The King in Love: Edward VII's Mistresses by Aronson Theo

Author:Aronson, Theo [Aronson, Theo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thistle Publishing
Published: 2014-11-11T22:00:00+00:00

As the Prince of Wales liked his women either stylishly dressed or naked, it is hardly surprising that he had very little sympathy with the movement for the emancipation of women. Later, as King, he dismissed the suffragettes as 'dreadful women' and was once extremely annoyed to be told that the names of two women had been put forward to serve on the Royal Commission for Divorce. He even hesitated to award the Order of Merit to the aged Florence Nightingale, on the grounds that it was not right 'to give it to a woman'.10

Given this attitude, and given the generally accepted idea of a mistress as a rich man's pampered plaything, it is paradoxical that both Lillie Langtry and Daisy Brooke should have been, in their different ways, examples of emancipated women.

The modern feminist movement, with all its ramifications, had its beginnings in the 1850s. It was then, as one historian has so graphically put it, that 'in women of all classes there was a stir . . . the stir of adventure and new ideas, comparable with the agitation which may be noted in a flock of migrants impelled by the lure of new worlds'.11 In medicine, education, social conditions, the franchise, women were beginning to agitate for reform. By the late 1880s the movement was gathering strength and importance. To the names of pioneers like Florence Nightingale were being added those of Lydia Becker, Barbara Bodichon, Josephine Butler, Elizabeth Garrett – all fighting, in different fields, for a woman's right to lead her own life as a self-sufficient individual. Their bible was The Subjection of Women, written by that great theorist of feminism, John Stuart Mill.

Although at first glance Lillie Langtry – with her extravagant tastes, feminine guile and cultivation of rich male protectors – seems to fit awkwardly into this regiment of militant females, there is no doubt that she had many of the qualities of a feminist. A practical, independent, liberated and self-confident woman, she was yearly proving herself equal to any man. More than one theatrical manager and, in later years, racehorse trainer, professed himself astonished at her grasp of what were generally regarded as 'masculine' concerns.

'Mrs Langtry was ever an absorbing study,' wrote Edward Michael, one of her managers. 'Possessing in a marked degree every feminine charm – wiles, fascination and moods – she was at the same time possessed of an iron will power, immense courage and a gift of instant decision which the captain of a 50,000 ton liner in a critical situation might envy. Remarkably well-read, it was with me always a surprise that she found time for reading, for I have never known any topic – and I use the word "any" deliberately – literature, science, arts or any other subject which she was not able to discuss with specialists. Hers was always a big and broad mind which could not tolerate anything commonplace or futile and her favourite phrase is indicative of her nature: "Don't let's fuss, please", spoken in a soft plaintive voice, was a danger signal to those who knew her.

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