Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, Earl of Athlone (January 8, 1864 - January 14, 1892) was born Albert Victor Christian Edward in Windsor, England, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) and Alexandra of Denmark, and was therefore the second in line to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Born two months premature, he was of limited intellect, and when he reached young adulthood his dandyism earned him the nickname Prince Collar and Cuffs. He was known to his family as Eddy.
Military career
Prince Eddy and his brother George served as Naval cadets on the HMS Bacchante until 1883, after which Eddy was sent to Trinity College, Cambridge. However, the Prince showed no ability as a student, and in 1885 he was sent to join the Army, in the Tenth Hussars Cavalry Regiment.
Prospective royal brides
Three women were lined up as possible brides for the Prince. The first, in 1889, was Princess Alix of Hesse (future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia), who did not return Eddy's affection. The second, in 1890, was Princess Helene of Orleans, whom Eddy also loved, but the engagement had to be cancelled when Helene (the great-granddaughter of the last King of the French) declined to give up her Roman Catholic faith.
Engagement of Mary of Teck
Finally, Eddy became engaged to Princess Mary of Teck (also known as Princess May), but before the marriage could take place he died of pneumonia at Sandringham House in Norfolk. He was 28 years old and unmarried, and his death left his younger brother, Prince George, heir to the throne. George married Eddy's fiancée, with whom he was in love and had a long and happy marriage. Prince George succeeded to the throne as George V.
Cleveland Street Scandal
The official biography of Queen Mary by James Pope-Hennessy euphemistically stated that Prince Eddy's private life was "dissipated". The official biographer of George V, Harold Nicholson, stated in his diaries that it appeared that Prince Eddy had been involved in a major scandal and there had been a cover-up at the highest levels. What is now clear is that this concerned Prince Eddy's involvement in the "Cleveland Street Scandal" of 1889 - the exposure of a 'rentboy' brothel in central London's Cleveland Street patronised by gentlemen and aristocrats. The release of Public Record Office police papers in 1975 concerning the case, and more importantly, and the publication of the letters of one of the other participants in the scandal, Lord Arthur Somerset, (see Hyde, Aronson and Lees-Milne) have confirmed the Prince's involvement beyond reasonable doubt.
Jack The Ripper rumors
In recent times Prince Eddy has been the centre of rumors that he was, or associated with, Jack The Ripper. The theories have been dismissed by reputable historians, as well as most 'Ripperologists', but have achieved a life of their own.
The first reference appears to be in 1962, when Phillippe Jullien author of Edouard VII, a biography of Eddy's father, made a passing reference to rumors suggesting that Prince Eddy and the Duke of Bedford were responsible for the murders. Which Duke of Bedford was supposed to be Eddy's colleague at the time of the murders was left uncertain. At the time of the murders the active Duke was sixty-nine-year old Francis Charles Hastings Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford (1819 - 1891). He would be shortly succeeded by George William Francis Sackville Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford (1852-1893) and then by Herbrand Arthur Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford (1858-1940), both in their thirties at the time. Jullien did not mention his sources of those rumors. His own book is believed to be the first recording them.
In 1970, Dr. Thomas Eldon Alexander Stowell published his article A Solution. Though Eddy was not named in the article itself, Stowell clearly presented him as being Jack the Ripper. Stowell claimed that Eddy actually died of syphilis and that the official report of his death by pneumonia should be dismissed. Stowell further claimed that syphilis had driven Eddy insane. In this state of mind he had perpetrated the five canonical Jack the Ripper murders. Following Mary Jane Kelly's murder he was finaly restrained by his own family and so was unable to continue the series of murders. Stowell claimed that his sources for the article were accounts written in private by Sir William Withey Gull. The article was published shortly before Stowell's own death on November 8, 1970. His papers were reportedly burned by his family. It has been suggested that Stowell could have served directly or indirectly as Jullien's source.
In any case the article attracted enough attention to place Eddy among the most notable Ripper suspects. However, later "Ripperologists" have noted several problems with this theory. William Withey Gull died on January 29, 1890 and so could not have been Stowell's source concerning Eddy's death. But even if he was the source concerning the murders, records of Prince Eddy's activities and whereabouts at the time of the five canonical murders do not confirm his presence in London. Mary Ann Nichols was murdered on August 31, 1888. From August 29 to September 7, 1888 Eddy was reportedly in Grosmont, North Yorkshire. Annie Chapman was murdered on September 8, 1888. From September 7 to September 10, 1888 Eddy was reportedly in York, also in North Yorkshire. Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes were both killed during the early hours of September 30, 1888. From September 27 to September 30, 1888 Eddy was reportedly in Abergeldie, Scotland. Later on the date of the murders Eddy is stated to be still in Abergeldie and having dinner with Queen Victoria, who was his grandmother, visiting members of the German Imperial family and William Ewart Gladstone, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Mary Jane Kelly was murdered on November 9, 1888. From November 2 to November 12, 1888, Eddy was reportedly in Sandringham Norfolk. However defenders of this theory have suggested that Eddy could have been secretly traveling to London and then returning to his recorded whereabouts or alternatively that the official records had been forged.
In 1978, Frank Spiering published his book Prince Jack further supporting this theory. Spiering claimed to have found a copy of Gull's private notes in the library of the New York Academy of Medicine. Supposedly the notes included a confession by Eddy himself under a state of hypnosis. Spiering also suggested that Eddy died due to an overdose of morphine administered to him under directions of Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, another Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and possibly his own father, the later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. The New York Academy of Medicine has since denied possessing the records Spiering mentioned. Consequently Spiering's writings have been widely dismissed as a combination of Stowell's previous theory with Spiering's own fictions. Spiering himself has been accused of being more interested in sensationalism rather than genuine historical research. However the theory had already gained enough support to not be clearly dismissed.
Meanwhile another theory had surfaced implicating in the Jack the Ripper murders not only Prince Eddy but the Royal family and a number of notable figures associated with it. This theory first came into public attention thanks to the BBC documentary series Jack the Ripper. The series contained five episodes, aired weekly between July 20 and August 17, 1973.
The series contained testimonies by Joseph Sickert, an obscure London artist and alleged illegitimate son of noted painter Walter Richard Sickert. Walter is known to have an acquaintance of Eddy. Princess Alexandra, Eddy's mother who like Walter was from Denmark, had introduced the two men in the hope that Walter would teach Eddy about London social life.
Joseph Sickert was also the main source used by author Stephen Knight (September 26, 1951 - July, 1985) in his work Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, first published in 1976.
Sickert's claims have also been dismissed by historians and Ripperologists. However Knight's Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution was successful enough at its time and has been constantly in print ever since. Through its success, this theory has become a popular one and can often be found mentioned in discussions of the case.
Joseph Sickert's account makes the following claims:
Prince Eddy was not homosexual as is often stated, but rather bisexual. Walter Sickert had introduced him to a Annie Elizabeth Crook, a shop girl living. (Records of the time report her as daughter of William and Sarah Crook).
Eddy and Annie proceeded to have an affair that resulted in a pregnancy. Eddy decided to marry his lover in a secret ceremony despite the fact she was Catholic. The sole witnesses to the ceremony were Walter Sickert and Mary Jane Kelly, as friends of Eddy and Annie respectively. Their child was born as Alice Margaret Crook. (Records of the time confirm Alice's birth to have happened between April and July, 1885 but not the identity of her father).
Eddy had his wife and daughter settled in an apartment in Cleveland Street and contacted them as often as he could. In 1888, the existence of an illegitimate great-grandchild came to Queen Victoria's attention. She informed Lord Salisbury of the matter. Queen and Prime Minister were supposedly both afraid that knowledge of the existence of Alice as a Catholic heir to the throne would result in a revolution. (This claim fails to consider that such a marriage would have been invalid under British law, and any child of such a marriage would not have been in line for the throne. Also according to the Act of Settlement (1701) only Protestant descendants of the Royal family, who have not, furthermore, married a Catholic, can succeed to the English Crown. Members of the Royal family who convert to Catholicism or marry Catholics simply lose their rights of succession to the throne).
Lord Salisbury proceeded to order a raid on the apartment. Eddy was placed in the custody of his family while Annie was placed in the custody of Sir William Withey Gull. The later supposedly conducted experiments on her, sending her insane. She would die in 1920 after spending more that thirty years in a mental insitution. (However there seem to be records of the time which mention her living with her mother and daughter following the Jack the Ripper murders).
Alice was supposedly in the care of Mary Jane Kelly during and after the raid. Kelly at first was content to hide the child, but then she decided to blackmail the goverment along with her friends Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman and Elizabeth Stride. Lord Salisbury suppossedly assigned Gull to deal with the theat they posed. The murders were supposedly performed by Gull with the assistance of coachman John Netley and Sir Robert Anderson (1841 - November 15, 1918) who was among the officials in charge of the case. Catherine Eddowes' murder was supposedly a case of mistaken identity. She was known to have used the alias Mary Ann Kelly which was also used by Mary Jane Kelly. (Knight substituted Anderson for Walter Sickert. "Ripperologists" tend to point that the Ripper victims were not known to be acquainted to each other and reports of their activities and whereabouts during the year of their death don't seem to suggest a connection).
Alice survived the events of the case and would live well into old age. She later became Walter Sickert's mistress and therefore Joseph's mother.
Prince Eddy in fiction
Through his connection to the above mentioned theories the Duke of Clarence has occasionaly been portayed in fiction. His appearances in film include:
- David Wickes' Jack the Ripper, first released on October 21, 1988. The actor portraying him was Marc Culwick.
- Janet Meyers' The Ripper, first released on December 6, 1997. The actor portraying him was Samuel West.
- The Hughes Brothers' From Hell, first released on September 8, 2001. The actor portaying him was Mark Dexter.
References
- Aronson, Theo: Prince Eddy and the Homosexual Underworld
- Lees-Milne, James: "The Enigmatic Edwardian"
- Hyde, H.Montgomery: "The Cleveland Street Scandal"
- Chester, Lewis; Leitch, David; Simpson, David: "The Cleveland Street Affair"
- Knight, Stephen: Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution
- Sams, Ed: Victoria's Dark Secrets