.
* The St. Louis Rams beat the Chicago Bears, 23-21 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago. Because neither the Rams nor the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals lasted long, Chicago vs. St. Louis never became a football rivalry on the level of its MLB and NHL equivalents.
* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 37-8 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.
* The Oakland Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings, 28-18 at the Network Associates Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known).
* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Detroit Lions, 35-14 at Seahawks Stadium (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-14 at 3Com Park at Candlestick Point (as Candlestick Park was then known) in San Francisco.
Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games in the NBA:
* The Toronto Raptors beat the Houston Rockets, 101-97 in double overtime at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat, 99-77 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Golden State Warriors, 106-104 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.
There were 4 games in the NHL:
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks played to a tie, 2-2 at the United Center in Chicago.
* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Florida Panthers, 5-2 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.
* The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Phoenix Coyotes played to a tie, 2-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
* And the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-3 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
And in international soccer, England lost to Denmark, 3-2 at Old Trafford in Manchester.
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