Dirty Bertie

by Stephen Clarke

  Bertie hardly even gets much credit for the Entente Cordiale, which in most minds seems to have happened by magic, or at the very least been dreamt up jointly by the British and French governments to annoy the Germans. In truth, though, as we have seen, the agreement that changed the whole balance of European politics would never have been conceived without Bertie.

  He does get some acclaim for creating his own era at home. Today, when we think of the Edwardians, we generally imagine big hats, brass bands and garden parties, people enjoying the last few years of peace and innocence at the start of the twentieth century. Bertie’s reign saw the flowering of a rich cultural life that seemed to reflect his personality – George Bernard Shaw’s comedies, Rudyard Kipling’s uplifting ‘If—’, and P. G. Wodehouse’s eternally fun-filled country houses, where the only problem was who would marry whom and which poor soul might actually have to get a job. In the popular memory, Bertie’s nation truly was Elgar’s ‘Land of Hope and Glory’.

  Life was by no means rosy for everyone in Britain, as the Suffragettes tried to show. And Beatrix Potter and Kenneth Grahame’s almost-human rabbits, moles and toads seem to suggest that some of the pervading optimism was in fact a child-like pre-war naïvety. But if we remember the Edwardian era as generally positive, it is largely thanks to Bertie’s own joviality.

  He should also be credited with creating the modern British monarchy. It was Bertie, the people’s King, whose taste for pageantry turned the monarchy into one of Britain’s national treasures. The makers of mugs, tea towels and documentaries owe him a huge debt – as do his royal descendants. If modern English princes are celebrities, and have their weddings televised worldwide, it is largely thanks to Bertie.

  Though it is another country that seems to have benefited most from his legacy. Bertie wasn’t the first, or the only, Brit to go to France in search of earthly pleasures, but for fifty-odd years he was the most famous. It was his fun-seeking in Paris, Cannes and Biarritz that established France’s image as a place where good food, sophistication and erotic delights are a way of life. He was the Englishman who helped to turn France’s fin de siècle into a belle époque, and who ensured that its fame would spread all over Europe, first amongst the upper classes, and then with everyone else.

  Before Bertie, France was an enemy, to be despised, distrusted or at least disdained. After him, it was sexy, fashionable and alluring – and still is today.

  What’s more, Bertie seems to be responsible for a phenomenon that continues to make me laugh after twenty years of living here in France. For some reason, even now, an Englishman who speaks French is regarded as the poshest life form in the universe. You may not know how to open a bottle of champagne, you may never have read Proust, but if you can get your irregular verbs right, you will be welcomed into France’s most snobbish social circles as an equal. It can only be thanks to Bertie. The liberating troops in 1944 made English-speakers popular here; the Beatles made everything British trendy; but it was Bertie who made Englishmen inherently chic, and his memory lives on in France’s subconscious.

  For this, and for being such a fascinating – and attractive – subject for a book, I for one would like to say a big merci.

  SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

  There have been countless biographies of Bertie, and the proof that he is a complex character is that they are so very different. But what interested me more were the opinions of him while he was still alive, and descriptions by his contemporaries of the people and places he knew, especially by the French, who knew him best. By hunting around in newspaper archives, it is also possible to get a direct insight into how Bertie’s contemporaries saw him and talked about him.

  Below is a selection of the books that have been most useful to me, or simply the most entertaining about Bertie’s times. Most of them have been cited in the text. The out-of-print French books can mostly be found on the Bibliothèque Nationale’s website: gallica.bnf.fr.

  All English translations of excerpts from French sources are my own.

  Biographies of Bertie

  Gordon Brook-Shepherd, Uncle of Europe: The Social and Diplomatic Life of Edward VII (1975)

  Virginia Cowls, Gay Monarch: The Life and Pleasures of Edward VII (1956)

  Émile Flourens, La France Conquise: Edouard VII et Clemenceau (1906)

  Christopher Hibbert, Edward VII (1976)

  Philippe Jullian, Edouard VII (1962)

  André Maurois, Edouard VII et son Temps (1933)

  Jane Ridley, Bertie: A Life of Edward VII (2012)

  Giles St Aubyn, Edward VII: Prince and King (1979)

  Stanley Weintraub, Edward the Caresser (2001)

  H. E. Wortham, Edward VII: Man and King (1931)

  Memoirs

  James de Chambrier, La Cour et la Société du Second Empire (1904)

  Henri Château & Georges Renault, Montmartre (1897)

  Jacques Debussy, L’Impératrice Eugénie (1913)

  Gaston Jollivet, Souvenirs de la Vie de Plaisir sous le Second Empire (1927)

  Adrien Marx, Les Souverains à Paris (1868)

  Comte de Maugny, Souvenirs du Second Empire: la Fin d’une Société (1890)

  Xavier Paoli, Leurs Majestés (1911)

  Irène de Taisey-Chantenoy, À la Cour de Napoléon III (1891)

  Emma Valadon, Mémoires de Thérésa, Écrits par Elle-même (1865)

  Horace de Viel-Castel, Mémoires du Comte Horace de Viel-Castel sur le Règne de Napoléon III (1883)

  Other sources

  A. C. Benson & Viscount Esher (editors), Letters of Queen Victoria, 1837–1861 (1907)

  Catalogue Officiel: Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1878 à Paris (Volume 4 has all the details of British exhibitors)

  Ludovic Halévy & Henri Meilhac, La Vie Parisienne (libretto, 1866)

  Napoléon III et Eugénie Reçoivent à Fontainebleau (exhibition catalogue, 2012)

  Paul Reboux, Le Guide Galant (1953)

  Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria (1921)

  Émile Zola, Nana (1880)

  Victoria and Albert in 1854 apparently traumatised at the idea of visiting Napoléon III the following year.

  Bertie as a teenager, enduring his tyrannical education. Note the books on the table, resolutely closed.

  Empress Eugénie of France (fourth from left) and her ‘dames du palais’. Bertie met these glamorous ladies in 1855.

  Emperor Napoléon III of France, shameless hedonist and Bertie’s male role model. The teenaged Prince told him: ‘You have a very beautiful country. I would like to be your son.’

  Bertie in 1865, presumably trying to convince his mother that he was studious.

  By his early 20s, France had turned the shy, repressed youth into a true Parisian playboy.

  Queen Alexandra, ‘the most courteously but implacably deceived royal lady of her time.’

  Unlike his own father, Bertie was an affectionate parent. His only failing – not to prepare Prince George (top left, in a dress) for the throne.

  Bertie aged about 28, the most fashionable man in Paris, friend and lover of aristocrats, actresses and famous prostitutes.

  Hortense Schneider, star of the Paris stage in the 1860s, whose ‘heart was as open to visitors as her house’. Bertie was a keen visitor.

  When Bertie watched his lover Jeanne Granier at the theatre, the Parisian audience applauded him for his taste in women.

  Can-can dancer La Goulue. One night at the cabaret, Bertie called out: ‘You have the prettiest legs in Paris’.

  Pauline Metternich, socialite wife of the Austrian ambassador to Paris. She introduced Parisian women to the pleasures of ice-skaing and smoking.

  Bertie invited actress Sarah Bernhardt to chic dinners in London just to shock prudish society ladies.

  Bertie often enjoyed private performances by Yvette Guilbert, singer of crude Parisian songs.

  Caroline ‘la Belle’ Otero, a singer whose ample chest is said to have inspired the domes on the roof of the Hôtel Carlton in Cann
es.

  Cora Pearl, an English ‘grande horizontale’ in Paris who once had herself served, naked, as dish of the day at the Café Anglais.

  Thérésa, a poor Parisienne who earned a fortune in the 1860s from her suggestive songs and generous lovers.

  France was annoyed by British colonialism in the early 1900s, hence this rare reference in the press to Bertie’s amorous antics.

  It was thanks to Bertie’s gift for smooth-talking the French that the Entente Cordiale was signed in 1904.

  On the beach at Biarritz, where Bertie went in old age to soothe his damaged lungs. And to smoke cigars.

  Bertie was the only man who could control his temperamental nephew the Kaiser. When Bertie died, the French acknowledged that war with Germany was inevitable.

  PICTURE PERMISSIONS

  Plate Section 1

  Victoria and Albert in 1894. Getty Images

  Bertie as a teenager. Getty Images

  Painting of Empress Eugénie and courtiers by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Roger-Viollet/Topfoto

  Emperor Napoléon III of France. Getty Images

  Bertie in 1865. Getty Images

  Bertie. Getty Images

  Princess Alexandra. Getty Images

  Royal family. Getty images

  Prince Bertie. Getty Images

  Plate Section 2

  Hortense Schneider. Getty Images

  Jeanne Granier. Author’s (very) private collection

  Louise Weber. Getty Images

  Pauline Metternich. Getty Images.

  Sarah Bernhardt. Getty Images

  Yvette Guilbert. Getty Images

  Caroline ‘la Belle’ Otero. Author’s (very) private collection

  Cora Pearl (Eliza Emma Crouch). Getty Images

  Théresa cartoon. Roger-Viollet/Topfoto

  ‘L’Impudique Albion’ cartoon. Roger-Viollet/Topfoto

  Cover Le Petit Journal. Getty Images

  Edward in Biarritz. Roger-Viollet/Topfoto

  King Edward and Kaiser. Getty Images

  The author and publisher have made all reasonable effort to contact copyright holders for permission and apologise for any omission or error in the credits given. Corrections may be made to future reprints.

  INDEX

  The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

  The entry for Bertie is under Edward VII. Otherwise he is referred to as Bertie throughout. Where women are marked as ‘mistress’ without any other specifications, they were mistresses of Bertie himself.

  Albert, Prince Consort, Bertie’s father: and Bertie’s education and upbringing 6, 12–14, 40–1, 46, 48–9; and Bertie’s marriage 48, 50; illness and death 48–9; moral character 93; state visit to France (1855) 9–10, 17–18, 23

  Albert Victor, Prince (Prince Eddy; Bertie’s son) 177–8, 279

  Alcazar d’Été (Paris cabaret) 132–3

  Alexander, King of Greece 3n

  Alexander John, Prince (Bertie’s infant son) 181

  Alexandra, Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra), Bertie’s wife: selected to be Bertie’s bride 49; marriage to Bertie 75–7, 81–4; early married life 84–8; childbirth and health problems 91–2; visits to Paris (1869) 143–4; (1872) 189–90; death of Prince Alexander John, infant son 181; influence on fashion 209; charitable work 240; death of son, Prince Eddy 279; visits the Eiffel Tower 299–300; visit to Kaiser Wilhelm II, (1909) 333; calls Alice Keppel to Bertie’s deathbed 345; at Bertie’s funeral 348

  Alfonso XIII, King of Spain 3n, 320n

  Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Bertie’s younger brother 88, 97, 99

  Anglo-Russian Convention (1907) 320

  Armaillé, Comtesse d’ 32

  Armand, Louis, painter 17

  Auber, Daniel, composer 118

  Avril, Jane, can-can dancer 253

  Aylesford, Lord and Lady, scandalous couple 219–20

  Bad Homburg, Germany 184

  Balmoral 15

  Barucci, Giulia Beneni, cocotte 120–2, 184

  Baudelaire, Charles, poet 24

  Beatrice, Princess, Bertie’s sister 290, 292

  Beauharnais, Hortense de, mother of Napoléon III 7

  Bellangé, Joseph-Louis-Hippolyte, painter 28–9

  Bellanger, Marguerite, mistress of Napoléon III 99, 110, 112

  Bennett, James Henry, doctor in Menton 269–70

  Berlin, Congress of 233

  Bernhardt, Sarah, actress/mistress 130, 131, 243–6, 274–5, 296

  Bernstorff, Count Albrecht von, Prussian ambassador in London 165

  Bertie, Sir Francis, British ambassador to France 351

  Beyens, Baron, Belgian diplomat 89

  Biarritz, France 336–8, 341–3

  Bismarck, Otto von, German politician 152, 155–6, 165, 191, 322

  Blanche, Duchess of Caracciolo, mistress 178, 183

  Blandford, Lord, scandalous adulterer 219

  Boer War 304–5

  Bonaparte, Louis, brother of Napoléon Bonaparte 7

  Bonaparte, Napoléon see Napoléon Bonaparte

  Bosnia-Herzegovina, annexation by Austria-Hungary 329–30

  Boulanger, Georges, royalist general 244

  Bristol (Hôtel), Paris, Bertie’s favourite hotel in Paris 125, 143–4

  Britannia (yacht) 273, 279, 281, 325

  Brohant, Augustine, cocotte 111

  Brougham and Vaux, Lord Henry, ‘discoverer’ of Cannes 270

  Brown, John, Victoria’s Scottish servant 6, 280

  Browning, Robert, poet 44

  Bruant, Aristide, cabaret singer 250

  Bruce, Robert, Bertie’s governor 42–8, 59, 78

  Buller, Charley, boxer185

  Bussière, Mélanie de see Pourtalès, Comtesse Edmond de

  Café Anglais, Paris, chic Parisian café 68, 136–8, 211, 233

  Café des Ambassadeurs, Paris, Parisian caberet 132–3

  café-concerts 132–3

  Cambon, Paul, French ambassador in London 316

  Cambridge University 44, 46, 49

  Cannes, France, 270–8, 281–2, 350–3

  Carlos, King of Portugal 307

  Castelot, André, French historian 20

  Cavendish, Lucy, prudish Londoner 245

  Chabanais, Le, luxury brothel 260–6

  Chamberlain, Jane, mistress 276

  Chamberlain, Joseph, British politician185, 324

  Chambrier, James de, memoirist 123–4

  Channel Tunnel, French plans for 233

  Charles, Prince of Denmark (later King Haakon VII of Norway) 320n

  Charles II, King of England 55

  Charles XV, King of Sweden 95

  Chat Noir, Le, Paris, Parisian cabaret 248–50

  Château, Henri, Montmartre, French writer 247

  Château de Compiègne 144

  Cherbourg, France 38

  Chesterfield, Lord, typhoid victim, 186

  Christian of Denmark, Princess 76

  Churchill, Lady Randolph (Jennie), mistress 296

  Churchill, Randolph, politician 220

  Clemenceau, Georges, French politician 348

  Clifden, Nellie, prostitute 47–8, 60

  Comédie Française 243–5

  Commune of Paris 170–6

  Compiègne, Château de 70–1

  contraception 182

  Cornwallis-West, Patsy, mistress 193

  Côte d’Azur, France 269, 272

  Courbet, Gustave, painter 170n

  Cowes, Isle of Wight 325

  Crimean War 9

  Crouch, Emma see Pearl, Cora

  Degas, Edgar, artist 132–3, 135

  Delcassé, Théophile, French politician 303–4, 316, 348

  Denmark: marriage of Princess Alexandra to Bertie 76; Schleswig-Holstein Question 75, 84

  Deslions, Anna, actress/prostitute 109

  Dilke, Charles, British p
olitician 185, 234, 246

  Disraeli, Benjamin, British politician 195, 297

  Divan Japonais, Le, Parisian cabaret 252–3

  Dumas, Alexandre (fils), writer 129

  Dumas, Alexandre (père), writer 141

  Edward III, King of England, wearer of garter 11–12, 350

  Edward VII, King (Albert Edward; Bertie)

  life events: childhood and education 8, 12–15, 40–42; state visit to France (1855) 16–17, 23–37; relationship with Napoléon III 34–35, 60, 72–73; visit to Cherbourg (1858) 38; receives personal allowance 42; visit to Rome (1859) 43–44; study at Oxford and Cambridge 44; tour of Canada and USA (1860) 45; joins the Grenadier Guards 46; encounter with Nellie Clifden 47–49; and death of Prince Albert 49; twenty-first birthday party 78; marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denmark 50, 77–84; first solo trip to Paris (1862) 51–53, 64–66, 72–73; modernization of Marlborough House 86–87; acquires Sandringham, Norfolk 87–88; establishes married social life 88–90; visit to Sweden (1864) 94–95; visit to Paris (1867) 97–102, 118–124; and Parisian cafés 132–133, 136–137, 140; membership of Parisian clubs 144; and Paris salons 145–149; on French defeat in 1870 156–157; sympathy with France during Franco-Prussian war 164–167; sympathy with French exiles 178–179; death of infant son, Alexander John 181; cited in Mordaunt divorce case 183–184; public scandals and decline in popularity 183–186, 188; contracts typhoid, and regains popularity 187–189; visit to Paris (1874) 196–201; (1875) 210; visit to India and Sri Lanka (1875/76) 217–219; and international relations 226–228, 297–298, 354–359; meetings with Léon Gambetta 231–237; and Entente cordiale 233; criticism of, in the press 238–239; social philanthropy 239–240; and Montmartre/ Pigalle 248–254; visits London slums 258; design of ‘love-chair’ at Le Chabanais (brothel) 262–263; winters in south of France 268–269, 271–280; death of son, Prince Eddy 279; and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee 282–286; and death of Queen Victoria 288–291; accedes to the throne 292–293; operated on in the weeks before the coronation 295–296; coronation 294–296; first visitor to Eiffel Tower 299–300; visit to Paris (1903) 310–315; and Anglo-Russian relations 318–320; state visit to Russia (1908) 320–321; relationship with Kaiser Wilhelm II 322–329, 332–334; visit to Marienbad spa 338–339; final trip to Paris (1910) 340–341; visits Lourdes 342–343; final illness and death 343–345; funeral 345–348; reaction to his death 349–350; statue erected in Cannes 1912, 278, 350–353; legacy 361–363