Alice Keppel
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Alice Frederica Keppel née Edmonstone [1] (29 April 1868 – 11 September 1947) was a British socialite and the most famous mistress of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, the eldest son of Queen Victoria. [2] Her full title after marriage was The Hon. Mrs Keppel. Her daughter, Violet Trefusis, was the lover of poet Vita Sackville-West. She is the maternal great-grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles.
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[edit] Early life
Keppel was born Alice Frederica Edmonstone, to Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet and Mary Elizabeth Edmonstone, née Parsons, at Woolwich Dockyard, the scion of a distinguished family. Her father was the 4th Baronet Edmonstone and a retired Admiral in the Royal Navy; her grandfather had been Governor of the Ionian Islands.
She had one brother and seven sisters, Alice being the youngest. Alice married George Keppel, son of William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle and four years her senior, on June 1, 1891.
[edit] Extra-marital affairs
Even early on, Alice Keppel had a reputation for adultery, and it was rumoured that her eldest daughter was not fathered by her husband George, but in fact was the daughter of the future Lord Grimthorpe, one of her lovers. Pretty, articulate, and discreet, Keppel quickly climbed the society ladder through affairs with prominent men of the day[3]. Known as a very attractive woman, her extramarital affairs were usually initiated by her desire to gain a better social status. She became so successful as a courtesan that it has eclipsed any accomplishments of her husband George. Most of her affairs were with his full knowledge, and Edward VII even visited her house on a regular basis, her husband conveniently leaving during the visits.
Although it might sound unusual by today's standards, extramarital affairs were quite common and even accepted in wealthy circles of that time. It was not unusual for both the husband and the wife to take a lover, or lovers, as long as they were semi-discreet in their encounters. It was (if not acceptable) common for well-to-do women of the time to act as courtesans for the benefit of their husband's career, or their own social status.
In 1898, Keppel met the future Edward VII, then the 56-year old heir to the throne. It was not long before Keppel became one of Edward's many mistresses, despite a twenty-eight year age difference. Their relationship would last until Edward's death in 1910.
Edward took other mistresses, such as actresses Lillie Langtry and Sarah Bernhardt, and socialites Jennie Jerome (mother of Winston Churchill) and Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick (Frances Brooke). His last two mistresses, contemporary with one another and both beginning between 1898 and 1900, were Alice Keppel and a wealthy daughter of a Stock Exchange member, Agnes Keyser. Keyser was the more acceptable of the two in royal circles, due to her discretion and respect for the monarchy, but mostly because she herself was not married. A humanitarian, Keyser's charity to found a hospital for military officers in partnership with her sister was supported by Edward VII [4].
However, it was Keppel who was more well-known. "Alice Keppel was a fantastic help to Edward VII, more help than his wife Queen Alexandra could have ever have been", wrote Christopher Wilson, who has done extensive writings on Keppel's great-granddaughter, Camilla Parker Bowles. Keppel was one of the few people in his circle who was able to defuse Edward VII's cantankerous mood swings.
Aristocratic and royal approval of Keppel was mixed. Edward's wife Alexandra of Denmark was on good enough terms with Keppel to send her a consoling letter when her husband was stricken by typhoid, and to permit her at Edward's side when the King was on his deathbed. However, she reportedly merely tolerated Keppel, and did not like her. Alexandra, on the contrary, thoroughly did enjoy the company of Edward's former mistress Jennie Jerome, finding her pleasant and appealing. She also was said to be quite fond of Agnes Keyser, with whom Edward was involved until his death. However she resented Keppel who, although somewhat discreet, would still show up at functions to which Alexandra was accompanying Edward VII, which irritated the queen. [2]
High-ranking aristocrats such as the Duke of Norfolk, the Duke of Portland, and the Marquess of Salisbury were decidedly cool towards the King's mistress.
[edit] After Edward VII's death
Upon Edward's death, Keppel discreetly left for Ceylon for two years, although she later returned to England.
Later, upon hearing that Edward VIII was renouncing the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, Keppel remarked that "things were done much better in my day."
In his book, titled Edward VII's Last Loves: Alice Keppel and Agnes Keyser, author Raymond Lamont-Brown places emphasis on the fact that the influence inside the royal court that both Alice Keppel and Agnes Keyser had on politics and diplomacy of the time should not be underrated. [4]
In 1995, an image of Keppel was placed on a British postage stamp with her then-infant daughter, Violet.
Her daughter Sonia married The Hon. Roland Cubitt, son of Henry Cubitt, 2nd Baron Ashcombe. Roland became 3rd Baron after his father's death in 1947.
[edit] Scandalous family reputations
- Keppel's daughter Violet Trefusis became an author and was famous for her sexual escapades in her own right, thanks to a high-profile and volatile lesbian relationship with Vita Sackville-West. Keppel strongly objected to this relationship, and it caused her great stress in her attempts to draw her daughter away from Sackville-West. This was less due to her objections of her daughter's sexual orientation, and more due to her wanting the affair to be less known publicly, and for her daughter to be more in-tune with social acceptance, and adhering to the unwritten rule of not disrupting a lover's social status. Her daughter later became the chosen lesbian lover of Singer sewing machine heiress Winnaretta Singer. Keppel did not object to this affair, partly due to Singer's immense wealth and power, and partly due to it being a welcome relief from the previous affair, since Singer was more discreet, and the two seemed to have a healthy loving relationship.
- Keppel's great-granddaughter Camilla Parker-Bowles, Duchess of Cornwall, became a famous mistress and, later, wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, decades after Keppel's death.
[edit] Sources
- Souhami, Diana (1996) "Mrs Keppel and Her Daughter" London: Harper Collins
