A Season of Secrets and Scandals, the Royal connection

Where would any self-respecting, country ruling Royal family be without a scandal or two, in or out of the closet? What were they thinking, one could ask?  Love them or hate them, we are intrigued, more so when a delicious scandal sheds light on their human, fallible and vulnerable lives.

Able to choose from a plethora of British Royal Scandals, we have chosen three of the most talked about in British history for this blog, but of course, even the current Royal Family have contributed a multitude of scandalous chapters to fill the history books.
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Presenting a vignette into the lives of two British Kings and a Lord, and how their actions played a part on the public stage , resulting in scandal, public outcry and abdication.

King Edward VII

‘We are here for a good time, not a long time.’ King Edward VII

Beloved Bertie, or Dirty Bertie?  The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had to wait a long time to become King in 1901 - until his 59th birthday. A weak boy and poor student, Bertie may have been a victim of ADHD, but who knew back in those days?  Nothing seemed to fit, constantly distracted, his mother and father despaired for  their eldest’s inability to conform to their strict ideals of education and values.

Image courtesy of the Alamy

The lost boy grew up to be a lost young man, with no purpose, no job and no real routine. Wafting about in the royal corridors.

Albert Edward (known as Bertie) was born on the 9th November 1841 and died on the 6th May 1910.  His reputation as a playboy, gambler and heavy drinker made him interesting, likeable and the focus of London society -  and party to a number of scandals which shook the nation, and the palace. 

At the tender age of nineteen, the Prince Regent, whilst on tour with the Grenadier Guards at Currugh, near Dublin, was ‘presented’, a gift from the lads, with Nellie Clifden, an Irish actress hired to introduce the young prince to the ways of the world.  He lost his virginity, his heart and gained the wrath of his parents. Little did they know it was simply the beginning of his adventurous journey with wine, women and song - and loads of food.  The Prince Regent would develop gargantuan tastes in almost everything he indulged in, from hunting to sex. 

So upset by his indiscretions with Nellie, his father insisted on having a serious talk with his son. He travelled to Cambridge where Bertie was a student.  Prince Albert, already ill at the time, died two weeks later.  An inconsolable Queen Victoria blamed her son for his passing, saying: ‘I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder.’ 

The strained relationship between mother and son would continue for most of their lives, reconciling shortly before her death. 

The Prince fell into the lifestyle of the leisure elite, his mother and queen refusing him access to government papers, or participation in running of state and country.  The Queen simply did not trust him.  Frustrated by her indifference and lack of faith in him, Bertie soaked up the social life, visiting brothels in Paris (with champagne filled baths and beauties), and engaging in a number of high profile affairs which included Lillie Langtry, Lady Randolf Churchill. Daisy Greville, the Countess of Warwick, Tempest Schneider, Alice Keyser and Alice Keppel. 

At 21 his mother thought it was time to find him a wife.  The man must settle down, she surmised. Bertie married Princess Alexandra of Denmark on the 10th March 1863, which resulted in happy years and a proper family, but providing little in terms of Bertie’s lusty ambitions.  His affairs continued.  Their  parties continued, now at their London residence, Marlborough House. Simply everyone wanted an invitation to Marlborough House to party with the prince.  

A few years on, the Prince Regent was summoned to court, accused of improper behaviour with Lady Harriet Mordaunt. Literally caught in a compromising position by her husband when he returned early from a trip to their country estate.  Bertie denied it, his doctor declared her Ladyship insane and she ended her life in an asylum - not very nice. Quelle horreur!  Nor is there any acknowledgment of illegitimate children on his part.  The scandal did little to damage the Prince’s reputation but it did little to appease his mother, knowing her son was being called ‘Edward the Caresser’ in public.

What the Prince did love was pomp and ceremony.  He was a natural at it. Loved to dress well and appear in public, opening this and celebrating that, oh the adulation.  His mother, since the death of her beloved Albert, withdrew from society, Black clothes, black mood, just about everything black and was rarely seen, though Bertie thrived on the attention. 

 For a while life seemed relatively scandal free, until an infamous game of Baccarat in 1891, which was illegal, and the accusations of cheating by his friend, William Gordon Cumming.  Cumming eventually took the matter to court and for the second time in nearly 400 years, a member of the Royal Family, Bertie, was called to the stand.  The result was social death for Cummings and yet more embarrassment for the Prince. 

Queen Victoria died in January 1901. Finally Albert Edward was King Edward VII.  His popularity and public engagements brought about a modern monarchy and the Edwardian Age.  His last mistress, Alice Keppel, was allowed at court.

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Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Sadly, the years of excess had begun to take its toll on his health.  Nine years as King, he died at the age of sixty-nine. ​

KING EDWARD VIII AND WALLIS SIMPSON
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‘You have no idea how hard it is to live out a great romance.’ Wallis Simpson.

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Image courtesy of the Sun

There have been plenty of scandals amongst the Royals, yet the abdication of a King to be with a twice divorced, American woman, ranks right up there as one of the greatest of them all.

Did she really love him?  Was she hoping to be Queen?  Born Bessie Wallis Warfield in June 1896, Wallis Simpson had a difficult childhood and would be twice married before meeting the future king, Edward Albert Christian George, Prince of Wales. 

Still betrothed to her second husband, she was introduced to him by Lady Furness, his current mistress, at Burrough Court in January 1931.  His reputation as a playboy and astring of affairs had already angered his parents, his recklessness and debauched behaviour of great concern to the present Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. 

‘After I am dead, the boy will ruin himself in twelve months.’ King George V

The POW (Prince of Wales) was besotted with Wallis Simpson and it is believed they began their affair whilst Lady Furness was travelling.  He strongly denied this to his father, indignantly protesting that this was not the case, whilst showering her with money and jewels.  His parents met Ms. Simpson at Buckingham Palace in 1935 and refused to receive her in the future.  

The Prince began to neglect his duties, choosing instead to travel to Europe with Wallis, becoming slavishly dependent on her and weirdly seemingly to enjoy her abrupt and abrasive manners, her way of domineering him, indifferent to his position as heir apparent.  Once quoted as saying she will soon be Queen of England, their relationship was of such deep concern that they were even followed by the Secret Metropolitan police - all convinced the divorcee had the Prince firmly under her thumb. He was unrelenting, aware that when he did become King, he would also be Supreme Governor of the Church of England, further exacerbating the situation. 

King George V died in January 1936.  The newly crowned King approached Baldwin for a solution to marry Mrs. Simpson, offering to settle for a morganatic marriage where she would never be Queen Consort, taking a lesser title.  All were appalled at the idea, her unpopularity and hold on the king.  Baldwin, the Prime ministers of Australia, Canada and the Union of South Africa opposed any such union; the Government would be plunged into a Constitutional crisis and forced to resign. 

Wallis was forced to flee and hide in France from the paparazzi.

The Instrument of Abdication was signed by King Edward VIII on the 10th December 1936 in the presence of his three brothers, the Duke of York, Gloucester and Kent.  His statement the next day read: ‘I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King asI wish to, without the help and support of the woman I love.’

There have been plenty of scandals amongst the Royals, yet the abdication of a King to be with a twice divorced, American woman, ranks right up there as one of the greatest of them all.

Did she really love him?  Was she hoping to be Queen?  Born Bessie Wallis Warfield in June 1896, Wallis Simpson had a difficult childhood and would be twice married before meeting the future king, Edward Albert Christian George, Prince of Wales. 

Still betrothed to her second husband, she was introduced to him by Lady Furness, his current mistress, at Burrough Court in January 1931.  His reputation as a playboy and astring of affairs had already angered his parents, his recklessness and debauched behaviour of great concern to the present Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. 

‘After I am dead, the boy will ruin himself in twelve months.’ King George V

The POW (Prince of Wales) was besotted with Wallis Simpson and it is believed they began their affair whilst Lady Furness was travelling.  He strongly denied this to his father, indignantly protesting that this was not the case, whilst showering her with money and jewels.  His parents met Ms. Simpson at Buckingham Palace in 1935 and refused to receive her in the future.  

The Prince began to neglect his duties, choosing instead to travel to Europe with Wallis, becoming slavishly dependent on her and weirdly seemingly to enjoy her abrupt and abrasive manners, her way of domineering him, indifferent to his position as heir apparent.  Once quoted as saying she will soon be Queen of England, their relationship was of such deep concern that they were even followed by the Secret Metropolitan police - all convinced the divorcee had the Prince firmly under her thumb. He was unrelenting, aware that when he did become King, he would also be Supreme Governor of the Church of England, further exacerbating the situation. 

Image courtesy of Fox News

King George V died in January 1936.  The newly crowned King approached Baldwin for a solution to marry Mrs. Simpson, offering to settle for a morganatic marriage where she would never be Queen Consort, taking a lesser title.  All were appalled at the idea, her unpopularity and hold on the king.  Baldwin, the Prime ministers of Australia, Canada and the Union of South Africa opposed any such union; the Government would be plunged into a Constitutional crisis and forced to resign. 

Wallis was forced to flee and hide in France from the paparazzi.

The Instrument of Abdication was signed by King Edward VIII on the 10th December 1936 in the presence of his three brothers, the Duke of York, Gloucester and Kent.  His statement the next day read: ‘I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King asI wish to, without the help and support of the woman I love.’
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What followed the abdication and their marriage, was a lesser title for him, the Duke of Windsor and a stint in the Bahamas, finally settling in Paris in 1952.  Social parties, dubious friends, vilified for their Nazi sympathising and careless visit to Germany, meeting Hilter. Churchill distrusted her motives, others commenting on her abusive behaviour towards her husband whom she regarded as weak and pathetic. 
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There were visits to Britain and the US, but the couple spent most of the remainder of their time in Paris. The Duke died of throat cancer in 1972 and his body was returned to Britain where he lay in state at St. George’s Chapel in Great Windsor. Wallis, now the Duchess of Windsor, was allowed to attend the funeral. 

The Duchess became reclusive, frail and suffered from dementia until her death in 1986, to be laid to rest beside her husband. 

Lord and Lady Mountbatten

‘Edwina and I spent all our married lives getting into other people’s beds.’ Lord Mountbatten.

Images courtesy of the Alamy and the Times UK

The wedding of Prince Louis Mountbatten and Edwina Ashley on the 18th July 1922 was attended by crowds of 8000 people at St. Margarets, Westminster.  The darling of society and her dashing husband, a relative of the Royal family, were young and naive (and both rumoured to be virgins) about to embark on a rather scandalous marriage that would only last through the mutual affection and deep love they had for each other.

Edwina was having numerous affairs within the first three years of her nuptials. Once voted the 6th most beautiful woman in the world, she waved goodbye to her naval husband and hello to a string of lovers.

The housekeeper at their Mayfair home was quoted as saying: ‘Mr Gray is in the drawing room, Mr Sandford is in the library, Mr Phillips is in the boudoir, Senor Portago in the ante room … and I simply don’t know what to do with Mr. Molyneux!’  
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Her daughter Pamela Hicks, in her novel, ‘Daughter of Empire: Life as a Mountbatten”, writes, “she began to collect them in a way that raised many eyebrows.” Her life with her parents included many ‘uncles’ staying over, or simply passing through.

When Louis learnt of his wife’s initial infidelities, he was devastated. Not wanting a divorce, he agreed to an open marriage, both embarking on extra-marital affairs.  His longtime mistress was Yolo Letellier, a French woman said to have inspired Collette’s novella ‘Gigi’.  Rumours of both being bi-sexual began to circulate and that Lord Mountbatten had a preference for young men. 

All scandalous indeed, highlighted in 1932 by the printing of a newspaper article suggesting that ‘a lady of high social standing’ was having an affair with a black man. The woman, they implied, was Edwina Mountbatten and her lover was Leslie ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson, a jazz singer.  Buckingham Palace ordered the couple home to sue the newspaper, who later retracted the allegations and issued a formal apology. The rumours continued.

Image courtesy of CNN

Leslie ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson

Interestingly enough, when Hutchinson died penniless, Lord Mountbatten paid for his funeral and headstone when he was laid to rest in Highgate cemetery. Not long after, Edwina had an affair with Colonel Harold ‘Bunny’ Phillips of the Coldsteam Guards.

In 1947, Lord Mountbatten was appointed Viceroy of India.  Edwina began a passionate relationship with the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, ten years her senior..  Whether the relationship was of a sexual nature is unclear but the pair were devoted to each other, visiting each other annually even after the Mountbattens returned to London.

Edwina died in 1960 and was buried at sea. Nehru sent a Frigate from India to lay a wreath on his behalf. 

Lord Mountbatten, one of the most impressive men of his generation, a highly decorated leader, rising to the highest position in the Royal Navy, First Sea Lord, was murdered aboard his yacht at Sligo in Ireland by an IRA Bomb in 1979.

It is cause to ponder upon these high profile Royalists all, as to what drove them to have affairs, and plenty of them, outside of their expected roles as public figures.  The risks of exposure are greater than for mere mortals, the tabloids poised for scandalous gossip, salacious innuendo.  Was it their position of power?  The idea that normal morals are for common folk and they are at liberty to live according to their own rules, defiant in their scandalous behaviour.  A King so obsessed with an American divorcee, he is willing to give up his duty; a couple living in an open marriage in full view of the world and a King, so frustrated at waiting for his moment on the throne, he plays entirely by his rules, social conscience be damned.

They may be alternative, foolish even, but partly true to who they really were, needing to belong, to be loved.  Right or wrong, these scandals have marked their place in history, and made history a little more enjoyable to reflect upon.

What other great scandals lurk within the city of London?