JOURNEY

 

SHOULD A MAN WHO BREAKS WITH A WOMAN WHO HE HAS BEEN SUPPORTING GIVE HER MONEY WHEN HE DOES?

QUESTION FOR MISSY

Hi Missy.

I've been the Mistress of a rich wall street broker for a year and a half. He moved me into an apartment six months ago. We aren't getting along. I want to break with him and he probably wants to break with me. I can't afford to move out. Do you think he ought to give me some money and how much?

Melissa in Manhattan

ANSWER FROM MISSY

Hello Melissa,

Yes, I do think a rich man who has moved a Mistress into an apartment so that she could be there for him and who wishes to break with her should help her.  This is not severance from a job or a pension. It is because you once loved and you both gave it a go to see what might happen next. And when people love each other, they try to ease a break up. He well knows that you cannot afford to move out on your own and what your finances have been and are. It is good and right.

I suggest you have to have 'the talk' with the man and you have to get into it spontaneously, because no one likes to have 'the talk.'  (And yes, you can go to couple's counseling.) 

I think it would be reasonable for him to find another apartment for you that is affordable and pay for about six months of the rent, as well as money for the basics such as utilities and food. Hopefully you will be able to get work and independence by then.  I base that on how long you've been together. If it had been more years, more money.

Often a Mistress experiences an elevation in her lifestyle and it can be difficult to go back to what one came from. Whatever self-improvement or awareness you have obtained through this experience you go forward with!

Best Wishes, 

Missy

ALICE KEPPEL : LA MAITRESSE DU ROI IN FRANCE : STILL HE WAS NEVER FAITHFUL

The King spent much time in France at the seaside resort Biarritz on the Atlantic coast and France might have been where he felt most at ease. It was in France that Alice was treated as through she were the Queen. And if you're wondering, yes her family went along on many of these trips.

Excerpt page 229 ; " ... For the sake of appearances she would neither be met by the King nor accommodated in his hotel. Her host would be Sir Ernest Cassel, who would have rented the luxurious Vila Eugenie - the restored seaside residence of the Second Empire court - which would be run for him by his windowed sister. Alice Keppel would have a floor to herself, her daughters being accommodated in the nursery wing which had once housed the late Prince Imperial. ....

However, the King and Mrs. Keppel would stroll together on the promenade and they lunched together in his suite at the Hotel Du Palais. One of the reasons he preferred Biarritz, however, was because few royals went there, nor did politicians, and he was also not approached there by women who hoped to seduce him.  King Edward VII was not faithful to Alice Keppel - or any woman - in his lifetime. He was a philanderer and in his sixties he was still out and about with the ladies.  Some of his conquests are known by name and so I must wonder, yes he was a King, rich, but also balding, fat, and - well, some say he was actually unable to perform in the last decade or so of his life - so WHAT WAS IN IT FOR THE WOMEN - SOME WHO TRIED, SOME WHO SUCCEEDED, in SEDUCING HIM?  I tend to think that for some women in that time and place, seducing a King was like a groupie seducing a rock star.  One might not think a night of passion would lead to a relationship, but it might also be worth the chance, even knowing that other women had the very same mind-set.

In past posts in previous months, I've written about the final days of the King, and the way Alice reacted in grief.  No doubt about it, she loved Edward and the life he gave her and her family.

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Interested in Groupies?  You may want to go into my archives: 

October 2016

GROUPIES - Are They Really So Different Than Mistresses?

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....

C 2026 Mistress Manifesto - All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights

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.

C 2026 Mistress Manifesto - All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights.

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