Assassination: The Royal Family's 1000-Year Curse (52 page)

One of Edward’s friends, the wealthy Henry Chaplin, was engaged to marry Lady Florence Paget, better known as ‘the Pocket Venus’, the daughter of the Marquess of Anglesey. It was to be the society event of the year. Florence asked Chaplin to take her to high-class department store Marshall & Snelgrove so that she could buy some items for her wedding outfit. Arriving at the store, she told Chaplin to wait for her in the coach. She went in through the front door and walked straight to the back door where Chaplin’s friend, the Marquess of Hastings, was waiting – they were married within hours. Hastings died in poverty at the age of 26, having lost the present-day equivalent of £3 million betting against Chaplin’s horse in the 1867 Derby. It won by a neck; the fastest horse in the first 120 races.

In 1870 it became more serious. Harriet Moncrieff had married Sir Charles Mordaunt. He came home one day to find Harriet entertaining Edward. Mordaunt told Edward to leave, and then forced his wife to watch as he shot her ponies. When her first child was born with defective eyesight, Harriet believed that it was the result of venereal disease contracted from one of her many lovers, and she confessed all to her husband, saying that she had “done wrong with Lord Cole, Sir Frederic Johnstone and the Prince of Wales often and in open day”.

Sir Charles Mordaunt petitioned for divorce. Sensationally, Edward was served with a subpoena requiring him to give evidence
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. In the witness box he denied adultery, and there was no cross-examination. The petition was dismissed on the basis that Lady Mordaunt was deranged when she made her admission. A later petition was successful, and Lady Mordaunt spent the rest of her life in an asylum.

Jenny Jerome, a New Yorker from a wealthy family. She married Lord Randolph Churchill, a fiery member of parliament who became Chancellor of the Exchequer and had every chance of becoming Prime Minister. However, he offered his resignation once too often, and it was accepted. His career went downhill and he died young – perhaps drugs, perhaps syphilis. As a result, Jenny threw her energies into promoting the career of their son, Winston, whom she and her husband had ignored until then. She had a large number of lovers, including Edward and Count Charles Kinsky, as well as two further husbands the age of her sons. When she was 67, wearing new high-heel shoes, she fell downstairs and broke her ankle. Gangrene set in, and her leg was amputated. It was too late, and she died.

Lillie Langtry, originally Emilie le Breton, who moved with her husband from Jersey to London where she became a well-known ‘socialite’ after her portrait was painted by Millais, Whistler and others. She became Edward’s mistress in 1877, and he had a house built for them in Bournemouth. Lillie fell out of favour when she misbehaved at a dinner, putting an ice cube down Edward’s shirt. She became the mistress of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and later had a child by Prince Louis of Battenberg, although by then she was the mistress of Arthur Jones. Lillie left it to her mother to bring up the child. When Lillie’s husband lost all his money, on the advice of Oscar Wilde she took to the stage, and had great success in America and in England. In America she lived with millionaire Frederic Gebhard and later with millionaire George Baird. In the end, she married Hugh de Bathe and died in Monte Carlo where she and her husband lived separately.

Sarah Bernhardt, said to have been the most celebrated actress the world has ever known. She was famed in Europe and America, on stage and on film. A ‘courtesan’, she was for a time the mistress of the Prince de Ligne by whom she had a child. Sarah then married a Greek actor, and was later the mistress of Edward. She injured her knee jumping off a parapet on stage. It was never properly remedied, and in time gangrene set in. Her leg was amputated, but her career, as an actress at least, continued.

Daisy Greville was a descendant of Charles II’s mistress, Nell Gwynne. Daisy married Lord Brooke, who became the Earl of Warwick. She had three children with him, and one with someone else. Mistress of Edward and of Lord Beresford, she was apparently the inspiration for the song: “Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do; I’m half crazy all for the love of you”.

Hortense Schneider was a French opera singer. She was the mistress of Edward and of many members of the nobility, and was therefore known as ‘Le Passage [thoroughfare] des Princes’.

Cora Pearl (really Eliza Crouch) was a very expensive prostitute. She was famed for her party tricks of dancing in the nude and bathing in champagne in front of all the guests. Another speciality was being brought to the dinner table as a dessert, covered only in cream. Mistress of many, including Edward, she was for a time wealthy. Her career went downhill after one of her lovers shot himself on her doorstep and she calmly closed the door and went upstairs for a sleep. She died in poverty.

Agnes Keyser was the daughter of a successful English businessman. It is possible that her relationship with Edward was platonic. Agnes and her sister Fanny converted their home into a hospital for wounded officers returning from the Boer War. She named the hospital after Edward: ‘The King Edward VII Hospital for Officers’
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, now the favoured hospital for the Royal Family.

Alice Keppel was the wife of George Keppel, son of the Earl of Albemarle. Edward’s last mistress, she had previously been the mistress of Lord Arlington. As soon as she was married, Alice gained a reputation for adultery, having a large number of affairs, most with her husband’s knowledge. Keppel always made sure that he was out of the house when Edward was ‘paying a visit’. When Alice’s daughter had a lesbian relationship with Vita Sackville-West, Alice objected. But when Violet had a lesbian relationship with Winaretta Singer, Alice approved – after all, Winaretta (whose mother was said to have been the model for the Statue of Liberty) was the Singer sewing machine heiress. Anyway, it ran in the family; Keppel’s ancestor was Arnold van Keppel, the rumoured homosexual lover of King William III. Alice’s great-granddaughter is Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles.

43 In 1960, they extended their range of care by opening a wing for ‘patients of the educated middle class of moderate means but not necessarily with service connections’. In 2000, they dropped ‘for Officers’ from their name, and opened their doors to all military ranks.

For all these women it was just standard conduct to have affairs with men of higher standing, so elevating their own social status, at the same time trying to move on to someone of even higher standing. The husbands nearly always knew what was going on, keeping out of the way and generally raising no objection, as they expected advancement as a result of their wives’ efforts. It was said that in London members-only clubs where wives of members could come as guests, a man might bring his mistress provided he could show that she was the wife of another member.

More scandal when Lord Randolph Churchill’s brother, Lord Blandford (the future Duke of Marlborough), decided to run off with Lady Aylesford, who had already given birth to his child. Lord Randolph talked his brother into changing his mind. However, Lord Aylesford learned of the relationship, and he petitioned for divorce. Trying to get him to change his mind, Lady Aylesford and Lord Randolph Churchill showed Princess Alexandra some compromising letters Edward had written to Lady Aylesford, saying that Edward would be required to give evidence in open court. As a result, Edward persuaded Lord Aylesford to abandon the petition, although he and his wife later separated. Edward and Lord Randolph did not speak to one another for eight years.

The next scandal was the Crawford divorce case in 1885, when another of Edward’s friends, Sir Charles Dilke (well on his way to becoming Prime Minister), was cited as corespondent in a divorce petition brought by a fellow MP. Twenty-two-year-old Virginia Campbell confessed that from the age of 19 she had been having an affair with Dilke, adding that he had forced her maid to join them. Having already had an affair with Virginia’s mother, Dilke’s career was ruined.

In 1889, the police discovered a male brothel in Cleveland Street in London, staffed by post office messenger boys. It was at a time when homosexual acts were punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. Edward’s equerry, Lord Somerset, was a customer, as were other members of the nobility. Prince Albert Victor, Edward’s first son, was rumoured to have been involved, though it was never proved. The whole matter was eventually hushed up. Apart from the post office employees, the only person to be prosecuted was Lord Somerset’s solicitor, Arthur Newton, who was imprisoned for six weeks for helping his client escape abroad (he was later struck off for forging a letter to help another client – the murderer Crippen).

Yet a scandal unconnected with sex caused greater damage to Edward’s reputation. Sir William Gordon-Cumming had shared many of Edward’s mistresses, including Lillie Langtry, Sarah Bernhardt, Lady Randolph Churchill and Daisy Brooke. Gambling would be his downfall. At a country house called Tranby Croft, Edward and others were playing baccarat, which was illegal at the time. Cumming was caught cheating. A deal was agreed under which Cumming undertook never to play cards again, and in return the five witnesses were to keep the matter secret. In 1891 the story came out; Daisy Brooke was suspected – not for nothing was she known as ‘the Babbling Brooke’. Cumming sued the five witnesses for slander. Although he was not a defendant, Edward had to give evidence in open court. Cumming’s case was dismissed, and he was expelled from the army and various clubs. Damagingly, Edward’s own testimony showed that he had been playing an illegal game and was in breach of Queen’s Regulations for failing to report a fellow officer’s dishonourable conduct.

Then Edward became unnecessarily involved in yet another scandal. Lord Beresford’s mistress, Lady Brooke again, wrote to Lord Beresford complaining of his return to his wife. Lady Beresford somehow got hold of the letter. At Lady Brooke’s request, Edward tried to get the letter back. When Lady Beresford refused to hand it over, Edward saw to it that she was excluded from court and society. On hearing of this, Lord Beresford (who was at sea with the navy) threatened to tell the press all he knew of Edward’s ‘private life’. In the end, it was agreed to allow the Beresfords back to court and to exclude Lady Brooke for a short period. Edward acted the injured party, but this time he had really behaved disgracefully.

Throughout the period of these scandals, although the press, Parliament and the public expressed their disgust, most of the establishment, the Royal Family and even Queen Victoria supported Edward. However, there was one area where the upper classes and Victoria continued to be outraged, and that was in Edward’s choice of friends. They felt that he should socialise exclusively with royals and high nobility, but Edward insisted on spending time with foreigners and newly-made millionaires such as:

Sir Blundell Maple, who enlarged his father’s small shop, Maples, to become the world’s largest furniture store.

Sir Thomas Lipton, who developed his parents’ grocery store into a chain of 300 shops, buying tea cheaply direct from Ceylon, so establishing tea as the drink of the working class.
William Waldorf Astor who, having inherited his father’s estate, was the richest man in America. He became a British citizen, leaving his house in New York to be turned into the Waldorf Hotel, to which his cousin later added the neighbouring Astoria Hotel. Astor’s daughter-in-law would be the first woman member of parliament.

The Rothschilds, the European banking dynasty, the London branch of which had funded Wellington’s army in the Napoleonic Wars. Later, when Britain was desperate for money to rebuild the economy, the Rothschilds bought the entire issue of government stock. They also helped finance the Bank of England, the building of the Suez Canal, Cecil Rhodes’ creation of Rhodesia, and De Beers.

Baron Hirsch, a German banker and railway and commodity investor who became the world’s most generous philanthropist. Hirsch was a Jew, so there was outrage in Vienna when Edward stayed at Hirsch’s home. When Baron Hirsch visited England, Victoria refused to allow him to attend a state concert.

To his credit, Edward had no prejudices on race, religion, nationality or colour. Indeed, when Edward visited India he was appalled at the treatment of Indians, saying, “Because a man has a black face and a different religion from our own, there is no reason why he should be treated as a brute”. Although Edward opposed home rule for Ireland, this did not involve any anti-Catholic feeling. In fact, at his coronation Edward clearly found the anti-Catholic statements in the declaration he was required to make under the Bill of Rights distasteful, and made a point of reading them in a very low and quiet voice. When the Kaiser addressed Edward at length on the evils of the Jews, Edward walked away in disgust; it confirmed everything he thought of his nephew.

Edward despised the Kaiser, considering him to be an arrogant bully. It did not help that Queen Victoria treated the Kaiser as her favourite grandchild, whereas Edward was her least favourite child. Although always opposing Germany’s territorial ambitions, Edward had no hatred of Germans themselves – his nephew excepted. Naturally, Edward supported Denmark (his wife’s country) when the Germans invaded and annexed Schleswig-Holstein taking 40% of Denmark and 25% of its population; he also supported France (a country he loved) in the Franco-Prussian War. Queen Victoria took victorious Germany’s side.

However, in one area Edward had no problems. His wife Alexandra’s care for her family and her amazing tolerance were more than Edward deserved. She produced six children: Albert Victor (Queen Victoria had insisted on the names), George, Louise, Victoria, Maud and Alexander (he lived only a few hours). They were all said to have been born prematurely, but in fact Alexandra had announced late dates for each expected birth so as to ensure that Victoria did not attend and interfere. Unfortunately, some of the births were difficult, leading to Alexandra suffering from a limp, increasing deafness and deteriorating sight.