Prince Albert Victor (Eddy)

[TampaBay]

Mrs. Eddy,

What "Eddy " books do you recomend?

TampaBay

[Eddie_uk]

Love the beautiful plaque ......



.....and love the pug  

[Grace]

Yes, I want that pug too - isn't he totally gorgeous?

And look!  He looks almost identical to QV!  

[Eddie_uk]

LOL Grace. Well no disrespect to the lovely lady but they do look similar. they say dogs take after there owners. Provided QV is the owner  

[Grace]

Yes, no disrespect meant...she was a great, great lady...

[Alicky1872]

Mrs. Eddy,

What "Eddy " books do you recomend?

TampaBay

Lovely picture by the way Eddie! (Doesn't Eddy look like he's trying not to laugh?!)

Tampa, I feel the only author who has really made a conscious effort to try to understand Eddy was Theo Aronson, in his book 'Prince Eddy and the Homosexual Underworld.' (Grace can provide more information on this, as it's been years since I read it!) I still don't know how I feel about 'Clarence' by Michael Harrison. One minute you feel as if Harrison is on Eddy's side, the next minute he says something shocking and inappropriate! (Pm me if you want to know, as I won't say anything here to 'feed the flames') There is also 'Edward VII's Children' by John Van Der Kiste, which I found ok, nothing we don't already know though... There were also two or three memorial biographies, published soon after Eddy's death, but I haven't seen any of them on Ebay in 6 years, and they're certainly not online. (I look!) I have to say though that a new book on Eddy is due out in January. As you can imagine, Grace and I are very concerned about this! We can only hope the author does him justice and writes sympathetically, because that is something Eddy deserves, after all the horrible rumors, the inaccurate and often cruel descriptions about his intellectual abilities, etc. Believe me, if it comes out to be another piece of scandalous crap, Andrew Cook will be hearing from me!

[Eddie_uk]

A new book on Eddy!?!  

Lets hope it's a good one  

[Prince_Lieven]

Remember Eddiboy (I think) asked if May talked of Eddy in later life? Well, in 1918, she visited the house where Eddy had proposed to her, Luton Hoo, and wrote in her diary:

I had not been to Luton since I was engaged to Eddy there 27 years ago! The house is so much altered that it is difficult to make out where the former rooms were.

[bookworm857158367]

Not to denigrate Queen Victoria's grief for her grandson, but I have a feeling that EVERY death she experienced was the worst one since the death of Prince Albert. She was a person who mourned extravagantly and felt deeply. It sounds as though England was fortunate that Eddy didn't survive to become king.

[grandduchessella]

How interesting that there's a new book. There really aren't many books on him primarily because he wasn't that important historically (and I don't mean this in a mean way) only that he died young and before he could become King or even Prince of Wales. When you die before age 30 and have the life he did (ie not a politican, military officer, or any career field where you might've accomplished a good bit before that age) it's hard to put a really good bio together. I think that's why so many focus on the less savory aspects--the purported homosexuality, the Jack the Ripper rumors, etc...anything salacious no matter how unfounded.

I would recommend Aronson's book. Despite the rather sleazy title, it's a really good book. I forget what Harrison's is like --it's been a long time. Van der Kiste's is good for a 'just the facts' kind of read but not for any good evaluation.

I can only hope this book, combined with the recent Born to Rule and the upcoming VMH and Ella books means there might be more 'old time' royal bios. I'd love to see a new QM one myself.  

[Prince_Lieven]

I'm in the middle of Pope Hennessy's Queen Mary one, GDella, and now I see what you mean when you said it's a bit 'reverential'. Still, it's a good read.

I like van der Kiste's book, but it doesn't have much on Eddy.

[grandduchessella]

Remember Eddiboy (I think) asked if May talked of Eddy in later life? Well, in 1918, she visited the house where Eddy had proposed to her, Luton Hoo, and wrote in her diary:

I had not been to Luton since I was engaged to Eddy there 27 years ago! The house is so much altered that it is difficult to make out where the former rooms were.

Along those lines, QM also noted in her diary following GV's death how strange it was to have been at the deathbeds of the 2 brothers both in the same month at the same house (Sandringham). The same memories were triggered by walking along the garden paths with one of her children while GV was so ill and having done the same with George himself during Eddy's illness.

[Prince_Lieven]

Did Queen Alexandra mention Eddy much in her later years?

[grandduchessella]

She probably did with George who was probably the most affected after herself. While he may have been unemotional in other ways, not when it came to his brother and his passing.

[Prince_Lieven]

How upset were Louise, Toria and Maud? Did they mourn Eddy a lot?