King Edward VII's Mistresses

[Music] king edward vii mistresses [Music] queen victoria's eldest son and heir was a man of great appetites he loved food he loved drink and he loved women dirty birdie's licentiousness flew in the face of his mother's regime of uptight morality the jolly prince of wales was so popular with the ladies that he became known as edward the caresser he had more than 55 mistresses some noble society ladies some glamorous actresses some parisian sex workers and even a sharp tongued chef here are the stories of just a handful of the many colorful mistresses of king edward vii queen victoria was the last of the hanoverian dynasty whose century on the throne of the united kingdom was marked by a notorious debauchery and immorality her uncle george iv was particularly despised for his lavish spending eating and womanizing victoria had inherited her family's libido but that was only shared in the privacy of her bedroom with her beloved husband prince albert the couple determined that outwardly they would exemplify moral perfection and thus rehabilitate the royal family's reputation they expected the same of their nine children but from the start their eldest son and heir prince albert edward known as birdie was a rebel he refused to study and frequently misbehaved he had an abundance of charm and sociability but his parents had no use for that at 17 birdie was sent to university where he frequently gave his royal minders at the slip and went out gambling and smoking with other students appalled his parents ordered him to attend an army camp but their plan to knock him into shape backfired fellow officers were shocked to learn that the prince was still a virgin so they smuggled an irish actress into his barracks nellie clifton little is known of her life outside of her few nights with the prince of wales birdie's appointment book refers to tris with nc on the 6th 9th and 11th of september 1861 when news of the clandestine rendezvous reached birdie's parents they were incensed prince albert caught a train to cambridge and took a long walk in the rain with his son during which he admonished him for his misbehavior i knew that you were thoughtless and weak but i did not think you were depraved prince albert died of typhoid fever two weeks later and victoria blamed her son and his immorality for the death of her saintly husband i never shall look at him without a shudder even years later when writing to his old army chum birdie would ask after their mutual friend in sea while visiting paris and away from his mother's judgmental eye the prince had a brief liaison with soprano hortense schneider she had come to paris at 22 to make her debut in the opera she earned immediate acclaim toured europe and became a favorite of royal visitors to paris at 45 hortens married and retired from the opera she died in 1920 age 87. to get birdie under control victoria arranged a marriage to the beautiful princess alexandra of denmark they were the first royal couple to wave to the public from the balcony of buckingham palace the newlyweds got along well alexandra was charming affectionate glamorous and jolly they shared an exasperation for the moral superiority and interference of his mother alexandra was an expert horsewoman and hunter which scandalized the queen who begged her to behave more ladylike all six of alexandra's children were born prematurely though it is more likely that she misled victoria as to their due date so that her mother-in-law would not be present when she was in labor the prince and princess of wales surrounded themselves with a circle of fun-loving friends called the marble house set alexandra was well aware of her husband's romps with other women but she determined not to waste her energy on jealousy catherine walters she was born in liverpool and moved to london as a teenager she worked at a bowling alley where she picked up the nickname skittles the game from which bowling evolved catherine became a renowned courtesan and trendsetter her rides through hyde park attracted crowds and aristocratic ladies copied her well-cut clothes her lovers included the duke of devonshire whom she pursued to new york during the american civil war the first president of france napoleon iii and of course the prince of wales catherine was discreet and would never kiss and tell so she had a long career and retired wealthy she died in 1920 age 81. lady susan vane tempest was the daughter of the duke of newcastle she was a bridesmaid to birdie's elder sister princess victoria susan married lieutenant colonel adolphus van tempest who turned out to be an abusive alcoholic the couple had one son before adolphus died widowed susan it began an affair with her childhood friend prince birdie she bore him an illegitimate child in 1871 but nothing is known about the baby susan herself died of rheumatic fever in 1875 at the age of 36. jenny jerome was born in brooklyn new york to a wealthy finance year at 16 her mother took her on a tour of europe where she met the 29 year old prince of wales and they began a passionate affair by the time jenny was 19 the lust had simmered into a friendship which would last them the rest of their lives her intelligence wit and sense of humor endeared her to the prince and princess alexandra to whom she also became a close friend edward introduced her to his friend lord randolph spencer churchill second son of the duke of marlborough the couple became engaged three days later but the nuptials were delayed while their parents hashed out a financial agreement the noble spencer churchills were aghast at their son marrying a nouveau rich american but when the jeromes offered a dowry of 250 thousand dollars several million today they changed their tune the couple's first son winston churchill was born seven months after the wedding jenny claimed that a fall had caused her to go into premature labor but many noticed how healthy and large the baby was when asked years later about his birth the prime minister quipped although present on the occasion i have no clear recollection of the events leading up to it ginny and randolph began to live separate lives and have separate love affairs ginny slept with king milan the first of serbia german prince carl kimsky and herbert von bismarck she loved taking cruises around the world she remained friendly with her husband but they never slept together again because he had contracted syphilis he died at 45. the 41 year old widow next married george cornwallis west a 21 year old whose mother patsy had previously been a lover of the prince of wales ginny wrote a number of plays many of which starred at mrs patrick campbell the actress had an affair with her husband george and their marriage fell apart jenny made important introductions and advised her son winston as he launched what would become a legendary political career she married a final time to a man even younger than her son montague fip and porch in 1921 while coming down the stairs in a new pair of high heels jenny slipped and broke her ankle gangrene set in and her left leg had to be amputated a few days later she suffered a hemorrhage and died at the age of 67. lady harriet mordont was a childhood playmate of prince birdies and a frequent guest when the royal family visited balmoral castle they likely became lovers when harriet was a teenager and she became friends with the prince's new wife alexandra at 18 harriet was wed to sir charles mordont the couple were happy at first but during charles's frequent absences at parliament or on sporting trips harriet began entertaining the prince and other gentlemen at her home charles returned home unexpectedly earlier from a fishing trip in norway to discover his wife and the prince writing two white ponies he had gifted her after throwing the prince off his property charles forced his wife to watch as he shot both ponies harriet gave birth to a daughter who because of his frequent absences could not have been her husband's when the baby developed an eye infection harriet was anguished that she had passed a venereal disease onto her daughter and she confessed her many adulteries to her husband the baby recovered but the marriage did not the prince of wales was called as a witness in the sensational public divorce trial both queen and country were mortified by his behavior during his testimony he admitted to visiting harriet but exclaimed never when asked if they had had any inappropriate familiarities it benefited harriet's family and the royal family to vilify her and get her out of the way the court found her insane and committed her to an asylum she died there 36 years later at the age of 58. queen victoria used the scandal as evidence of her son's unfitness to govern and she denied him any role in official crown business with nothing else to employ him edward made parties and pleasure his occupation parisian sex workers the prince enjoyed frequent chants to paris a city which offered abundant carnal delights both gastronomic and erotic he had his own private room decorated with his coat of arms at his favorite brothel luchobonei there he lounged in a magnificent gold bathtub carved with mythological swans he bathed with his lady of choice not in water but in champaign edward's great passion for food began to interfere with his great passions in the boudoir but rather than reduce his indulgence in either pleasure he commissioned a renowned french cabinet maker to build him this custom chair which allowed him to make love without crushing his partner with his enormous bulk or overly exerting himself the second cushion on the lower level supposedly allowed him to enjoy two women at the same time lily langtry was the daughter of a reverend and was born on the channel island of jersey she was the only girl in a family of six sons and was taught by her brother's tutor so was far more educated than most girls of her station at 20 she married irishman edward langtry and they moved to london her beauty and wit soon earned her invitations to artist parties at one reception she was in mourning for her brother who had died in a riding accident so she wore a simple black dress and no jewelry she stood out from the crowd and by the end of the night frank mills had completed several sketches of her which became popular postcards other artists and photographers requested lily to sit for them and her likeness soon became famous the prince of wales requested to be seated next to her at a dinner party and the pair embarked on a three-year romance she was presented at court to queen victoria their affair ended when lily gave birth to the daughter of another of her lovers without royal favor the langtry's creditors began to close in lily needed money and at the suggestion of her friend oscar wilde she tried a career in the theater critics reviews were mixed but the public loved her the prince supported her career by attending many of her plays and drawing audiences lily formed her own production company and embarked on a tour of the united states to much acclaim and profit she was the first woman to endorse a commercial product when she advertised pear soap while in california she bought 40 000 acres and established a vineyard which still operates under the name langtree the land purchase was part of her plan to gain u.s citizenship so that she could divorce her long estranged husband after several successful american tours lily's finances were thoroughly transformed she became a part owner of london's imperial theater she had a love of racehorses and owned several winning thoroughbreds lily had numerous lovers including prime minister william gladstone and prince paul of hungary at 46 she married 28 year old baron hugo gerald de bath and became lady de bath but the couple didn't stay together long in 1913 age 60 lily appeared in a film called his neighbor's wife she then retired from acting and moved to monaco she died there in 1929 age 75. lily was the inspiration for irene adler a character in sir arthur conan doyle's mysteries and the only woman ever to best sherlock holmes sarah bernard was born in france to a dutch jewish courtesan though she never knew her father he provided for her education she began performing at school and at the encouragement of her mother's friend alexander dumas she studied acting at the paris conservatory she was hired by the prestigious theater coma di frances but was so nervous for her first performance that it went terribly when sarah got into a fight with the company's lead actress she was fired her dreams dash she decided to travel and become a courtesan like her mother an affair with a belgian prince resulted in the birth of a son maurice in order to support him she returned to acting her orthodox grandmother moved in with her to care for maurice while she was working she was hired by the odion a far less stuffy and more modern theater and she had great success there then the franco-prussian war broke out paris was under siege and theaters were closed sarah converted the orion into a hospital for soldiers where she worked as a nurse she burned old scenery to keep her patients warm and moved them to the cellar when the city was battered by cannon fire after the war sarah's success and fame grew exponentially she was invited back to the comedy francaise and this time she was a smash opening night was attended by the prince of wales after the show the pair became friendly and he frequently attended her performances in paris and london as a prank bertie once played the part of a cadaver in one of her plays sarah had affairs with many of her leading men she enjoyed portraying men in several roles in her free time she became a sculptor she kept a satin-lined coffin in her apartment which she slept in and she was a strict vegetarian somewhat unusual for the time she toured europe and america to great acclaim she was snubbed by new york high society who considered her personal life scandalous but that only increased ticket sales sarah began producing her own plays even renaming a venue theater sarah bernard but production was expensive and every few years she went on tour again and returned home with chess full of cash at 38 she fell for a scandalous young greek jacques de mala 11 years her junior his womanizing had already caused two divorces a suicide and his expulsion from france but sarah hired him as an actor and brought him back to paris they married in 1882 sarah explained to her baffled friends that matrimony was the one thing she hadn't tried yet jacques was a bad actor and resented his wife's success he became abusive and turned to drugs he left her to join the foreign legion in north africa jacques showed up on her doorstep seven years later penniless and haggard sarah provided for him and gave him a job but he showed up to lyrid her during a performance and her new lover punched him then he broke into her home and destroyed her furniture jacques overdosed on morphine and sarah nursed him until his death at 34. while he was king edward took the royal yacht to visit sarah at her island summer home in her 60s sarah took her co-star and lover lou telogen on tour with her he was 37 years her junior and a terrible actor but he did well in scenes where he could take his shirt off during a dramatic death scene sarah leapt offstage but the mattress that was meant to catch her fall hadn't been put down she landed on her knee which swelled became gangrenous and had to be amputated sarah continued to appear on stage either carried in a palanquin by two handsome young men or balancing on one leg she refused to use a crutch or prosthetic in the 1910s sarah was one of the first actresses to appear on film she frequently worked with the famed lumiere brothers at 78 during a rehearsal sarah collapsed and was revived long enough to ask when do i go on then fell into a coma she died a few months later in 1923 daisy greville countess of warwick was a descendant of king charles ii twice through his mistresses nel guin and barbara palmer as a teenager daisy was favored by the queen to marry her youngest son prince leopold but she was hesitant to wed the prince who suffered from the dreaded genetic disorder hemophilia instead she wed francis greville heir to the earl of warwick the couple moved in to warwick castle where they frequently hosted high society parties they were ensconced in the marlborough house set and swapped beds with many other aristocrats of the couple's five children daisy later admitted that only the first leopold was actually fathered by her husband she was a favorite confidante and bedfellow of prince birdie for over a decade though she craved loyalty and she knew she would never get it from him she became jealous when one of her lover's wives became pregnant and she used her influence with the prince to push the couple out of society daisy became a socialist and donated large sums towards improving the lives of the less fortunate she established colleges for educating women in agriculture needlework and other employments she gave away so much of her own money that by the time king edward vii died she was at risk of being thrown into debtor's prison she threatened to publish edward's love letters to her unless his son king george v bought them but the british court restrained her from publishing daisy was imprisoned for debts but was released under the condition that she allow her memoir to be censored by the palace daisy died in 1938 age 76 years later her daughter did publish the notorious love letters but they turned out to be much more chatty than titillating daisy grevel was the inspiration behind the popular music hall song daisy bell written in 1892 by harry daker augustina del carmen otero was born to a single mother in spain at 14 she ran away to become a singer and dancer as her skill and renown grew she moved to paris and created the persona la belle ortero portraying herself as a gypsy her most famous costume was little more than jewels pasted onto her voluptuous bosom augustina became the most sought after courtesan in europe and she had her pick of wealthy lovers including kaiser wilhelm ii prince albert the first of monaco kings of serbia and kings of spain and how could the prince of wales resist two men fought duels over augustina and supposedly six men committed suicide after she left them in 1898 french director felix mezkesh filmed augustina performing her famous valsa bryant dance the screening in saint petersburg was so scandalous that mesquite was expelled from russia at 50 augustina retired with a fortune equivalent to 25 million dollars today she purchased a mansion but gambled away most of her wealth at monte carlo she died in 1965 age 96 in a one-room apartment in nice alice keppel grew up in dunthreath castle in scotland which was given to her ancestor princess mary stewart by her father king robert iii of scotland as a wedding present in 1425. at 23 she wed lieutenant colonel george keppel son of the earl of albermarle the couple had two daughters but their lack of inherited wealth made it difficult to keep up with london high society so alice began having affairs to fund their glamorous lifestyle george was fully aware and commented i do not mind as long as she comes back to me in the end alice was cheerful and exuberant her daughter described her as a christmas tree laden with presents for everyone she became one of the most popular and sought-after society hostesses and a renowned beauty of the naughty 90s at 29 she met the 56 year old heir to the throne their jubilant personalities drew them together the affair continued after queen victoria died in 1901 and bertie became a king at the coronation alice was seated in the royal box along with other former mistresses turned friends jenny jerome lily langtry and sarah bernard edward's bad reputation as a lazy and indulgent prince may the expectations for his reign very low but with his excellent people skills and help from alice he exceeded everyone's hopes she was a critical communicator between edward and his ministers her influence was extensive and she greatly aided his success as a monarch queen alexandra adored alice and preferred her to daisy greville who was far less discreet daisy's own sister wrote that the king was much more pleasant since he had changed mistresses edward couldn't be seen to hand his paramour money but he secured her husband a better job and had his financiers handle the couple's money multiplying it alice worried about edward's health she tried to get him to stop smoking and eat healthier but to no avail after nine years on the throne edward fell seriously ill queen alexandra allowed alice into his sick room to bid him farewell she burst into tears and had to be escorted from the room after edward's death alice was not allowed back at court by his son george v instead she traveled to the far east with her family and ran a hospital during world war one she and george to whom she had come back bought a villa in florence which had belonged to scientist galileo there they continued to host society and royalty when alice heard the news that edward viii had abdicated to marry his mistress wallace simpson she exclaimed things were done much better in my day alice died in 1947 age 79 she is the great grandmother of camilla shand who continued the family tradition by being the longtime mistress and now wife of charles prince of wales rosa lewis was the daughter of a london undertaker she left school at 12 and went into service working her way up to the position of cook in lady churchill's household she once chased a young red-headed winston churchill out of her kitchen shouting hop it copper knob her family forced her to marry the butler but she threw the ring at him at the church door and left him flat she moved to paris and was trained by famed chef auguste scoffier he later dubbed her the queen of cooks while employed by the compt de paris she prepared a magnificent meal for the prince of wales he asked to compliment the cook the pair hit it off and bertie was finally able to combine his two great loves food and women birdie helped rosa purchase her own establishment the cavendish hotel in london at which he dined frequently another admirer of rose's cooking was kaiser wilhelm ii who gifted her a portrait of himself during world war one she hung it upside down in the hotel's toilet the cavendish was struck by a bomb during world war ii rosa survived and emerged pulling glass out of her hair and trumpeting with rage at the germans she died in her sleep in 1952 age 85. in 1976 a popular bbc series the duchess of duke street dramatized rose's life if you enjoyed this video please like subscribe comment your thoughts and check out my other royal history videos if you really want to help please consider supporting me on patreon a link is in the description thank you for watching

Channel: History Tea Time with Lindsay Holiday

Views: 1,015,102

Keywords: history, documentary, royal family, nobility, royalty, bbc, the crown, british history, queen, european royalty, womens history, King Edward VII, King edward VII's mistresses, mistresses of Edward VII, royal mistresses, edwardian history, history of sex, victorian history, edwardian era, dollar princesses, jennie jerome lady randolph churchill, Sarah Bernhardt, daisy greville, rosa lewis, downton abbey, paris 1800s, lillie langtry, harriet mordaunt, alice keppel, royal wedding

Id: PaahPiAftxo

Length: 29min 26sec (1766 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 07 2022