Alice Keppel

Alice Keppel
A Photographic Portrait of Alice Keppel dressed in 18th century fancy dress. Costume Ball, Bal Poudre at Warwick Castle: 1895
Born	(1868-04-29)29 April 1868
Died	11 September 1947(1947-09-11) (aged 79)
Spouse	The Hon. George Keppel (m. 1891)
Children	Violet Trefusis Sonia Cubitt, Baroness Ashcombe
Parent(s)	Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet Mary Elizabeth Parsons

Alice Frederica Keppel, née Edmonstone (29 April 1868–11 September 1947) was a British socialite and a long-time mistress of King Edward VII, Her formal style after marriage was The Hon. Mrs George Keppel. Her daughter is English writer Violet Trefusis. She is the matrilineal great-grandmother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales

Early life and marriage

Duntreath Castle

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. Alice grew up in Scotland, at duntreath castle loch lomond. Duntreath castle was the family home since the 15th century. She was the youngest of one brother and seven sisters. Uninterested in her sisters, she was inseparable from her brother, 'beloved Archie,' called him her twin, deferred him, ruled him and when married turned to him and not her husband for advice.

Alice with daughter Violet

At the age of 22, Alice married The Honourable George Keppel, son of the 7th Earl of Albemarle and four years her senior, on 1 June 1891. The Keppel family had a history of service to the royal family household. The family are descendants of Anorld Joost Van Keppel, a Dutch nobleman who accompanied William III of England to Britain in 1688 and the King made him the Earl of Albemarle in 1696. George's lack of money led Alice to engage in affairs in order for the family to keep up with the lifestyle of the London society in then times. Despite affairs on both sides, one of her daughters described her parents marriage as a "marriage of companionship of love and laughter." However when in Baden, a Grand duke is said to have asked George, "are you related to the king's mistress?" to this studied insult, Keppel paid not the slightest attention.

Personality

Society hostess

Ambitious and formidable, Alice became a key figure and one of the best known society hostesses of the Edwardian era- an age of aristocratic adultery and mindless pleasure-seeking-with the backdrop of tempestuous world events and a racy royal court. Prosperity and status in mind, she challenged none of proprieties of her class. With her shrewdness, she treated even her enemies kindly. Invariably she knew the choicest scandal, price of stocks and latest political move. She had a sharp wit and grew up to become the typical aristocratic Scottswoman, but was also kind, without pettiness, prejudice or malice. She never spoke ill of anyone and almost never lost her temper. Her daughter Violet wrote, "she not only had a gift of happiness but she excelled in making others happy, she resembled a Christmas tree laden with presents for everyone."

Sir Harold Acton-a writer, aesthete, and bon vivant of the next generation, who was a child during the Edwardian era described Alice- "None could compete with her glamour as a hostess. She could have impersonated Britannia in a tableau vivant and done that lady credit."

Appearance

Hailed as one of the beauties of the "naughty nineties." Alice became, more than the crowned Queen, the Queen of hearts- the stuff of fairytales. She had alabaster skin, blue eyes, ripe curves, chestnut hair and large breasts. Keppel was also described as being 'petite' and spoke with a deep husky voice.

Relationships

Alice began her first affair with Lord Grimthorpe, many believed grimthorpe was her daughter Violet's father. She also had an affair with Humphrey Sturt, Lord Arlington. Beautiful, witty, charming and very discreet, Keppel quickly climbed the social ladder through affairs with these prominent men of the day. Known as a reportedly very attractive woman, her affairs were usually initiated by her desire to improve her social status. Most of her affairs were conducted with her husband's full knowledge. George was also a womanizer, who engaged secretly in his own extramarital affairs . "Very fond of women himself, he raised no objection to the prince's friendship with his wife." wrote Historian Christopher Hibbert.

Portrait of Alice Keppel

Life as a royal mistress

In 1898, 29-year old 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-six year age difference. Edward instantly made her his "La Favorita" and official royal mistress. Keppel lived at Pleasure House, East Sutton, Kent. Edward visited her house on a regular basis, George conveniently leaving during the visits. Their relationship would last until Edward's death in 1910 and was well-known. "Alice Keppel was a fantastic help to Edward VII, more help than his wife Queen Alexandra could 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. She was able to turn the often bored, petulant, aggressive, immature, selfish and rude mornach into the genial, tolerant and witty sovereign that his people loved. In the documentary, The life story of Alice Keppel, Biographer Diana Souhami described Alice as the "Perfect royal mistress." She combined the roles of wife, mother, friend, lover and political advisory to create an entirely new royal mistress.

Through her royal associations, Alice became a rich woman, the King encouraged his friends like Ernest Cassel to build funds that would keep her social position secure. Gone were the days of wide-open privy purses. Instead Bertie gave Alice a number of shares in a rubber company, which in timed earned her £50,000 (Almost 7.5 million today), and he also engaged his own bankers and financial advisers to handle her investments. He also got her husband a well paid job. Historian Christopher Hibbert wrote, "George cheerfully went to work for Sir Thomas Lipton, who obligingly found him employment at the prince's instigation." With her influence, her brother, 'beloved Archie' too served the crown. She secured Archie a place in the royal household. He became Groom in waiting for the last three years of Bertie's reign. When rich, Alice provided for him and his family.

Aristocratic and royal approval of Keppel was mixed. Edward's wife was fond of her and tolerant of the liaison. She was kind enough to permit her to the king's death bed. Queen Alexandra preferred Alice over Edward's previous mistress, Daisy, Countess of Warwick whom she disliked for being indiscreet when she flaunted her position. Millicent Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, Daisy's half sister remarked that the prince was "a much pleasanter child since he changed mistresses." When the King asked Margot Asquith if she had ever known a woman with a kinder and sweeter nature than Alice's: 'I could truthfully answer that I had not.' she remarked. High-ranking aristocrats such as the Duke of Norfolk, the Duke of Portland and the Marquess of Salisbury did not welcome the King's mistress. Others frowned on what they saw as rapaciousness: Virginia Woolf described Alice as an, "old grasper: whose fists had been in moneybags for these 50 years."

Position at court

After Bertie became King in 1901, Alice Keppel's much- vaunted discretion made her an ideal conduit between the monarch and his ministers. Unlike Daisy Warwick, Alice never used her position to influence him politically, nor had she any interest in doing so. But she had a way of presenting a topic to him so that he was willing to listen and give it credence, even if his personal opinion differed. TheViceroy of India remarked that "there were one or two occasions when the King was in disagreement with Foreign Office, and I was able, through her to advise the King with view to the foreign policy of the government being accepted." The chic and articulate Mrs. Keppel, dubbed "La Favorita" was at the center of it all, a highly visible-and equally respected- member of his court.

Keppel's influence was highly visible; rather she employed her strengths-discretion, tact, and social savvy-behind the prestigious scenes her royal lover occupied. Her one obvious political contribution to the political arena is her role as a recognized liberal hostess, acting as a go-between for Edward and noted Liberals. She put her skills as a gifted conversationalist and charming hostess to good use to advance Bertie's causes. What impact she had cannot be determined, but it is obvious that Bertie relied heavily on Keppel and her advice. Lamont-Brown claims: He completely trusted Alice and through her...he could make his political opinion known. A message to Alice was enough to get a controversial subject casually dropped into conversation to gauge effect, which was reported back to the King. Her attempts at modesty were foiled by Prime minister Asquith and his wife. "in a letter to her, Asquith once thanked her for her 'wise councils' obviously intimating that Keppel held private political discussion with the most prominent politicians of athe day. Whatever her political role, she never alluded to it, and shied discreetly away from credit for any political victory. Most of all, Keppel disliked it when any mention of her political association to the king was made in public. Years later, when Margot Asquith's memoir was published in 1933, she was irritated by her mention of the king's dependence on her as a political advisor.

Although Keppel was renowned for her persuasive abilities, her attempts to separate the king from his smoking and massive meals were in vain. Her concerns are indicated in her letter to Marquis de Soveral shortly after Edward suffered from a slip and fall: "I want you to try and get the King to see proper doctor about his knee....do what you can with your famous tact and of course don't tell anyone I wrote to you."Her direction for the king's health would be ignored until his death. Edward's death made Alice so hysterical, while at the King's deathbed she overreacted about it and had to be dragged out of his room by guards. She then lied by making up a different story of what happened. However she later denied the story and told the truth due to backlash in the royal circles

The Hon. Mrs George Keppel's reign as 'The Power behind the Throne' immediately came to an end at court after the king's death.

Later life

In November 1910, Keppel abandoned London, the city where she had unofficially reigned as consort, for the solitude of the continent, she claimed it was for her daughters' educations. Though, in reality, it was to escape the sudden reversal of her life. She was simply the charming and beautiful Mrs. Keppel once more.

The family spent two years traveling in the far east, Ceylon. On their return they bought a new house at 16th grosvernor street. However the family soon moved out of England again. They bought Villa dell' Ombrellino mansion near florence, Italy and lived there for the rest of their lives.

On 10 December 1936 Bertie's grandson, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorcee. Mrs. Keppel dining at the Ritz was heard to declare, 'Things were done much better in my day.' Keppel found Edward's desire to be with Wallis Simpson understandable, but his wish to marry her incomprehensible.

Death

On September 11, 1947, two months after the birth of her great-granddaughter, Camilla Shand, Alice died of cirrhosis of the liver. George Keppel followed his wife to the grave within two months; it was said he could not see the point of living without her. They had been married for 56 years.

Soon solemn Italian guides would point to their villa and, ironically, tell tourists that there had lived "the last lover of Queen Victoria."

References

• Commire, Anne, ed. (2007) Dictionary of Women Worldwide. 25,000 women through the ages. 3 vols. Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications
• Priestley, J. B. (1970). The Edwardians. London: Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-60332-5.
• Souhami, Diana (1996) Mrs Keppel and Her Daughter. London: Harper Collins

In Television and others

• Bafta and Emmy award Wining Series Edward the King(1973-1975)
• Vita Sackville-West drew Alice Keppel as the model for the materialistic and mercenary Mrs.Romola Cheyne in her novel, The Edwardians

Further reading

• Theo Aronson (1988) The King in Love: Edward VII's Mistresses: Lillie Langtry, Daisy Warwick, Alice Keppel and Others. U.K: Harpercollins; IST Edition
• Holroyd, Michael (August 2, 2011) A Book of Secrets: Illegitimate Daughters, Absent Fathers. London: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux
• Raymond, Lamont-Brown (2005) Edward VII's Last Loves: Alice Keppel and Agnes Keyser .London: The History Press

External links

• http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/historical-notes-a-perfect-and-popular-royal-mistress-1076893.html
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3055376.stm