Prince Eddy: The King Britain Never Had (Revealing History)

So many histories point out how aberrant, lazy, and unkingly Prince Eddy was, so it is refreshing to see a more positive presentation of him. He certainly wrote very well in the letters he wrote! His parents were terrible at raising their children -- Alexandra infantilized her children, while the Prince of Wales partied hard. At one point, the loving parents thought it was best that their two boys travel for 3 years on ships going around the world!The book should also be read along with Pope-Hennesy's excellent official record of Queen Mary's life, and her marriage, after a brief engagement to Eddy, to Eddy's brother, the future King George the Fifth as well as books which describe how Queen Victoria and Prince Albert treated their 9 offspring.Prince Eddy's sexual experimentations prior to his engagement to Princess May of Teck would certainly have been a trial for the future Queen Mary to deal with, since he certainly had syphilis or another STD, as this book makes clear. Nevertheless, while the history of the British monarchy usually overlooks Prince Eddy, this book recovers him as a living, breathing young man who appears to have been quite the victim of his royal birth. It's hard for us to remember that "royalty" had very much to do with the progeny having both parents be royal, so Prince Eddy's choices for a Protestant royal bride were limited. May of Teck's father, for example, was the product of a liaison between a royal father and a "commoner" bride, which was then called a "morganatic" marriage. This marriage by her grandparents made poor Princess May barely royal enough to marry Prince Eddy. May's mother was fully "royal" as she and her cousin Queen Victoria were both grandchildren of King George III.The inbreeding caused by these royal marriages was exacerbated by Queen Victoria's desire to have her offspring marry into the German, Prussian, and Russian royal families. Therefore, by the start of the First World War, the Kings/Czars of GB, Prussia, and Russia were all first cousins. The War destroyed most of the royal dynasties, leaving King George V's oldest son, David, unable to find a suitable wife. He abdicated to marry the woman he loved, leaving his younger brother, and the father of the current Queen, to lead his nation. Interestingly, King George VI's wife was from Scottish nobility, and the current Queen's husband was royal from the crumbling dynasties in one of the German states and Greece. Prince Charles had to marry a Virgin who was from the aristocracy, of which Diana Spencer was a truly well-connected offspring. Prince William could marry a commoner, the lovely, and queenly, current Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine.To understand the time period in which Prince Eddy lived and to compare it to what the royal family has experienced in the 129 years since his death is to get a new perspective of life, morals, and the role of a monarchy at various times of a nation. Prince Eddy died of influenza, making his life even more poignant at this time of Covid-19. Although nearly everyone believes he would have made a dreadful King, this book proposes that maybe that judgment is too harsh. He was certainly friendlier and sweeter-tempered than his brother! This book helps provide a counter-narrative about this young man and his lost place in history.

This book is advertised as a defense of Prince Albert Victor, elder son of the Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VII of Great Britain. Prince Eddy has in the past been accused of involvement in the Cleveland Street scandal (aristocratic patronage of a homosexual brothel) and even of having been Jack the Ripper. This book begins with an account of the Cleveland Street case (when the prince was a young man) , drops it half-way through to jump back to Eddy's birth, takes him up through his childhood and adolescence as a rather dull royal youth, then goes through the rest of the Cleveland Street case, various other scandals (mostly involving his father), Eddy's possible treatment for gonorrhea, his unsuccessful attempts to woo princesses, notably Helene, daughter of the pretender to the French crown, his eventual engagement to the very proper Princess Mary of Teck, and his death shortly afterwards of influenza, leaving Princess Mary to marry his stodgy brother, later King George V. The defense against Eddy's involvement in the Cleveland Street case presented in an appendix amounts to saying that Arthur Newton, attorney for some of those accused, much later in his career did a number of demonstrably illegal and unethical actions, and therefore he might have brought Eddy's name into this case to provoke a coverup. This is possible but hardly proven. Even less is said in the appendix about the Jack the Ripper case. At one point earlier in the book the author says that Eddy was demonstrably in the presence of large numbers of people elsewhere at the times of all the Ripper killings, but this is never substantiated. I am quite willing to believe it is true --Eddy seems to have just about always been surrounded by courtiers, some of them specifically assigned to keep an eye on him and prevent his getting into the kind of scandals that troubled his father. The appendix summarizes some of the more dubious writings and films making the Ripper charge, but does not seriously analyze why they are wrong. If this book is intended as a serious defense it should have gone into the evidence for these alibis in more detail.

Well it was harder to rate this book (I give it a 75 ,good but you can't dance to it). Part of the title gives the wrong answer , "the revealing history" isn't true theme is very little revealed about Eddy of anyone else besides the Prince of Wales. So much so at times its hard to tell if the book is about Eddy or his father. Why not just write about about the Prince of Wales ? Its hard to write a book about someone who's papers and letters have been loss or tossed but why bother to do it. this book needed more fact and less guess. Plus the whole myth of Eddy being Jack the Ripper which Cook takes on and then backs down from.He doesn't give any real reason for Eddy not being the Ripper just that He isnt. Most of the book is hard to follow as Cook starts talking about one Prince then jumps to the other _ back reading became an art form. Plus it would have been good to have some type of list of the lesser known people in history , it would make it easier to follow.After saying all that I did enjoy the book ,not an easy read but one worth reading just would have liked a little more of Eddy then his boring Father , that's for another time. If you have a little extra time , like puzzles and love the circus know as the British royal family this is one for you ! But before anyone gets undone God Save the Queen, Elizabeth 2 is the best of the lot. So grab a s,b,d and comfy chair and enjoy a " lite touch of history, not too many fact here.

I had no knowledge of Prince Eddy. Like it says, he was lost in time. Well researched. Enjoy the book

Eddys was Quees Victoria grandson. He loved his life in the Victorian times but had his misadventures. Lots of interesting detail. Well written. Great read for anyone with an interest in the history of the monarchy. Unfortunately he died before he could become king. Lots of research but not weighed down with bland historic minutiae.

Like most people, I knew nothing about the unfortunate Prince, apart from the libelous connection to the Cleveland Street case and the Ripper. From this book, he seems to have been a bit of a nonentity, socially able but lacklustre. Whether he would have been a better king than his brother is doubtful; they were much of a muchness and needed to be told what to do.But it is interesting to speculate on the generation that would have come after them: no Duke of Windsor, no Queen Elizabeth. Eddy and May would have had an entirely different crop of children. But that's history for you.My only criticism of the book is that there is altogether too much detail given about the Cleveland Street affair. Less names would have been better. Four and a half stars.

The book filled in many gaps in the history of Prince "Eddy". It disproved many of the rumours about his life and gave a fair picture of the young man.

great info about an often overlooked person

Great Product and Service. Many thanks!