The Churchills' loyalty to the royal household was ardent; their only feeling about Arabella's seduction by King James II "seems to have been a joyful surprise that so plain a girl had attained such high preferment".

[1] James, then Duke of York, began his adulterous affair with Arabella Churchill, around 1665, while he was still married to Anne Hyde.

One awestruck witness marvelled that "limbs of such exquisite beauty could belong to Miss Churchill's face".

[2] Charles II, who was baffled by his brother's predilection for plain women, joked that his confessor must impose them as a penance.

She often displayed the quick wit and lively intelligence which bound James to her through ten years and four children.