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She [Sarah] could not accept the fact that the devotion she had inspired in Anne for so many years had been transferred to her dull and rather ugly cousin, and that none was left for her. When she discussed it with Maynwaring he only laughed and said that what she had lost was the Queen’s passion and, as she had not cared for that, he would not offer his condolences.

It is not surprising that the Princess came under the spell of the radiant, twenty-two-year-old Lady Churchill who ‘was very young and very beautiful [but] had a capacity and Spirit great enough not to stand in need of those advantages as well as not to depend on them.’ This description of a young woman whose personality was as striking as her looks was written many years later by Sarah herself.

No doubts the Chirchills continued to regret that their son had not married Catherine Sedley, not only because she was rich but because she was even-tempered — something that could not be said for Sarah.

Mrs Betterton, the best actress of the day, was employed to teach elocution to the Princesses and Sarah, and to produce the plays shown at Court. In the winter of 1674—5, The Chaste Nymph was performed, with females taking all the principal parts.

Sarah found the Court routine boring, mainly because the endless chatter of the other Maids was so nonsensical. ‘At fourteen,’ she admitted, ‘I wished myself out of the Court as much as I had desired to come into it before I knew what it was.’