WE TWO

 

THE PRINCE DIDN'T AVOID THE WOMEN WHO'D BEEN HIS MISTRESSES IN THE PAST : LILLIE LANGTRY, DAISY WARWICK, and AGNES KEYSER BUT ALICE KEPPEL WAS HIS FAVORITE

As Princess and Queen, Alexandra busied herself with motherhood and other duties that came with her rank.  As Prince and King, Edward Albert kept up with some of the women who had been his mistresses in the past.  Or perhaps these relationships lingered?

He was not always successful in persuading hostesses to invite Alice Keppel as they favored or were better friends with these other mistresses.  Additionally, he had interest in children he had likely sired with other women. Lillie Langtry was one of these women, who endeavored to have a daughter she had with him presented to society so that she might make a good marriage.

Daisy Warwick was another mistress who he renewed his passion for. Very likely at least one of her children was his. And a the time, he was also involved with Agnes Keyser, our Mistress of the Month last, though this affair was thought by some to be a friendship.

His mother, Queen Victoria, had warned him that when he became King he would have to end his friendships but when he did become King at her death he did not break with Alice Keppel or anyone else.  What happened is that Alice was recognized as his favorite.

Excerpt page 210: "There were several reasons for her preeminent. The chief one was that the King was devoted to her. Physically, mentally, and socially, Alice Keppel meet his every requirement.  he not only adored her, he admired her. It was noticed that whenever they were in company together, he never took his eyes off her, and was on edge if he noticed her talking to another man.  This adoration was to have an echo in the love of his grandson, the future Edward VIII, for Wallis Simpson. He, too would keep a constant watch on his beloved and, if she left the room, would look anxious and fretful until he returned.

So attractive, so chic, Alice Keppel was a decorative addition to the King's circle. In many ways she epitomized the Edwardian society woman - worldly, witty, lighthearted. Unlike her royal lover, she was very articulate...

Excerpt page 211; Her outspokenness even extended to the King. Alice was one of the few people in the world to stand up to him... She knew exactly how far she could go with him.  Alice always handled the notoriously impatient monarch with great expertise... Her tact, her skill in keeping the King amused and diverted was greatly appreciated by his entourage....

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Missy here!  Reading about how well Alice handled the King made me think of another woman who I elected to be Mistress of the Month who was known for how she handled her man. Barbara Sinatra!  See those posts in my archive!

October 2018
BARBARA BLAKELEY MARX-SINATRA : Twice a Mistress Thrice a Wife : Singer Frank Sinatra.

PRINCESS ALEXANDRA OF DENMARK, THE WIFE OF EDWARD ALBERT, PRINCE OF WALES, DID NOT LIKE ALICE KEPPEL : BUT SHE LIKED HER MORE THAN OTHER MISTRESSES

Though their are legends about how well the Prince of Wales wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, accepted Alice as a mistress, this was probably not the case.  Yes, by the time Alice Keppel was the King's mistress, Queen Alexandra knew her husband had never been faithful to her. He'd had many mistresses and he was without apology.  However, she expected him and his women to be discreet. Alice Keppel might have been discreet in her way, but her personality was too big and she was so well know. She and the King were going here, there, and everywhere...

Excerpt page 195-196: "A legend persists, to this day, that the attitude of Alexandra, as Princess and Queen, towards her husband's affair with Alice Keppel was one of saintly forbearance.  She is popularly believed to have displayed all those qualities of charity and forgiveness for which she was renowned.  This is not quite accurate. In the first place, Alexandra was never the saint of popular imagination; she had many attractive quantities but could be stubborn and selfish.  her supposed acceptance of her husbands' mistress should simply have been a manifestation of self absorption.  And secondly, there where times when, far from approving of Mrs. Keppel, Alexandra revealed an active dislike.

It is true that the Princess of Wales preferred Alice Kepple to Daisy Warwick. .....And Alexandra would have approved of the fact that Mrs. Keppel did not flaunt her position to the extent that Daisy Warwick had once done. She would have been grateful to Alice Keppel for keeping the Prince in good temper.  But this did not mean that she found her almost continual presence any less irksome.

The Royal family also noted that Alexandra did not appreciate Alice's presence at events that they attended. And if she knew that Alice was going to be at an event, Alexandra was known to not be present.  She went on Mediterranean cruises, paid visits to her family and friends in Denmark, or traveled abroad.

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HOW OLD IS TOO OLD? IS AGE DIFFERANCE A PROBLEM : QUESTIONS FOR MISSY

QUESTION FOR MISSY :

How old is too old?  Older men seem to be very interested in me.  I'm 21. I go out with men who are in their late thirties to late forties basically. Some have been divorced. Some never married.

Roxanne

Minneapolis

ANSWER FOR MISSY:

Roxanne, when we fall in love, we fall in love.  I think when we do, we overlook the practical, such as that, if we are with a person who is a generation or so ahead of us, they may be in a different time of life than we are, or will be.  Think of this. Retirement! A man who is 37 to your 21 is basically going to retire about sixteen years before you!

I think one should consider as a candidate for a relationship those who are seven years younger to those who are seven years older.  At 21 this isn't practical.  It wouldn't even be legal or right for you to date a 14 year old.  For a 30 year old, this would mean dating men between the ages of 23 and 37.  Let's say a man is 50.  I think the age range of women he is dating should be between 43 and 57.

I still see potential generational differences but perhaps what's most important is maturity.

Tradition however, differs. Tradition is that a man marries when he can afford to - and that it is he who chooses who he will marry. And since it can take a while for a man to get there, he may very well choose a much younger woman.  What does afford to marry mean these days when so many women self-support? 

Self assess Roxanne.  Is the relationship a good one?

Love is love and love can be a rare thing in a life and maybe being practical should be overlooked in favor of love!

Missy

ALICE KEPPEL DECORATED THE HOUSES WITH AN ATMOSPHERE OF LUXURY : HER CHILDREN WERE KEPT ASIDE AND HER HUSBAND GAVE HER AND THE KING SPACE

Alice decorated the house to be approved of by the Prince, who it is reasonable to think was paying for most or all of it.  Eventually she would move to an even grander house in Grosvenor Street, and there also decorate to create an atmosphere of luxury.

Excerpt page 195: "The same "atmosphere of luxury" pervaded her bedroom. Its mounds of pillows, cut-glass vases filled with lilies and malmaisons and its rich velvet curtains drawn, in this instance, against  the daylight, all helped to create a suitably seductive setting for her extramarital assignations.  With George Keppel having obligingly gone off to his club - and later his job - for the afternoons, and with the staff remaining discreetly downstairs, the Prince and Mrs. Keppel would be certain of a couple hours to themselves.

The butler would make sure that the children and any visiting friends were kept away in the house, as the Prince showed up and left the house. Yet is is known that the children did understand that the man visiting their mother at the house was a special person.

Oh, I do wonder about so many accommodating husbands.  Let's just say that this was the way of the upper crust of society in those times and may still be the way today.

DO YOU DECORATE YOUR BEDROOM FOR SEDUCTION??

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PURITY

 Image from  Susan Wilkinson on Upsplash

ALICE KEPPEL AND HER FAMILY MOVED HOUSE SO AS TO BETTER ENTERTAIN AS A MISTRESS : SHE WAS GOOD TO THE SERVANTS

The Keppel family moved - George, Alice, and first child daughter Violet - from their home in Wilton Crescent to a more elegant home in Portman Square where Alice conducted her affair with the Prince of Wales.  

The house was six stories and the servants toiled all day but were expected to do their work without being seen.

Except page 191 -192 : ..."It had few of the amenities which were already being installed in comparable houses, such as central heating or the telephone, and food had to be kept cool in an outhouse in the area yard.  Yet it did boast some modern conveniences: it was lit by electricity instead of gas, and husband and wife had a bathroom each - an almost unheard of luxury for a London house. For most homes had no bathroom at all. Where, in some of the grandest country houses, there were one o two bathrooms, they were invariably huge, icy caverns situated at the end of unheateded corridors.

Additionally, the Keppels kept a modest two servants per, when it was typical of rich families to have up to eight servants per person. The servants were not paid well  A typical family had a housekeeper, cook, lady's maid, nurse, housemaids, kitchen maids, scullery maids, laundry maids, maids-of-all-work, as well as a butler, under butler, valets, footmen, pantry boys, lamp boys, odd-jo-men, and kitchen porters - and that was just for the inside of the house.  Much depended on how well they were treated by their employers.

Excerpt page 194: "By all accounts, Alice Keppel was an exceptionally considerate employer.... She was the kind of fair-minded and warmhearted mistress that servants appreciated.... As well as having a staff worthy of her Royal lover, Alice Keppel needed rooms worthy of him..."

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WHITE ORCHIDS

photo by Alexandra Nosova on Upsplash

The Prince of Wales often sent Alice white orchids, one of her favorite flowers.

 

THE MARRIED ALICE KEPPEL HAD PERSONALITY AND BEAUTY BUT MONEY? - NO NOT SO MUCH

Alice's husband, the Honorable George Kepple, a third son, might have been swayed to marry for money, but he married Alice for love. She had no money to speak of herself. She was the youngest child of nine.

Excerpt page 190: "Marrying for love was one thing; trying to live in London society in the 1890's without money was quite another  before many years had passed, the increasingly worldly Alice Keppel had come to appreciate that there was only one sure way by which a married but impoverished society woman to get the bills paid.  This was by adopting that easy-going attitude towards adultery characteristic of the Marlborough House set; she must take a wealthy lover.  It was said that the father of her first daughter, Violet, born in 1894, was the rich Ernest William Beckett, the future Lord Grimthorpe.

(Violet herself hinted that her father was the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII but this is not likely true for they had not met five years earlier.)

No matter where it was that the King and Alice met, it was the Keppel's home where Alice and her husband entertained the him when he was Prince o Wales. The author, Theo Aronson, has something interesting to say about why Alice proved to be the ideal mistress.

Excerpt page 191: "Alice proved to be the ideal mistress for an ageing man She was attractive enough to interest him sexually; entertaining when he was bored, patient when he was cantankerous, sympathetic when he was ill, unobtrusive when he appeared in public.  In his company she was amusing, even-tempered, uncomplaining  Like all successful mistresses, Alice was part-lover, part-wife, part-mother. An added attraction was that she was an accomplished  bridge player.  For the Prince was reaching the ae when a man values a good partner at bridge table as highly as a good partner in bed.  Before long, Alice Keppel had become an indispensable part of the Prince's life: a brilliant threat running through the fabric of his days.

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