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?

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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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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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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ALICE KEPPEL : THE "MISTRESS IN CHIEF" OF KING EDWARD VII : SHE CALLED HIM 'KINGY' : HE WAS ACCEPTED INTO HER HOME BY HER HUSBAND AND DAUGHTERS TOO

 

ALICE KEPPEL

 Alice Frederica Edmonstone***

"Freddie"

image from Wikimedia Commons

dated as originally painted between 1890 and 1900

1868 - 1947

Our Mistress of the Month here at MISTRESS MANIFESTO is Alice Keppel  who was very well known as King Edward VII's mistress - one of his last extramarital relationships that the very busy King had while married to Queen Alexandra - in her time. Perhaps she is best known today because Queen Camilla is one of her descendants. She was one of Queen Camilla's great grandmothers. ***  Over the last few months I've focused on King Edward VII's mistresses, having read over three books by three authors, that include Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, Agnes Keyser, and Alice Keppel. Alice lived until 1947 making her almost contemporary. But as the King died in 1910, we can say that her relationship with him, that began in about 1898 when she was about 30, lasted until she was about 42 years old. We also know that she was with him to the very end and went hysterical with grief. Perhaps he was the love of her life?

This month I will start with what I noted while reading the book Edward VII's Last Loves by Raymond Lamont-Brown.

Born Alice Frederica Edmonston, by the time she, as Mrs. George Keppel, met the then Prince of Wales he had been married six years and had four children by his wife. Born in 1841, the King was also seventeen years her senior - and had a history of taking much younger mistresses and, as I see it, was totally incapable of limiting himself when it came to women.

Alice came from the upper class of Scottish society, educated people, good schools for the boys, home schooling for the girls - nobility. She was raised by a nanny and a governess and was destined to be an idle married woman of the upper class, but she was a tomboy that her family called "Freddie" and 'outspoken for a girl.'  She was one to want more.

Alice grew up in a castle that had been home to the Edmonstons since the 4th century and had been a gift to them from King Robert III of Scotland. She was the youngest daughter of Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet of Duntreath, and Mary Elizabeth Parsons. Her father died when she was 20. At 23 she married the Honorable George Keppel, the son of the 7th Earl Albemarle, whose family had a history of service to the Royal family. He was not rich though, and had no inheritance to look forward to. She remained married to him.

Alice had two daughters, whose paternity is questioned as not sired by her husband, Violet, a lesbian who became a bit infamous in her time, was born in 1894, and Sonia, whose descendants include Queen Camilla, was born in 1900.  Sonia has been suspected as having been fathered by Edward Albert, Prince of Wales.

As members of Edward Albert's Marlborough House set, Alice had a series of affairs. Her husband did not object when she became the prince's mistress. Once she was Edward's mistress, prior to his becoming King Edward VII, the family benefitted from the King's largess. They moved into a better house where Alice could entertain the King and her daughters came to accept 'Kingy', as their mother called him, as a special visitor. He was good to her children and, to put it right, they knew how to get lost. 

Like other Royal mistresses, notably Daisy Warwick and Lillie Langtry,  Alice was blessed with glorious red hair. Her skin was alabaster and her eyes described as 'turquoise!" *** She was considered intelligent and informed - a good conversationalist. She traveled with the King, to Paris, to resorts, and was accepted by his court. As a result she was called 'Mistress in Chief" by them. The nick-name implies that they accepted that she was in charge of him, though it's clear there were aspects of his life that she had no say in. However, the notion that she was befriended by the Princess Alexandra, 'Alix," the Prince of Wales' wife, as reported by author Raymond Lamont-Brown, is denied in other books.

Now I will continue with this month's primary reference, the third book I read about King Edward VII and his mistress Alice Keppel. Theo Aronson's The King In Love.

She was the youngest of nine children, a girl with an independent spirit.

There are many versions of who introduced Alice and the King but the memories are unified in that the 56 year old King was at once wildly attracted to the 29 year old Mrs.George Keppel. She had the ideal curvatons Victorian figure, glorious hair, small hands and feet. But her personality also shone through.

Excerpt Page 187 : With her short but generously proportioned figure, Alice Keppel exuded an unmistakable sensuousness; there was a warm, almost Mediterranean quality about her appearance. This same exotic aura characterized her manner.  She was vivacious, extrovert, expansive.  Her voice was low and seductive.  In old age one admirer remembered her as having a 'deep throat voice like Garbo.'  Even in those less emancipated days she smoked, using a long cigarette holder; it emphasized her air of sophistication. She dressed with great panache and, after becoming the Prince of Wales' mistress, with greater panache still.  (She did have a Greek grandmother.)

Excerpt page 189 : As she matured, Alice Edmonstone - in spite of her Latin looks - appeared to be developing into a typically aristocratic young Scotswoman; honest, energetic, practical. She had, as they would say, her head screwed on correctly.  But there was more to her than this. Alice Edmonstone had a genuinely kind heart; her nature was without pettiness, prejudice or malice.  She never spoke ill of anyone; she almost never lost her temper. Even as a girl, her tact was remarkable. It was always she who kept the peace between her frequently bickering sisters; who formed the bridge between those who were dogmatic and those who were diffident. Her impartiality her willingness to make allowance, were to become proverbial.

Though we have this lovely portrait to refer to, let it be noted that bit by bit Alice Keppel became fat, dining so well and often with the portly King.

And with that, I say - The next post is coming soon!

Missy

Notes regarding Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom, upon the death of Queen Elizabeth upon her marriage to Prince Charles known as the Duchess of Cornwall. Camilla Parker Bowles's official title is Queen Camilla (or simply Her Majesty The Queen) following the coronation of King Charles III in May 2023. While she was initially referred to as "Queen Consort" upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the title was updated to "Queen" to reflect her position as the wife of the monarch. 

*** I've heard that Princess Diana's eyes were also considered to be turquoise.

*** Camilla denies that she ever offered Charles, Prince of Wales, to be his mistress back in the day when they first had a relationship.)

*** I've seen it spelled both Edmonstone and Edmonston...

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PRINCE EDWARD ALBERT WAS FIFTY-NINE YEARS OLD WHEN HE FINALLY BECAME KING

image from Wikimedia Commons identified as 

Edward Albert, Prince of Wales wearing the uniform of the Admiral, 

dated 6 August 1891

He was 59 years old when he became King in 1901 at his mother, Queen Victoria's death and ruled until May of 1910. He was in waiting for the throne for most of his life and had plenty of time for pleasure which he indulged in without much concern that he would ever be confronted with scandal over it. His wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, had no choice but to tolerate his womanizing. 

He was short, said to be about five foot eight, maybe with lifts in his shoes, and he was portly, but his clothing was tailored to him and there have always been those who like a man in a uniform...

AGNES KEYSER'S PARENTS WERE NEW MONEY PEOPLE ACCEPTED INTO THE PEERAGE : SHE DIDN'T WANT HIS MONEY BUT THE KING NEEDED HER

In Queen Victoria's time, there were about 1500 families who dominated London Society based on their pedigree rather than their money. But room was being made for the likes of the Keyser's. Excerpt page 55 : ... "By the 1890's stocks, shares, and money-making skills pushed into the social limelight a whole range of families backed by purchased land and money which had not been inherited... 

Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, finally became King in 1901 when his mother, Queen Victoria, died.  There was much anticipation because the people wanted change. It was well known that he was involved with Alice Keppel, but well, it was always said that the King had "democratic tastes" in women.  And he was involved with both Alice Keppel and Agnes Keyser

Excerpt page 75:  "The Prince of Wales association with Agnes Keyser developed at a much slower pace than his with Alice Keppel, and was not to increase in intensity until after he became King and his health entered its steady decline.  Alice would never lose her lace as maltress du roi (mistress of the King), but the monarch's need for Agnes evolved as a loving friendship.  It is likely too, that Edward was a regular visitor to the London house of the Keyser sisters at 17 Grosvenor Crescent, which the family leased from the Duke of West minister.

Exactly when and where the Prince of Eales and Agnes Keyser met for the first time in 1898 is difficult to tell. The prince - with Alice Keppel - was to visit the former Keyser home of Warren House on a number of occasions and knew the Keysers well, but it is likely that they first met in London through mutual friends, within the network of Anglo-Jewry which vacillated at the edge of Edward's court.  In particular the Bishcoffsheims and their relatives the Goldschmidts, the Sassoons, the Cassels, and the Wernhers, were all members of the princes' court circle. Many of their friends were to be further linked with Agnes and her new royal admirer through the advent of the South African War.

Agnes and her sister, Fanny, were volunteers in nursing service and relief organizations.

Here is how AI (using Wikipedia) defines the South African War:

The Second Boer War (1899–1902) was a major conflict where the British Empire fought two independent Boer republics—the Transvaal and the Orange Free State—for control of South Africa. Driven by imperial expansion and the desire to control gold resources, Britain utilized a massive army to overcome early Boer guerrilla tactics, concluding with the Treaty of Vereeniging, which annexed the republics.

Causes: The conflict arose from disputes over British "Uitlanders" (foreigners) in the gold-rich Transvaal, political friction between imperial expansionists (e.g., Lord Milner) and Boer leaders (e.g., Paul Kruger), and the aftermath of the 1895 Jameson Raid.

British Tactics & Consequences: To counter guerrilla tactics, the British implemented a "scorched earth" policy and established concentration camps for Boer civilians, causing over 26,000 deaths from disease and malnutrition. This sparked significant controversy in Britain.

Outcome: The war was the longest, most expensive (200 million pounds)
and bloodiest war for Britain between 1815 and 1914, costing over 20,000 British lives.

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AGNES KEYSER : "SISTER AGNES" WAS A NEVER MARRIED CHILDLESS WOMAN WHO LOVED THE AGING MONARCH KING EDWARD VII AND NEED NOT TAKE A DIME FROM HIM

Agnes Keyser as "Sister Agnes"

painting by Miss Maude Coleridge which appeared in tabloidish The Tatler, 16 September 1914.

image from Wikipedia

AGNES KEYSER

1852 – 1941

Raymond Lamont-Brown authored this book, which compares and contrasts the two acknowledged mistresses of King Edward VII's last years. It serves as the primary reference for this month's posts.

The magazine illustration above shows Agnes as a nurse, and called "Sister Agnes."  However, she had no nurse training. She could be called nurturing but commanding. The King was ailing, obese, in pain.

On the book cover here, Agnes is the one depicted to the top left, and Alice Keppel the bottom left. Lamont-Brown's book is about the last two loves of this King, who had devoted most of his life to pleasure whenever possible, during the last few years of his life.  

How to describe Agnes Keyser? One might suggest that she was so unlike the other mistresses of Edward Albert, the Prince of Wales who became King Edward VII, so unlikely to be a mistress, that she's remarkable in that way ... There is some speculation that he and Agnes had a love that was devoid of sexuality.  Though that may or may not be true, once again we make our way through the  mistress stereotype, that the relationship is about sex.

I want to start by posting what I learned about Agnes Keyser from reading the book I featured last month: Catherine Arnold's.

The King and his wife lived at Sandringham House which is today the preferred family home of King Charles III, but his wife felt herself to be a prisoner there because she was left home while the King was openly in a relationship with Alice Keppel. Everyone seemed to know their place in the scheme of things, for, according to author Raymond Lamont-Brown, that the King's entourage for his coronation  included other mistresses such as Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, Lillie Langtry, and Sarah Bernhardt. 

There is also the question of just how many children the Prince of Wales, who became King Edward VII late in life, had begot outside of his marriage. Some of the people who attended the coronation may have been the "bratlings" he had fathered.

The King was an aging, arguably sickly, portly, 58 year old when he met Agnes Keyser.  She, at 46 years old, was a prim "bachelor girl" (spinster) who had never married or had children. Her family was not quite to-the-manner-born as some of his mistresses had been, but they were rich and influential enough to have Agnes presented to Queen Victoria at court. Her parents were at least partially of Jewish heritage. Her father was a member of the Stock Exchange. She was an heiress and had the independence and freedom that most women of her era did not. It has been remarked upon that from an early age she did not much like women but she loved men. Speculation is that her own nanny was too harsh with her.

Agnes probably met the king in 1899.  The Boar war broke out and she and her younger sister, Fanny, set up a nursing home for officers.  Just officers. The King, called "Bertie." set up a trust to finance this nursing home.  Several of the donors were also of some Jewish descent. It became King Edward's Hospital for Officers.  She was thus called "Sister Agnes."

Now, from the Raymond Lamont-Brown book, we learn that both women likely got involved with the King around the same time in 1898.  In the mid 1800's in the United Kingdom there was a man-shortage. Around 20 percent of the women who were born about the same time as she never married. Not only that but the age of first marriage for women of her class had risen to 26 years old. But this isn't offered as an explanation for her resistance to marriage, which had been expected of her.  "She found the social ideal of women subjugating herself to a man in matrimony abhorrent." The Englishwoman's Review summed up her attitude perfectly when in its columns it averred that 'the higher a woman's nature is, the more likely it is that she will prefer to forgo marriage altogether, than surrender herself to a union that would sink her below her own ideal.' Because Agnes Keyser was wealthy she was never considered a social failure.

Furthermore, as a spinster, Agnes Keyser was far more independent than a married woman, being able to act as a trustee, an executrix, or an administratrix should she wish to, and to enjoy a franchise in parish matters.  Agnes Keyser became a member of the Victorian group of women who slowly developed new lifestyles which in time would influence all women. And as a terrible snob, Agnes intended to be somebody.  (Excerpts from page 45.)

The King had certainly no need of Agnes' money and she was not one to expect his financial support or generosity. But of course, what I do wonder, is if having two very different women in his life at the same time was necessary for the King to have all that he wanted and needed, if the two of them had qualities that balanced each other. For Agnes, if she thought of her as competition or not, the other woman was not the King's wife but Alice Keppel, a flamboyant personality who loved riches. Edward had been a Prince in waiting for the throne the majority of his life and his mother, Queen Victoria, was formidable. His wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, and he, had done their duty in bringing children into their world, but it was not a true love match. Divorce was impossible but who knows if Alexandra ever thought about it. She prevailed in the end having had the man in her life longer than any other woman.

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DAISY GREVILLE COUNTESS OF WARWICK'S LAVISH BALL LEADS TO HER CONVERSION TO SOCIALISM

The Palace of Versailles party was highly criticized in a small newspaper called Clarion would lead to a sort of conversion for Daisy Greville.

Excerpt page 205: "Daisy's fancy dress all was hailed as a triumph. "The throng of splendidly gowned and costumed men and women in the setting of the noble rooms of the castle seemed at the time to make the gathering worthwhile.  Daisy recalled, arguing that not only had the ball been great fun, but she had provided employment for dozens of servants, dressmakers, musicians, caterers, and florists.  "I felt happy in the belief that our ball was giving work to so many people who would otherwise have been idle. The festivities of the Lords and Ladies Bountiful were being translated into terms of meat and bread for the workers....

But then she saw the article in Clarion in which she was accused of sham benevolence."  Today we would say she needed a wake up call or that she was clueless. She went to see the editor, Robert Blatchford.

Excerpt page 205 -206 : ... "Daisy was so infuriated by this article that she jumped out of bed and took the next train to London."

"And then Robert Blanchford told Daisy, as a socialist and democrat, what he thought of charity bazaars and ladies bountiful.  Blatchford made plain the difference between productive and unproductive labor, and said that labor used to produce finery was as much wasted as if it were used to dig holes i the ground and fill them up again.

By this new standard, Daisy came to understand that nine-tenths of the money spent on the Warwick ball had been wasted.  Such elementary economics as that the only useful labor was labor that produced useful articles, which in turn helped labor produce again was all new to her...."

When Daisy got back to Warwick Castle, the party was still going on.  But Blanchford had made his point. She ordered dozens of books on socialism and read them. She was converted to new notions about social justice. Financing a school for local children and a needlework business for local women were just some of her efforts.

Her private life still included the Prince. In 1897 she wrote to him that she was pregnant again but the affair had ended. The son she gave birth to was perhaps not the Prince's but that of her latest lover, Captain Joe Laycock of the Blues, who was one of the riches men in England and a war hero. Pregnant, she decided this time to have an abortion. It was a horror and she almost died of infection, but she recovered, only to become pregnant again at the age of forty-two. She gave birth to Laycock's child in 1904.

The Prince, of course, had other mistresses, notable were Agnes Keyser, and his last, Alice Keppel.  The Prince became King Edward VII at age 59, after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. in 1901.

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Note: I personally think Banchford's thinking was extreme. I do see value in all labor including the expensive fashion and entertainments. Today many thousands of people are employed in those industries. It is mindful not to be wasteful but I dread to think what would happen if so very many were put out of work.

WHAT MISTRESS OF THE MONTH ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS BLOG?

I know that the more hits a subject or post gets, the higher up in the ranking, and sometimes that just isn't fair because I spend a lot of time researching for newer subjects and posts too.

I wonder.  WHICH MISTRESS ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS BLOG?

Missy

LILLIE LANGTRY : A NEW HUSBAND INFLUENCES HER TO SELL OUT OF THE HORSE AND RACING BUSINESS

Excerpt pages 247-248

In 1899, when she was forty-five, she married Hugo de Bathe. He was an odd choice for her.  He was nineteen years younger than her and he had no money to speak of. His main attraction seems to have been his father's title and Lillie would become Lady de Bathe. She was able to go ahead with the marriage with a clear conscious, because her troublesome first husband, Edward, had died of a brain hemorrhage in an insane asylum just over a year earlier, ending the speculation over the validity of her Californian divorce.

Hugo persuaded Lillie to sell her riding stable and horses, because he didn't think it was proper for a woman to own racehorses. The couple lived on Jersey for a time, but when Hugo volunteered for army service in the Boer War and left for South Africa, she returned to London and resurrected her stage career. Initially, she was just as successful as before, but her appeal was slowly waning. She tired vaudeville in New York and she made a film. In 1907, her marriage to Hugo finally paid off. Hugo's father died and she became Lady de Bathe....

It's my suspicion that Lillie supported her younger husband and that they both went their separate ways without considering divorce. In this way during the Victorian Era both would have been considered more respectable.   

I have a question for you: Have you given up a business in order to keep a relationship?

ROSES and LILY

 

LILLIE LANGTRY BECOMES INDEPENDENT OF HER HUSBAND, FOUNDS A THEATRE AND BECOMES A BUSINESS WOMAN.

Excerpt pages 246-247: in 1882, after success in Britain, Lillie founded her own theatre company and took it on a tour of the United States. She found that her reputation had preceded her, so she played to full houses wherever she went.  She made repeated tours of the States that were Equally successful. And she collected male admirers along the way.  One of them, wealthy horse breeder Freddie Gebhard, spent a fortune on her.  Her earnings from the theatre and Freddie's expensive fits enabled her to start a winery and, like Freddie, breed horses. She became an American citizen in 1887m which enabled her finally to have her marriage to her first husband, Edward, dissolved.  The marriage was ended by a California court, but legal opinion at the time suggested that the divorce was invalid in Britain and indeed anywhere outside California...

Lillie Langtry had another relationship, a violent one, with a man who also had a passion for horses.  In 1893 he died and left her more horses and she had a business named Mr. Jersey.  I note that she did not use Miss or Mrs. Jersey.  This put it into perspective for me that this Victorian Era woman had to deal with the extremely limited options women had at that time.  Queen Victoria might have ruled, but most women could only achieve power and status through their husbands or associations with men. And it's often still the same way.

Do you have a mentor, patron, benefactor? Is there anyone you can count on for a personal loan, gift, scholarship or internship?

Please leave me a comment!

Missy
 

LILLIE LANGTRY'S FRIEND OSCAR WILDE WROTE THE POEM ROSES AND RUE FOR HER

Though Oscar Wilde was likely bisexual; opinions differ.  He did marry.  He might have been repressed. He was reportedly in love with Lillie Langtry.

Roses and Rue

by Oscar Wilde

Could we dig up this long-buried treasure,
Were it worth the pleasure,
We never could learn love's song,
We are parted too long

Could the passionate past that is fled
Call back its dead,
Could we live it all over again,
Were it worth the pain!

I remember we used to meet
By an ivied seat,
And you warbled each pretty word
With the air of a bird;

And your voice had a quaver in it,
Just like a linnet,
And shook, as the blackbird's throat
With its last big note;

And your eyes, they were green and grey
Like an April day,
But lit into amethyst
When I stooped and kissed;

And your mouth, it would never smile
For a long, long while,
Then it rippled all over with laughter
Five minutes after.

You were always afraid of a shower,
Just like a flower:
I remember you started and ran
When the rain began.

I remember I never could catch you,
For no one could match you,
You had wonderful, luminous, fleet,
Little wings to your feet.

I remember your hair - did I tie it?
For it always ran riot -
Like a tangled sunbeam of gold:
These things are old.

I remember so well the room,
And the lilac bloom
That beat at the dripping pane
In the warm June rain;

And the colour of your gown,
It was amber-brown,
And two yellow satin bows
From the shoulders rose.

And the handkerchief of French lace
Which you held to your face-
Had a small tear left a stain?
Or was it the rain?

On your hand as it waved adieu
There were veins of blue;
In your voice as it said good-bye
Was a petulant cry,

"You have only wasted your life."
(Ah, that was the knife!)
When I rushed through the garden gate
It was all too late.

Could we live it over again,
Were it worth the pain,
Could the passionate past that is fled
Call back its dead!

Well, if my heart must break,
Dear love, for your sake,
It will break in music, I know,
Poets' hearts break so.

But strange that I was not told
That the brain can hold
In a tiny ivory cell
God's heaven and hell.

The Morgan Library and Museum Link to the manuscript!

I dare you to write a love poem and give it to the person who inspired it!

Missy

LILLIE LANGTRY's PUBLIC RELATIONSHIP WITH EDWARD ALBERT, PRINCE OF WALES AS HIS OFFICIAL MISTRESS SPARKED HER INTEREST IN HORSES

Excerpt Page 244

Very soon, the prince (Edward Albert, Prince of Wales) acknowledged Lillie as his official mistress and appeared in public with her.  They were seen riding together in Hyde Park and attending horse races, which sparked Lillie's lifelong interest in horses.  They enjoyed yachting regattas and weekends in the country. She was finally able to wear the finest dresses, given free of charge by designers who wanted the famous Lillie Langtry to be seen wearing their creations.  Aristocrats and foreign royalty wanted to meet her too.  And everyone wanted to know about the events she attended, what she wore, how her hair was styled, what she said and what she did.  She was famous as a film star today.  In 1878, she was even presented to Queen Victoria...

LILLIE LANGTRY : THREE YEARS AS THE MISTRESS OF SEX ADDICT EDWARD ALBERT, PRINCE OF WALES IN THE 1870'S : SHE FOUND HER WAY FORWARD IN MODELING AND ACTING

Author Ian Graham's book, which has a portion devoted to Lille Langtry, a mistress of Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, this month's Mistress of the Month, is the primary reference for the posts I present. This book has a long list of  women who have been "Scarlet." Several of them have already been featured here at Mistress Manifesto. 

In Chapter Six, Princes of Pleasure, we learn that Queen Victoria was disappointed in her oldest son, destined to be King of England, and until then titled the Prince of Wales. Prince Edward Albert was called Flirty Bertie. He did much more than flirt, frequently visiting prostitutes in French brothels, and without concern for what his wife, Alexandra of Denmark, who he married in 1863, might think. Marriage did not confine Edward Albert.

Today practicing Safer Sex is the only way to go, with our valid concerns for our health because venereal diseases, now called SID's, such as HIV and herpes. Then? Edward Albert was a sex addict, as I see it. In his case, having a wife and a mistress, or a series of them, did not cure him. He was involved in several scandals" with married women.

In August 2024 I featured one of his known mistresses, Catherine Walters, as Mistress of the Month, referencing a different book. He is known to have many affairs.

This months we focus on...

An 1885 Portrait of Lily by William Downey

image from Wikipedia

LILLIE LANGTRY - THE JERSEY LILY

Emilie Charlotte Le Breton

"The Jersey Lily"

1853-1929

Emilie Le Breton was a tomboy, running wild with her many brothers as a child and living the life of an island girl. Because her family had the means, she was given an education through tutors though a girl. Her father was a womanizer and adulterer, though a cleric; He reportedly fathered several children with parishioners. At fourteen she began to receive marriage proposals and at twenty she accepted the proposal of Edward Langtry, rich enough to own an eighty foot boat, especially impressive for 1874. They sailed away and set up house in London, where her outstanding beauty was only more obvious because of the simple clothing she wore.

After a lonely first year in London, she was painted by a local artist, who had prints of her image in shop windows. From then she posed for a number of artists and photographers who are respected today. She was welcomed into high society, into literary circles, as a friend and inspiration. Her husband went his own way, socializing with his men friends who went fishing and drinking. He was not paying enough attention. It's said that Lillie would ruin his life. 

In 1877, the Prince of Wales managed to have her sit next to him at a dinner party. In what seems to be the custom of friends of a Prince, they invited her husband to events in order to give Edward Albert and Lillie time to pursue an affair. He also gave her a house which she designed, as a love nest. They enjoyed themselves openly and he gifted her with jewelry and designer clothing. In 1878 she was even formally presented to Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales' mother. Once presented, other Princes and men of wealth and power were interested in Lillie.

Lillie was acknowledged as Edward Albert's mistress for three years. The relationship began to dwindle when, at this point, Lillie's husband began to activate and may have threatened to divorce her and reveal that the married Edward Albert was his wife's lover. Other women were no doubt attractive to him, and Lillie had competition. 

As well, she began an affair with the Prince of Battenburg and became pregnant. While the Prince of Battenburg was sent away on a navy assignment, she went away to Paris and gave birth to a daughter in March 1881. The infant was soon sent away to be raised by her mother.

Once the Prince of Wales had moved on, creditors moved in on her and her husband, who went bankrupt. She also had to sell some of the rich things she had acquired. She had to go on and, like some other mistresses I've presented here at Mistress Manifesto, she used her beauty and connections to get a break. When she made her debut as an actress, the Prince of Wales attended, showing his support - and friendship. Lillie Langtry moved forward into stage acting and, controversially, divorced her husband. The Prince of Wales persisted in his friendship with Lillie, such as being there in 1897 when a horse she owned won a race.

In 1881 Lillie gave birth to a daughter and left her with her own mother to be raised. The father was Prince Louis of Battenburg.

In 1899 at the age of forty-five Lillie Langtry married Hugo de Bathe, nineteen years younger than she, and became Lady de Bathe when his father died in 1907. She retired in Monaco and died there. Her husband did not attend her funeral. He was not in her will.

This month we'll learn more about Lillie Langtry, and celebrate Valentine's Day. As I read about how Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, and his friends managed so that he could have liaisons with a mistress, I was reminded of Prince Charles, now King Charles III, and Camilla Parker-Bowles, now Queen Camilla - and featured here in the past. You can read about Camilla by going into my archives.

Missy

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Information of Lillie Langtry appears in pages 242 - 248 of the book buy Ian Graham.