The King in Love: Edward VII's Mistresses

by Theo Aronson

Here, for the first time, is an all-embracing account of the loves of that celebrated royal womaniser, Edward VII, as Prince of Wales and King. It is also a study of the three women with whom the King was most deeply in love — his `official' mistresses, Lillie Langtry, Daisy Warwick and Alice Keppel. In their different ways, all three were exceptional personalities. Lillie Langtry, the socially ambitious girl from the vicarage, became a famous actress. Daisy Warwick, an immensely wealthy heiress and social butterfly, was converted to socialism. Alice Keppel, probably the King's greatest love, developed into an astute and fascinating figure in her own right. Spanning three decades and packed with incident, scandal and high romance, the story is set in the extravagant and hypocritical world of late Victorian and Edwardian society. It is full of colourful Edward's beautiful and betrayed wife Alexandra; the three cuckolded husbands — Edward Langtry, the Earl of Warwick and the Hon. George Keppel; the flamboyant Oscar Wilde; the sensuous Sarah Bernhardt; the dissipated Prince Albert Victor; the sexually complex W.E. Gladstone. Royal biographer Theo Aronson draws on much new and unfamiliar material in this vivid book and reassesses many aspects of his subjects' lives. He challenges long-established myths and reveals much that was hitherto not least the extraordinary scene that took place at the deathbed of King Edward VII. The result is a brilliant evocation of a world, and a way of life that has gone forever.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Royalty, British Literature, Audiobook, British Royalty

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 12, 1988

About the author

Theo Aronson is an historical biographer specialising in the Royal Houses of Europe. Among his many widely read books are "The Golden Bees: The Story of the Bonapartes," "Grandmama of Europe" and "Royal Family: Years of Transition."

His books have been published in Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland and Belgium.

Theo Aronson lives in an eighteenth-century stone house in Frome, Somerset.

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 1 out of 5]

Edited to add:
I changed this review and rating on 3/27/20. While reading Crowns of Conflict by this author I came across the following quote:
'The ambitious King Leopold II of the Belgians not only acquired but personally owned the vast Congo empire.'
King Leopold II of Belgium committed mass genocide against the Congolese Peoples.
He murdered 10 million people and Hitler based his practices during The Holocaust after this monster.
If you are not familiar with him or with this horrific genocide, I suggest reading: King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild.
There's also a movie by that name that also deals with this.
I also encourage you to Google the photos from this genocide. They are brutal.
It is not ok to in ANYWAY refer to this behavior as 'ambitious'.
This author is a fucking Nazi and if he's not dead should be fucking shot.

Origianal review:
This is a somewhat dry and tedious study of the significant women that Edward VII had affairs with.
He burnt a good portion of his correspondence so lots of conjecture.

[James Rye · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't a topic that I thought would keep me hooked, but the writer exceeded my expectations.

I learned a lot about Victorian hypocrisy, and the libertarianism of the Edwardian aristocracy. Two things in particular impressed me. First, the writer is careful to acknowledge and evaluate when supposed "facts" are presented in different ways from different sources. Secondly, there is plenty of material and discussion to enable the reader to see the complexity of the characters and their situations. All three mistresses and the King himself are presented as three dimensional making simplistic judgements about their actions impossible.

It was an interesting and satisfying read.

[Jennifer]

As the title suggests, this book is a synopsis of Edward VII's mistresses; focusing on the three long-term mistresses he had; Lillie Langtry, The Duchess of Warwick and Mrs. George Keppel. Because Edward VII was not known for his ability to remain sexually faithful to any one woman, we also learn about several other women who shared the king's bed.

This book was interesting for a number of reasons; first of which being the difference in how the press covers royalty now versus in the Edwardian era. Today a royal affair would be front page news; in Edward's time the press had a degree of respect for the king's privacy.

Also interesting was the author's take on Queen Alexandra. Everything I've read of her paints her as a virtual saint; allowing her husband his freedom to conduct affairs as he pleased and being kind and warm to his mistresses. This book suggests that one (of the many) reasons that Edward may have strayed from his wife is that she was sexually repressed; tolerating sex as her "wifely duty" but not enjoying it. For a man with Edward's temperament, a sexually frigid wife could not lead to a healthy marriage. Perhaps she tolerated his affairs to the degree she did because it kept her husband from her bed?

A very interesting read; I highly suggest it to those who are looking for a new perspective on the many loves of Edward VII.

[Maureen S · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this is your area of interest...

then you have bought the right book. I found it to be interesting, well-researched and highly readable. The backgrounds of each woman add a dimension to their relationships with th king that many of these type books do not provide. They are treated as individuals with their own lives that go on even without the king. I also like that, as Edward moves on to Alice Keppel for instance, we are kept up to date on the lives of the two women who preceded her. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did

[Leonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written but a lot older than I thought - I only realised when the author stated that HM The Queen has been on the throne for over 35 years. Over 60 now! I'm not sure if the author is still alive to do an update but there is a neat symmetry to the fact that Alice Keppel's great-granddaughter is Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and is married to Edward VII's great-grandson Charles, Prince of Wales!

[Kristenique James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never thought this MF was such a freaky frog my god✨😭

[Simon Binning · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly straightforward account of the three women who were Edward VII's longer lasting mistresses. He had innumerable affairs throughout his life, but the women documented here - Lillie Langtry, Daisy Warwick and Alice Keppel - were the three who had the longest relationships with him. Their backgrounds varied, but they all shared traits which attracted Edward - beauty, intelligence and vivacity - along with compliant husbands!
The book is not a biography of either Edward, or the three women. It gives some background for all four, but concentrates on the most intense period of each relationship, as well as what happened to them in later life. Edward comes across as the worst of the lot; a decent enough man, but shallow, rather stupid, and very aware of his own status. Although each relationship lasted some time, there doesn't seem to be any real love involved on either side, and it is sometimes difficult to see what either side got out of it, apart from the obvious. There was perhaps room for a bit more analysis in this direction.
All in all, a very readable book, in a slightly old-fashioned way.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would.

I was a little hesitant about it at first because I feared ‘the biography of 3 nobodies’ might be a bit dry, but it wasn’t boring at all! I’m glad I took the chance - I found it really interesting and I actually learned a thing or two!

If you want to read more about Edward VII, I can easily recommend “Bertie: A Life of Edward VII” by Jane Ridley.

[Pat Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Lot of Edwardian History

This seems a well researched book dealing with the prolific love life of George VII. Quite fascinating but the story loses interest as the stream of the king's mistresses continues.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chock full of interesting information, but unorganized and repetitive at times.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this book 2.5 out of 5

I listened to this audiobook with my Audible subscription.

I had very little knowledge about Edward VII before reading this book and I have to say that after reading it, he is not a man I would have ever wanted to know. This book attempts to bring three of Edward's most influential mistresses to the front of their own story, which I think given how they wrote the book Aronson did a very good job of doing. That being said the sources and the time had a very boys-will-be-boys attitude to Edward's behaviour.

Aronson does make it clear that Edward's parents, Albert and Victoria were appalled at his "immoral behaviour" of having sex outside of marriage, but it appears that the only people who ever actually suffered as a consequence were the woman that he was in a relationship with in true patriarchal fashion.

This book outlines the lives and relationships of three women that history has deemed the "official mistresses" of Edward VII: Lillie Langtry, Daisy Warwick and Alice Keppel.

I felt that Aronson did provide a great level of detail about these women outside of their famous liaison with a member of the royal family, but I did feel a bit of moral judgment as an undertone to the narrative. For instance, Daisy does not appear to have taken the dissolution of her relationship with Edward entirely well and sought to blackmail him after the fact, but Aronson makes her seem like a sad woman who lost her place rather than a wronged woman out for revenge. My sense from this book is that Edward sort of did away with her because she started to develop Socialist ideas and that because he was royalty should should just count herself luck and go quietly. I wish there had been a little more nuanced discussion about her and the other women's perspectives about the negative aspects of their own story.

I also absolutely hated how Alexandra of Denmark was portrayed throughout this book. I'm not sure if Aronson was trying to depict how Edward felt about his wife or if it was Aronson's own bias, but he made Alexandra sound dumpy, stupid, and antisocial. There was just a flat narrative around her throughout the entire book. I also find it interesting that even though the focus of the book was the mistresses the only woman who was discussed in great detail concerning Alexandra was Alice Keppel. I am not sure if this is due to a lack of source material or if it just didn't make the final cut of the book.

The introduction to Lillie, Daisy, and Alice was the best service that this book provided, but it was through a very specific, very patriarchal lens.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death, Classism, and Grief

Minor: Colonisation

[William Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading “The King in Love:Edward VII's Mistresses” by Theo Aronson makes it easier to understand the plaintive but self-centered lament of Prince Charles when he complained to Diana, “I refuse to be the only Prince of Wales who never had a mistress.” Charles was only following the time-honored wallowings of many previous Prince of Wales whiling away while awaiting the throne. Assuming the ground-breaking actions of Prince of Wales Albert Edward, the oldest son of Queen Victoria, (who eventually became King Edward VII) are accurately portrayed in this detailed, authorative, and quite compelling book, the Prince and virtually the entire complement of English aristocracy of the times continually romped from assignation to assignation without a hint of scruples, morality or hesitation. It was a delightful new “game“ introduced by the Prince whose fellow aristocrats had formerly cavorted with whores and harlots to let off steam. Fooling around with each other’s wives turned out to be a much safer game to be enjoyed in comfort, familiar surroundings, and luxury.

As detailed in the book, this out of control spinning of moral compasses was brought on by the Prince’s revolutionary idea of cavorting with the married spouses of other aristocrats rather than engaging in the chancier, less savory encounters with local harlots and ladies of the evening.

The practice apparently became well-known, accepted, and even admired among a good part of the entire populace, leading to the wide-spread popularity of “players” such as Lillie Langtry, who was one of the Prince’s favorites. No doubt “lesser” Brits, not wanting to be left on the sidelines, joined in games of their own, enthusiastically emulating their lords and masters.

Apparently, the Church of England turned not only a blind eye but also an equally non-functioning nose and throat toward these shady shenanigans.

Author Theo Aronson, an acknowledged past master at chronicling the foibles and picadilloes of British aristocrats, also delivers in this book a detailed and authorative insight into the fashions and historical goings-ons of the period in addition to the other stuff.

Review by William R. Taylor, author of “A Shooting Star Meets the Well of Death, Why and How Richard Halliburton Conquered the World.”

[Ghost of the Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fascination for Queen Victoria, her life, her reign and her family has long been a companion of many an hour of good reading over the years.
With regards to her numerous, and lively offspring, i confess to have always had a preference for Princess Louisa and a particular fascination for the Prince of Wales to go down in history as King Edward VIII.
Strange preference for a girl you say? perhaps...but then again i have always liked people that defy all odds and expectations - no matter where they may come from.
The Kings eventful life as long been discussed, there are numerous books and documentaries on him - of which i have a few - but an important part was always somehow relegated to a secondary role, that of side note, should more sensitive minds be embarrassed by the Kings shenanigans over the years.
The women in his life are, at least as far as i am concerned, key to understanding the man and his relationship with the world around him. What the author does here, and rather well if i may say so, is bring to life the loves of his life - the passionate ones that is - the rather unforgettable ladies known to history as Lilly Langtry, Daisy Warwick and Alice Keppel.
I wont give a description, its worth the time and trouble of dipping your nose into it believe me!
Suffice to say, its a fascinating portrait of a time long gone and some of its most unforgettable characters.

[Kate Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd heard of these three women and was interested to find out more about their lives and personalities, and that of Edward VII. Although he wasn't faithful to any of them, he did focus intense attention on them for a few years each, elevating them to celebrity and, if they were careful in their spending, to riches. He also remained a friend and benefactor to them after the affair was over, lending his influence to help when needed.
I was also interested in what the lives of the rich and famous in England were like in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. For example, what was a "country house weekend" like? What did you wear, eat and do while there? Answer: lots of changes of clothes, multi-course exotic meat-centric meals, and considerable bedroom switching during the nights. (A bell rung in the early morning would warn everyone to return to the bedrooms of their spouses before they would be discovered by household servants beginning the day's work.) Unfortunately, these weekends also included the killing of outrageous numbers of wild animals, deliberately driven into the area where the men who were shooting would gather.
The author covers the time period and principal characters like a storyteller, without burdening readers with too much detail.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy Theo Aronson's classic royal history books. The King in Love is not only a joint biography of three of the most significant women in King Edward VII's life: Lillie Langtry, Daisy Brooke and Alice Keppel (great-grandmother of Queen Camilla) but it's a also a history of late Victorian and Edwardian high society including fashions (such as the scandalous origins of the tea gown), social gatherings, country houses and aristocratic attitudes toward love and marriage. The changing role of women is also a key theme as Langtry, Brooke and Keppel pursued independent careers beyond their relationship with the King - Langtry as an actress, Brooke as a socialist philanthropist, and Keppel as a hospital matron in France during the First World War. Perhaps because the book is about Edward VII's extramarital relationships, the author was unnecessarily critical of Queen Alexandra and I thought he could have presented a more balanced account of her personality and interests. Overall though, The King in Love is an enjoyable read.

[Betty Pickard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The British aristocracy has been a long-time fascination of mine since I saw the coronation of Queen Elizabeth on a tiny television when I was 5 years old.
Edward VII was a frisky fellow. The author tells of his many affairs over the course of his life. Lily Langtry has been another of my fascinations. I did not know of Daisy Warwick nor Alice Keppel. How did the husbands & children cope with these affairs when they were going on in their own houses?! The author tells of the expenses, esp monetary, that were expected to entertain the Prince. These led to a depletion of these women’s estates. One profited from her notoriety, whereas one was forced to try to bribe her way out of near bankruptcy.
I had difficulty with some of the vocabulary & phrases as a Texan reading a book authored by an Englishman. But that, too, was a learning experience.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in history told by an author who has done his research on his subject.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a time when syphilis was rampant and penicillin discovery still some decades away, It amazes me how these "professional upperclass beauties" were not rotting with disease that their husbands brought home to them.

Edward VII was the worst. I've often wondered if he infected his beautiful Queen Alexandra of Denmark. After her marriage to him, she was severely stricken at a young age with rheumatoid arthritis and went deaf.

The issue has only been brought up once when one of Edward's society mistresses gave birth to a blinded baby.This was a common result of a mother being infected by syphilis in the birth canal. Her name was Harriet. Lady Mordaunt. She was a beautiful young girl married to a man from upper class society.

She became hysterical with guilt, and her family had her locked into an insane asylum.
All this to prevent scandal.

I think of this young woman locked away in a filthy insane asylum for the rest of her life.

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the time I was reading this book, I kept asking myself 'Why am I reading this book?' It is well written enough, but these scandals of over 100 years ago have little relevance or interest today. I am gradually losing my taste for reading about the royals, whether yesterday or today.

So Edward (Bertie to family and friends) was a libertine in his youth and a serial adulterer in his maturity. The women he found fascinating were somewhat interesting, but not enough to warrant my giving up several hours of my life reading about them.

I'm swearing off the royal family, past and present.

My blog:

The Interstitial Reader
https://theinterstitialreader.wordpre...

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book although it was a lot more in depth than it could have been, 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. It was an interesting time to understand as society changed, and then changed again in just a few years when Edward VII's grandson had to abdicate the throne.

Queen Victoria's long reign led to a time of freedom for those in society that did not extend to lower classes in that same society. There was acceptance of Edward VII's and his social group's extramarital escapades that did not last very far into the future.

An enjoyable read.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thing to accept is that this book was written in the 80s, and is showing some age. There are multiple remarks re: divorce that result in an awkward pause. But that does not mean it is not still an interesting book, especially in the way Aronson centers the women at the core of the story.

The book follows each mistress from birth to death, showing how their lives intertwined with Edward's and split apart again. The most interesting to me personally was Lillie Langtry, carving herself a place in Society. But the book also takes a look at Edward himself and the society that formed him and the changes in the eras he oversaw.

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

An ok book

I’m not sure why I kept reading but it may have been a hope that it would get better. The book has plentiful references but I did not get to know the characters. It seemed like a surface recitation of lots of people’s opinions but no character development. There was a heavy emphasis on appearances rather than reality of behavior. Bad, immoral, cruel and scandalous behavior was easily excused and glorified, and the parties never held to account by the author.

[Mick Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and fluid book,goes to show that even with money and royal upbringing the upper class still stray for the same things sex,money and position higher then they are already.even today the ramifications of these dalliances are still there with children of royalty or nobility given titles and or paid to keep quiet.also evident is the intermarrying between the upper classes to keep the money within their circle,but at what cost to the offspring.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite interesting and very readable account of Edward VII's extensive extramarital affairs and in particular his three most important affairs with long-time mistresses Lillie Langtry, Daisy Warwick and Alice Keppel. Reads more like a gossip magazine than a serious scholarly work, which keeps it entertaining.

[Alenka of Bohemia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and well-researched, this book is above all a glimpse into the workings of intimate relationships in the late Victorian and Edwardian era. I appreciated the fact that the three women the book focuses on are represented in all their richness of character and the narrative does not leave them just because the King has.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super interesting book. The book can be summed up by the dual standards of the English aristocracy. While guests at a house party were free to swap bedrooms, servents found to be in illicit relationships were dismissed on the spot. A real eye-opener that makes sense of the royal's past and present.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 - interesting and enjoyable, I realised I didn't know a lot about Lillie Langtry. Thankfully this book did just focus on their lives rather than too much on his, which complemented other books I've read.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audio book. Absolutely fascinating look at the hypocrisy of upper crust Victorian England. The author pays much respect to the vivacious characters in this story. His reserved style adds to the telling of these tales. There is plenty to be amazed by.

[Supreya Mahabir · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not capture my attention.

[Mary Catherine Strickland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Being unfamiliar with the period, I enjoyed this book very much. These were very interesting women and the author described the period well.

[Gerlinde Bachli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, wonderful!

A most enjoyable book for the lovers of history. Well researched, written well, and a really good read. I’ll be looking for more from this author.