Charles was an important figure in the late Stuart court; Vita Sackville-West calls him 'one of the most jovial and debonair figures in the Knole portrait-gallery.' He was a poet and patron who became Charles II's lord chamberlain and 'unofficial minister of the arts', with the 'poets' parlour' in Knole becoming a venue for literary society to converse. After 1688, John Dryden ceased to be poet laureate, owing to his catholic views which meant he refused the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. Charles stood by him with generous gifts of money, despite Dryden's bitterness about his treatment at court. On one occasion, dining at Knole, Dryden found a hundred-pound note under his plate. Not only Dryden but several other poets of the age appear to have been guests at Knole. The so-called 'Poet's Parlour' is today part of the private Sackville-West family apartments at Knole.