Prince Rupert of the Rhine has to be my all time favourite and most inspiring historical figure. In his early twenties he was the commander of his uncle's Charles I's army. I first read about him when I was 16 in Margaret Irwin's novel The Stranger Prince and I was hooked. He was the epitome of how I envisaged all that an historical hero should be - handsome, dashing, courageous and enimatic.
Rupert was a younger son of the Frederick V, Elector Palantine and his mother was Elizabeth the daughter of James 1 of England. His sister the Electress Sophia was the mother of George 1.
Prince Rupert had a varied career. He became a soldier at a young age, fighting against Spain in the Nederlands and against the Holy Roman Emperor in Germany. Before he came to England to fight for his uncle he had spent 2 years as a prisoner of war in Linz. When Charles I was defeated Rupert left England and during the years of the Commonwealth he served Louise XIV of France and later was a Royalist privateer in the Caribbean. After the Restoration Rupert returned to England serving as a naval commander.
Prince Rupert appears as a central character in Books 3 and 4 of The Angel Players series. TRAITORS AND PLAYERS includes many of his battles during the English Civil War and his involvement with the Angel family at this time. We meet Prince Rupert again in PRINCES AND PLAYERS after the restoration of his cousin Charles II and how the Angel players are involved with the intrigue at court and the restoration theatre in London.
Many of Rupert's dashing qualities have coloured the personalities of my fictional characters and he very much influenced the bold adventurer which was so much a part of both Adam and Japhet Loveday, and Jack Stoneham in Rogues and Players.
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