The King in Love: Edward VII's Mistresses
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Authors: Theo Aronson
Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Great Britain, #Historical, #Nonfiction, #Retail, #Royalty
The King in Love
Edward VII's
Mistresses
Theo Aronson
All rights reserved
This edition published in 2014 by:
Thistle Publishing
36 Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BU
For my family
the Manbys, the Pitchfords
and the Grants
Contents
Illustrations
1
Lillie Langtry's birthplace. H. T.Porter
2
Edward and Lillie Langtry. H.T.Porter
3
The young Mrs Langtry. From
The Days I Knew
by Lillie Langtry
4
The debonnaire Prince of Wales, aged thirty-five. Author's collection
5
'The Jersey Lily', Millais's famous portrait. Jersey Museums Service
6
Lillie Langtry, looking like a 'seductive Renaissance princess'. Jersey Museums Service
7
The Red House, Bournemouth, which the Prince of Wales built for Lillie. Pamela Hamilton-Howard
8
Lillie Langtry as the very picture of a royal mistress. From
The Days I Knew
10
Prince Louis of Battenberg who fathered Lillie's daughter.
Illustrated London News
11
Lillie at the time of her liaison with Prince Louis of Battenberg. Jersey Museums Service
12
Lillie Langtry as a celebrated actress. H. T. Porter
14
A 'shooting luncheon' at Easton Lodge. From
Life's Ebb and Flow
by Frances, Countess of Warwick
15
Daisy, before her meeting with the Prince of Wales. From
Life's Ebb and Flow
16
The Prince of Wales, at Homburg in the 1890s. Author's collection
17
The Wales family. Mary Evans Picture Library
18
Warwick Castle. From
Life's Ebb and Flow
19
Royal Mistress: Frances (Daisy), Countess of Warwick. Mary Evans Picture Library
20
The Prince of Wales setting out from Marlborough House. Late Sir Arthur Bryant's collection
21
Princess Alexandra. Mary Evans Picture Library
22
Daisy Warwick in fancy dress. Mary Evans Picture Library
23
The long-suffering Earl of Warwick. From
Life's Ebb and Flow
24
A German cartoon of the Prince of Wales 'comforting the wives and widows'. Author's collection
25
Daisy Warwick,'the Socialist Countess'. Mary Evans Picture Library
27
Alice Keppel and her eldest daughter Violet. John Phillips
28
The King's Mistress: Mrs Keppel. From
Edward VII
by Philip Magnus
29
Edward VII at the time of his accession. From
Edward VII
30
Edward VII hosts a garden party.
Illustrated London News
31
The Hon. George Keppel. From
Edwardian Daughter
by Sonia Keppel
32
The King and Mrs Keppel on a golf course in the South of France. John Phillips
33
The King, with Alice Keppel, at a Chatsworth house party. Mary Evans Picture Library
34
Edward VII goes boating on Ascot Sunday. Mary Evans Picture Library
35
Edward VII in a royal box at the theatre.
Illustrated London News
36
Queen Alexandra at her husband's deathbed.
Illustrated London News
Author's Note
A
S MUCH
as an account of the love-life of Edward VII, as Prince of Wales and King, this book is a study of the three women with whom he was most deeply in love: his 'official' mistresses, Lillie Langtry, Daisy Warwick and Alice Keppel. It is a composite biography of these three remarkable personalities, seen in relation to their royal lover. Given Edward VII's well-merited reputation as a womaniser – and the fascinations of his three mistresses – it is surprising that no such book has been written before. There have, admittedly, been a couple of studies of his individual love affairs, but this is the first time that the King's celebrated amatory activities, including his three main liaisons, have been so comprehensively treated. And although there have been several studies of Lillie Langtry, chiefly in her role as an actress, the lives of the King's other two mistresses have been strangely neglected. It is over twenty years since Margaret Blunden's
The Countess of Warwick
was published; and there has never been a biography of Alice Keppel.
This book contains much previously unpublished material: material which has enabled me to reassess many aspects of the private lives of the four main characters, as well as to correct certain long-established myths. For this I am grateful to the Department of Manuscripts and Printed Books at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, for permission to study the Secret Diary of Wilfrid Scawen Blunt; the Department of Manuscripts at the British Library for use of the Gladstone Papers; Mrs C. McFadyean (Lillie Langtry's granddaughter) for allowing me to study the correspondence between Lillie Langtry and her daughter, Lady Malcolm; the Société Jersiaise for permitting me to see certain letters from Edward VII and George V to Lillie Langtry; and Mr Brian Roberts for use of the letters of Abraham Hayward.
I must also thank, in alphabetical order, those many people who, to a greater or lesser extent, have helped me in the writing of this book. They are: Mrs Alison Adburgham; Mr Paul Barker, Custodian at Warwick Castle; Mr J. Black of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow; Mr Gordon Brooke-Shepherd; Miss Anne Carter; Mr G.P. Drew of the Société Jersiaise; Miss C. Easterbrook of the States of Jersey Library
Service; Miss Mary Gritfith; Mrs Pamela Hamilton-Howard of Langtry Manor, Bournemouth; Mr Keith Killby; Mr James Lees-Milne; Mr Michael Legat; the Countess of Longford; Mr I. Monins; Mrs Barbara North, who arranged for me to see the Disraeli Papers at Hughenden Manor; Mr John Phillips; Mrs R.M. Popham of the Lansdowne Library, Bournemouth; Mr H.T. Porter of St Helier, Jersey, who has been especially helpful; Ms Odette Rogers of the Fitzwilliam Museum; Mrs Betty Ross; the Hon. Giles St Aubyn; Mr Paul Sinodhinos; Mrs F. Spurrier, the Countess of Warwick's granddaughter, who advised me about photographs; Mr Hugo Vickers; the Earl of Warwick; Mr Christopher Warwick; Dr N.F. Whitehead; Mr Paul Woudhuysen of the Fitzwilliam Museum.
As always, Mr Brian Roberts has given me invaluable advice, assistance and encouragement.
I am grateful to the staffs of the British Library, the Newspaper Library at Colindale, the Bath Reference Library, the Bristol Reference Library, the Lansdowne Library, Bournemouth, the Library of the Société Jersiaise and the Central Library, St Helier, Jersey. I should like to give a special word of thanks to Mrs S. Bane and the staff of the Frome Library for their helpfulness and patience.
Although I have listed all books consulted in the Bibliography, I am particularly indebted to the authors of the various lives of King Edward VII, as well as to
The Countess of Warwick
by Margaret Blunden,
The Prince and the Lily
by James Brough and
The Gilded Lily
by Ernest Dudley.
Prologue
THE PRINCE OF PLEASURE
1
'Whatever Is Most Seductive'
T
HE OCCASIONS
which Queen Victoria had come to dread, almost above all others, were her audiences with Mr Gladstone. There she would sit, small, plump and high-coloured, with her white widow's veil cascading down her back, while her Prime Minister, whom she never allowed to sit, held forth in his hectoring fashion. Nothing seemed able to stop his flow. He would address her, it was said, as though she were a public meeting.
Whereas dear Mr Disraeli used to chat about water-colour painting or the third cousinships of German princes, Mr Gladstone – so runs one inimitable account of these audiences – 'harangues her about the policy of the Hittites, or the harmony between the Athanasian Creed and Homer. The Queen, perplexed and uncomfortable, tries to make a digression – addresses a remark to a daughter, or proffers a biscuit to a begging terrier. Mr Gladstone restrains himself with an effort till the Princess has answered or the dog has sat down, and then promptly resumes. "I was about to say –." Meanwhile the flood has gathered force by delay and when it bursts forth again it carries all before it.'
1