Catherine of Braganza (pictured) was the Queen Consort of which British monarch?

Born into the Portuguese royal family, Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705) was the Queen Consort of the Stewart monarch Charles II (1630-1685) who restored the monarchy in the UK after the rule of Oliver Cromwell and the English Civil War.

Although she was officially a convert to the Church of England, it was a fairly open secret that she cleaved to her own Roman Catholic faith, and this led to her being very unpopular in some quarters. She was even accused at one point of having poisoned the King, but unlike his predecessor Henry VIII, Charles stood by his wife and intervened to save both her life and her reputation. Their relationship was a complex one. Although he was supportive over this, despite the risk to his own standing, he continued to both keep and flaunt various mistresses (most famously Nell Gwynne and Barbara Palmer) and fathered many children by them. Catherine herself bore him no living heir.

In later life, after Charles' death, she returned to her native land, and served as Regent for her brother.