- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: John Murray Publishers Ltd; New edition edition (18 April 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0719554152
- ISBN-13: 978-0719554155
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,404,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
In November 1970 an article in an obscure British journal made the startling claim that the notorious mass-murderer, Jack the Ripper, had been none other than Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert Victor, Heir Presumptive to the British throne. Although this bizarre theory was subsequently dismissed, rumours about the long-forgotten figure of Prince Albert Victor - always known as Eddy - began to gather force. With each telling, they became wilder. Out of this welter of conjecture, claim and counter-claim, there emerged one accusation that cannot be dismissed. This is the story of Prince Eddy's alleged involvement in another Victorian cause celebre - the Cleveland Street brothel case. For the uncovering of this homosexual brothel in 1889 led to an extraordinary cover-up by the British government; a cover-up which is explicable only in the light of Prince Eddy's involvement. Working from original sources (including the files of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Esher Papers), Theo Aronson has written the first full account of the strange life of Prince Eddy, setting it in perspective against a vivid backcloth of the astonishingly active homosexual underworld during the last decades of Queen Victoria's reign. He explores Prince Eddy's upbringing, his university and military careers, his curious personality, his alleged "secret marriage", his links with the Jack the Ripper murders, his early death and, above all, the central mystery of his life - his sexual orientation. For it was this that linked the young Prince's name to the Cleveland Street Scandal.
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8 reviews
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Fascinating and sane treatment of a controversial subject
18 Oct 1999
Format:Hardcover
So much bunk has been written about Queen Victoria's grandson -- that he was Jack the Ripper or at the very least connected to the Ripper murders, etc. Here at last is a responsible, intelligently researched and extremely readable look at "Prince Eddy" and the real scandals that plagued his short life. Aronson does a wonderful job of depicting the homosexual underworld of Victorian Britain, bringing up some enlightening "home truths" for those who foolishly think that homosexuality is only an issue for our time. I would commend this book to those interested in gay history, in royal watching, and in the Jack the Ripper case as well -- it is informative and rewarding on all three topics.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
The definitive book on this dissolute royal!
18 Aug 2005
Format:Hardcover
"Prince Eddy" is a lively recounting of London's Cleveland Street Scandal of 1889 and the involvement in it by Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (a/k/a Prince Eddy). Part biography, part history lesson, part crime novel "Prince Eddy" captures the sexual mores of the Victorian Era quite well and along the way paints a very unflattering portrait of a mostly forgotten royal. As the eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) Prince Eddy was 2nd in line to assume the throne and a horrible potential heir and monarch. Born premature Prince Eddy showed little intellectual curiosity and indeed may have been what Victorians termed "feeble minded" if not mildly retarded. As a result of his stunted intellect and ambivalent sexuality Prince Eddy wound up in the center of a homosexual rentboy scandal that threatened to publicly implicate him. Many other gentlemen and aristocrats were exposed in the scandal, many of whom were quite close to Prince Eddy and were it not for the intervention of the royal family and their retinue of courtiers he likely would have been found out. Scrupulously researched utilizing police papers released in 1975 by the Public Record Office concerning the case, and the letters of one of the other participants in the scandal, Lord Arthur Somerset, Aronson has confirmed the Prince Eddy's involvement beyond a reasonable doubt.
Aronson details the whole of Prince Eddy's dissolute and sordid life including his heterosexual relations and engagement to Mary of Teck. Aronson dispels the many myths about Prince Eddy's death in 1892, including those that he was spirited away to an asylum to prevent his ascension to the throne and he explains how Mary of Teck wound up engaged and subsequently married to Eddy's younger brother George (later King George V and Queen Mary). It's frightening to think how close someone as incapable of ruling as Prince Eddy came to just that. Prince Eddy was long implicated as London's notorious Jack the Ripper, which Aronson thoroughly debunks. Well researched, thoroughly footnoted and well written "Prince Eddy" is perhaps the definitive book on this pathetic and forgotten royal. Presented in a factual manner the book is nonetheless a lively pageturner.
Aronson details the whole of Prince Eddy's dissolute and sordid life including his heterosexual relations and engagement to Mary of Teck. Aronson dispels the many myths about Prince Eddy's death in 1892, including those that he was spirited away to an asylum to prevent his ascension to the throne and he explains how Mary of Teck wound up engaged and subsequently married to Eddy's younger brother George (later King George V and Queen Mary). It's frightening to think how close someone as incapable of ruling as Prince Eddy came to just that. Prince Eddy was long implicated as London's notorious Jack the Ripper, which Aronson thoroughly debunks. Well researched, thoroughly footnoted and well written "Prince Eddy" is perhaps the definitive book on this pathetic and forgotten royal. Presented in a factual manner the book is nonetheless a lively pageturner.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
The definitive book on this dissolute royal!
31 Oct 2008
Format:Hardcover
"Prince Eddy" is a lively recounting of London's Cleveland Street Scandal of 1889 and the involvement in it by Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (a/k/a Prince Eddy). Part biography, part history lesson, part crime novel "Prince Eddy" captures the sexual mores of the Victorian Era quite well and along the way paints a very unflattering portrait of a mostly forgotten royal. As the eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) Prince Eddy was 2nd in line to assume the throne and a horrible potential heir and monarch. Born premature Prince Eddy showed little intellectual curiosity and indeed may have been what Victorians termed "feeble minded" if not mildly retarded. As a result of his stunted intellect and ambivalent sexuality Prince Eddy wound up in the center of a [...]l rentboy scandal that threatened to publicly implicate him. Many other gentlemen and aristocrats were exposed in the scandal, many of whom were quite close to Prince Eddy and were it not for the intervention of the royal family and their retinue of courtiers he likely would have been found out. Scrupulously researched utilizing police papers released in 1975 by the Public Record Office concerning the case, and the letters of one of the other participants in the scandal, Lord Arthur Somerset, Aronson has confirmed the Prince Eddy's involvement beyond a reasonable doubt.
Aronson details the whole of Prince Eddy's dissolute and sordid life including his heterosexual relations and engagement to Mary of Teck. Aronson dispels the many myths about Prince Eddy's death in 1892, including those that he was spirited away to an asylum to prevent his ascension to the throne and he explains how Mary of Teck wound up engaged and subsequently married to Eddy's younger brother George (later King George V and Queen Mary). It's frightening to think how close someone as incapable of ruling as Prince Eddy came to just that. Prince Eddy was long implicated as London's notorious Jack the Ripper, which Aronson thoroughly debunks. Well researched, thoroughly footnoted and well written "Prince Eddy" is perhaps the definitive book on this pathetic and forgotten royal. Presented in a factual manner the book is nonetheless a lively pageturner.
Aronson details the whole of Prince Eddy's dissolute and sordid life including his heterosexual relations and engagement to Mary of Teck. Aronson dispels the many myths about Prince Eddy's death in 1892, including those that he was spirited away to an asylum to prevent his ascension to the throne and he explains how Mary of Teck wound up engaged and subsequently married to Eddy's younger brother George (later King George V and Queen Mary). It's frightening to think how close someone as incapable of ruling as Prince Eddy came to just that. Prince Eddy was long implicated as London's notorious Jack the Ripper, which Aronson thoroughly debunks. Well researched, thoroughly footnoted and well written "Prince Eddy" is perhaps the definitive book on this pathetic and forgotten royal. Presented in a factual manner the book is nonetheless a lively pageturner.
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