Favourite

In history and politics, a favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other powerful figure, a term used especially in post-classical and early modern Europe for individuals granted significant political power by that ruler. It was especially common in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when government had grown too complex for many hereditary rulers with little talent or interest in it and political institutions were still developing, producing a run of near all-powerful minister-favourites in states such as Spain, England, France and Sweden between 1600 and 1660. By the later seventeenth century the royal favourite acting as a quasi prime minister declined, as the King in France chose to rule directly while in Britain executive power passed gradually to a Prime Minister and other parliamentary ministers as the monarch power relative to Parliament diminished. Writers have also used the term to avoid more loaded words such as royal mistress or lover, since some favourites had a sexual relationship with the monarch or their spouse while many others were valued chiefly as skilled administrators or close friends. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/