EDWARD ALBERT PRINCE OF WALES INTERCEEDS IN THE DAISY GREVILLE - MINA AND CHARLES BERESFORD SCANDAL

Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, paid a visit to the lawyer that Mina Beresford had hired to negotiate for her and her marriage.

The lawyer was impressed that the Prince himself had paid him a home visit - even thought he'd arrived in the wee hours of the night. He, unprofessionally, showed the Prince the letter Daisy Warwick had written to Charlie Beresford. The Prince ordered him to destroy the letter but this lawyer wasn't going to act that unprofessionally...

Instead he suggested he ask his client if he could destroy it. Was he joking? Mina stood her ground unwilling to bend to the Prince's will. That made him furious.  So, what he decided to do was to return to Mina and ask her if she would be willing to destroy the letter on one condition.  Daisy would be banned from London for the entire social season.

Missy here!  I have to say that this might have been an excellent and fair solution. Though society would undoubtedly know why, and Daisy might suffer socially, it was only one season.

 

The solution infuriated Daisy. The Prince, now fallen in love with Daisy, tried one more time. This time he suggested that if Mina would not destroy the letter and forget the whole thing, that by his orders she, not Daisy, would suffer the ostracism and give up her own position in society. She refused to change her mind.  Charlie had also tried to persuade his wife to give up and destroy Daisy's letter. 

Excerpt page 152: ... "As one of the offending parties, Charlie had kept a low profile, hoping that the problem would just resolve itself. But now, upon hearing rumors that Bertie had stollen Daisy away from him, Charlie cast aside all attempts at diplomacy.  Due to set said on the HMS Undaunted, Charlie demanded to see Bertie immediately, and have the matter out once and for all. The two men argues. In the end the Beresfords lost because they did not comply with Edward Albert. He demanded of their set that they not be invited to any event that they invited him to. They were dropped from society. Meanwhile Mina's lawyer was knighted.

By now Daisy Greville Countess of Warwick and Edward Albert Prince of Wales had become lovers. Charlie Beresford knew it too. Daisy had lost at love, had to give up this great love affair of hers, and now she was one of the mistresses of the future King. She became the star of the house parties and her husband had no choice but to accept or retreat.  Over time he would retreat.

Excerpts Pages 154-155:

 ... "This was a world that Daisy adored, and she played the role of mistress to perfection, accompanying Bertie to balls, receptions, country house parties, and horse racing at Ascot, Goodwood, and Epsom.  The correspondent of The World magazine, craning her neck to see Daisy at the opera with Bertie, described, a 'goddess whose fame had penetrated even to the dim recesses of the placid country, her profile was turned away from an inquisitive world, but I made out a rounded figure, diaphanously draped, and a brilliant, haughty, beautiful countenance." the diaphanous fabric became Daisy's signature look, a fittingly classical style to show off her superb figure to its uttermost....."

... "Daisy and Bertie's affair was conducted against the backdrop of London society, and the stately homes of England, particularly Daisy's own Easton Lodge."

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PRINCE EDWARD ALBERT EXPECTED AND GOT DAISY GREVILLE COUNTESS OF WARWICK AS A MISTRESS

Charlie Beresford had one of those "long suffering" wives - Mina.

Like many women of their set, Mina expected her husband to stay with her, no matter what.  But Charlie, was reported in the  London gossip columns as "Bewitched" by Daisy Greville. "Within three years of Daisy's marriage, they were lovers, much to poor Mina's consternation."

Excerpts Pages 148-149 : "Daisy had fallen spectacularly in love, despite the fact that Charlie was fifteen years older. Charlie Beresford was a celebrity, with is irrepressible high spirits, his war record, and the charm that preceded hi into the room; it was said you heard the voice before you saw the man.  Their affair unfolded with the momentum of an Elinor Glyn story, and with a conclusion more astonishing than anything that the romantic novelist could have imagined.

As we have seen, Daisy was accustomed to getting her own way. So it was that one morning, while the Beresfords were staying at Easton Lodge, Daisy strode into Mina's bedroom and told her that she was planning to desert Brookie abandoned their three children, and elope with Charlie.  Mina's response to this extraordinary disclosure was measured.  Mustering all the hauteur of which she was capable, Mina retorted that "the circumstances of the affair" were already well known to society, and that she had no intention of relinquishing her husband. More significantly, Mina said that she was not prepared to sacrifice her husband's career on such an insane scheme and she was taking Charlie home immediately.

If Daisy was devastated by this outcome, it came as something of a relief to Charlie Beresford.  Charlie's infatuation with Daisy was fading fast, and any lingering sentiments he may have had were destroyed by Mina's allegations that Daisy was "not content with his attentions alone." Charlie seemed anxious to move on and consign his relationship with Daisy to the past."

Daisy did not give up, after all she was in love.  In 1886 Mina was pregnant. Daisy raged. She felt betrayed by Charlie. She went against the rule that affairs in the Marlborough set were all right so long as lovers were discreet.  That her behavior had been noted in the gossip columns went against that rule but, worse, she sent a furious letter to Charlie. She wanted Charlie to leave Mina and join her on the Riviera, France. And Daisy also claimed that he was the father of her oldest daughter, Marjorie.

Charlie was not the one to open that letter and read it.  Mina was. She went to a top lawyer in London with it.  He needed to keep whatever machinations occurred out of court. In other words the lawyer was going to have to solicit an agreement, not a divorce. Mina was actually showing more gumption and power than any ordinary woman at that time dare have. She was fighting for her marriage which was, of course, entwinned with her wealth and reputation, her place in high society.

Daisy demanded the letter back...

Excerpt Page 150-151

"Infuriated by the machinations of these irritating wives and pettifogging lawyers who stood in her way, and facing the prospect of ruin if the matter became public, Daisy realized that there was only one person she could turn to. Only one man had the power, the contacts, and the chivalry to come to the aid of this damsel in distress; Bertie, the Prince of Wales. Daisy was by now on good terms with Bertie, dined regularly with him, and had met him at Ascot and Goodwood. More significantly \, Daisy was aware that Bertie was sympathetic and wise, concerning affairs of the heart.  Confident that Bertie would act on her behalf, Daisy wrote to the prince and asked if he would see her.

Bertie responded immediately. ...

... "As she sat in front of his desk, Daisy found that Bertie was looking at her "in a way all women understand."

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FRANCES EVELYN MAYNARD WAS NICKNAMED DAISY AS A BEAUTIFUL GIRL : AS A MARRIED WOMAN SHE ENTERED THE DANCE OF ROMANTIC AFFAIRS : SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH LORD CHARLES BERESFORD

In the passages below, please note that the future King Edward VII, is known as Prince Edward Albert - the Prince of Wales. Daisy's husband, Francis Greville, Lord Brooke (later the 5th Earl of Warwick) is known as Brookie. Bertie is the nickname that Queen Victoria called her husband, Prince Albert.

Daisy errored when she went and fell in love with Lord Charles Beresford.

She was a tomboy, but she grew into her femininity and was a sought after bride. She had personal riches, beauty, spirit, and loved to hunt but thought of fishing and shooting as dull. Soon, she and her husband would be socializing with the Royals, the Peerage, and soon she would find her husband, Francis Greville, Lord Brooke (later the 5th Earl of Warwick) dull too.

From the Chapter of Catherine Arnold's book called The Heart Has Its Reasons: Page 146-147

"From the start of her married life, Daisy regularly witnessed the courtly dance of romantic affairs played out against the backdrops of grand country houses, and longed to be part of it, regardless of Brookie's feelings.  It seems to have been a certain acceptance on Brookie's part that Daisy was a force of nature who made her own rules....."

....."It was in this milieu, as a married woman, that Daisy saw exactly how her contemporaries conducted their affairs.  Indeed, it appeared to Daisy that an affair was almost de rigueur, as long as both parties remained discreet.  Unfortunately, discretion was one quality of which Daisy was almost entirely devoid.

Determined to have a little fun of her own, and realizing that country house weekends were the ideal opportunity to bag a lover, Daisy began to cast around for a suitable man for the role. But finding the right individual proved to be more difficult than Daisy expected....

Daisy witnessed one man she was interested in going off with Lillie Langtry... And she did meat Prince Edward Albert, the Prince of Wales, at various society events such as balls and had danced with him and talked with him, but he was involved with Mrs. Cornwallis-West at the time.

"Having provided Brookie with three children, Daisy succeeded in sticking to her marriage vows, despite her headstrong and impulsive character, until the fateful day when she met Lord Charles Beresford. A close friend of the Prince of Wales, Charlie Beresford was the practical joker who had turned off the oxygen in Louis Battenberg's cabin while he was belowdecks "inspecting the facilities" with Lillie Langtry."

Excerpt page 148 : "Lord Charles Beresford (1848-1919) was Berties' former navel aide-de-camp, a decorated war hero, and fourth lord of the admiralty...  By the age of thirty-seven, Charlie Beresford was as outrageous as ever, much to the discomfort of his wife, Mina. Older than Charlie, and physically unprepossessing, Mina had resorted to cosmetics to improve her appearance.  This included false eyelashes, one of which was ripped off by a child who mistook it for a butterfly.  Exposing a nasty streak, Daisy took great pleasure in humiliating Mina....."

Mina would soon enough fight to keep her marriage and prove to be an excellent enemy to Daisy. To do so, to create peace and help Mina preserve her marriage, Prince Edward Albert himself would get involved. However, there would be a price to be paid by Daisy, her husband, and Charlie and his wife, Mina, too.

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