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And in 1910 King Edward died and was buried beneath the soil to rule over his fellow potatoes for all eternity. Cunk on Britain s1e4, BBC 2018
Edward was a reluctant king ... He inherited less power than ever before. Dr Lucy Worsley, Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changes History: Happy Families III, BBC 2013
The man of whom many predicted would be a disaster turned out to be the king who reinvented monarchy for the modern age. Timewatch: Edward VII – Prince of Pleasure, BBC 2014
Despite Bertie’s lack of academic promise, at the age of seventeen he was packed off to university. The prince took every opportunity to give his royal minders the slip. And applied himself enthusiastically to the study of gambling, horses and strong cigars. ibid.
In 1870 his secret life was exposed in a most shocking public manner. In 1869 the Prince of Wales began a flirtation with the twenty-one-year-old Lady Harriet Mordaunt, wife of a prominent member of parliament. In the summer of 1869 Harriet’s husband, a keen sportsman, went on a fishing trip to Norway. Bertie took the opportunity to enjoy Harriet’s company at her country residence Walton Hall ... Bertie faced disgrace in the witness box of a divorce trial. The case was front-page news. ibid.
As youth gave way to an increasingly corpulent middle age the Prince threw himself body and soul into a life of leisure. ibid.
Bertie continued to work his way through a series of mistresses. Including Lillie Langtry, and one Jennie Churchill, mother of a pushy young lad called Winston. ibid.
The succession of an overweight 59-year-old philanderer hardly thrilled the public imagination. Few sovereigns had come to the Throne with lower expectations. But from his first command as King, Bertie was determined to send a signal of intent to his doubters. ibid.
He [Bertie] would haunt the Café Anglais where orgies were said to occur; he would visit the Moulin Rouge where one of the dancers said, ‘Hello, Wales, will you pay for my champagne?’ And he did pay for her champagne. Piers Brendon, historian
He [Bertie] lived an extraordinarily raffish existence. First of all there was the food: he had I mean by modern standards Edwardian gluttony was certainly something to amaze: huge breakfasts, mid-morning meals, eight-course lunches, tea, and twelve-course dinners and then sandwiches before you go to bed. Piers Brendon
He [Bertie] would go to billiard halls that were showing pornographic photographs; he would go to brothels. Piers Brendon
There is a chair that was in that brothel displayed to people as Bertie’s Chair. Matthew Sweet, author Inventing the Victorians
I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder. Queen Victoria
He really is more and more careless. He was dragged into the dirt and mixed up in one of the most disgusting and scandalous trials on record. Queen Victoria, letter to daughter 1870, re son Bertie
Because a man has a black face and a different religion from our own, there is no reason why he should be treated as a brute. Edward VII
I believe the emperor of Germany hates me. King Edward VII
King Edward VII: gregarious, flirtatious, self-indulgent and the eldest son of Queen Victoria. He dragged the United Kingdom out of the Victorian era into a shiny new century and inspired the Edwardian age. Edward VII: The Merry Monarch, Channel 5 2021
The extent of his scandalous private life – how his beautiful wife Queen Alexandra stood by him, and ultimately how this playboy prince turned it all around to become one of Britain’s most successful and popular monarchs, who saved the Royal Family. ibid.
‘He has lots and lots of affairs. Lots of girlfriends.’ ibid. Miranda Carter, biographer
Uncle Bertie at this point is married to Alexandra who is a Danish princess. He is heir to the throne of Britain but Queen Victoria refuses to give him any responsibility whatsoever. The Royal Mob II: All Hail the Prince of Wales, Sky Showcase 2022
‘This year you could sense there was something more in the air between my uncle [Bertie] and cousin [Willie].’ The Royal Mob III: The Day We’d Always Dreaded, Victoria's granddauther