Victorian Scandal: The Beresford Love Letter

While Queen Victoria famously did not let her son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, have anything to do with her duties as monarch, The Prince and Princess of Wales were the undoubted King and Queen of British Society. This is largely because Queen Victoria became very reclusive following the death of her husband, Prince Albert in 1861. So, although her son was not allowed much preparation on the business end of being monarch, he had the social part of being monarch thrust upon him at young age. The interesting thing, is that once he actually became monarch, he did a good job in the short amount of time he had. And, even though he is most often associated with the mistresses and scandals he was involved with while he was Prince of Wales, one can’t help but wonder, if he had actually been given a job by his mother, would he have had less to do with the scandals?

As I have previously talked about in my series on the life of Edward’s wife, Queen Alexandra, the late 1880s and early 1890s were particularly difficult years for the Wales family. Not only was their eldest son and heir Prince Eddy headed down a wayward path, but the Prince of Wales himself was embroiled in several scandals during that period as well. One of which, was the Beresford Love Letter scandal involving members of the Marlborough House Set, the exclusive group of British society who were close with he Prince and Princess of Wales.

One thing to know about the Marlborough House set is that overwhelming amounts of them were having affairs with one another, and Francis Evelyn Greville, Countess of Warwick was no exception. At the time of the scandal, in the late 1880s, her husband had not yet succeeded to the Earldom of Warwick and so he was styled as Lord Brooke with his wife, who was often called by her nickname “Daisy” being styled as Lady Brooke. (She was called called by those she was close to, Daisy Brooke.)

Daisy was a long time favorite of the Prince of Wales, and is believed to have been his mistress from around 1889 to 1898. She also was involved in a longtime affair with Lord Charles Beresford, a friend of the Prince and another member of the Marlborough House Set, through most of the 1880s. It is believed that out of Daisy’s five children only her oldest was the biological child of her husband, and that her second and third children belonged to Lord Charles. Her third child, and son named Charles died young, but later in life, Daisy openly admitted that her second child, a daughter, was Lord Charles’.

In 1889 Lord Beresford was sent away on a Naval commission and he asked his pregnant wife to manage his mail while he was gone. In doing so, Lady Charles came across a letter written to her husband by Lord Charles’s mistress Daisy Brooke. In the letter, she berated her lover for daring to get his own wife pregnant as she saw that as a total betrayal to their relationship. Lady Beresford, who was shocked to receive such a letter gave it to a lawyer for safekeeping.

When Daisy realized that the letter had been read by Lady Charles and not her husband, she knew that it being out would threaten her reputation and place in society, so she made an attempt to get it back. It was at this time, that Daisy was moving into the position of a semi official mistress of the Prince of Wales, and, knowing his social power, she asked him to intervene on her behalf. The Prince talked to Lady Charles and threatened her with social banishment if the letter was not returned to Daisy, which, it was. When Lord Charles learned of how the Prince had treated his pregnant wife, the two men, who had formerly been good friends, got into a semi physical altercation with Lord Charles reportedly pushing the Prince down onto a couch.

Although Daisy, with the help of the Prince, won the battle for the letter, she certainly did not win the war. The Beresford’s and their relation, Mrs. Gerald Paget, retaliated by leaking details of the affair. Mrs. Paget also went on to write a pamphlet called “Lady River” (often called “The River”) which detailed the affair. The name of the pamphlet was in reference to the nickname that Daisy had picked up over the course of the scandal…The Babbling Brooke..

Although Lord and Lady Charles did get their revenge, after the scandal, they were no longer a part of the Marlborough House set. Lady Brooke on the other hand, retained much of her social standing because she remained a favorite of the Prince of Wales for the next several years.

This scandal was one of many at this time, that nearly drove Queen Alexandra, then the Princess of Wales to her breaking point. To read more about this difficult time in her life, (and for that matter the rest of her life) be sure to check out my Alexandra of Denmark series.

Alexandra of Denmark Pt. 4: Trials, Tragedy and Trudging Forward

To start at the beginning of the series…

Young Alexandra, The Pride of Two Peoples

Victorian Scandal: The Aylesford Affair

13 Glimpses of Sunny Marlborough, “The Churchill Who Saved Blenheim”

Hidden in History: Winston Churchill’s Aunt Leonie, Her Royal Romance….And His Wife?

A few more scandals, a look at the life of Ernest Simpson after Wallis, and a look at the lives of Edward VII’s many mistresses…They were so much more than what they are primarily known for!

Make sure you are a MBH subscriber to dive deep into the world of the Stuarts. James II, his mistresses, wives, children, revolution, the Jacobites and so much more! Free subscribers will have limited access to the main posts, upgraded subscribers will have access to the entire library of posts as well as videos and extra research in the MBH chat.

As always, thank you for being a part of this growing community!

Until Next Time,

McKenzie

Sources:

Alexandra, Princess and Queen by David Duff

Bertie: A Life of Edward VII by Jane Ridley