Edward VII | 1841-1910 Much to the distress of Victoria and Albert, their eldest son, whom they called Bertie, failed to exhibit the discipline and upright character of his parents. He was crowned King of England upon his mother's death in 1901, and reigned until his death in 1910. How tremendous was the significance of every particle of influence which went to the making of the future King of England! Albert set to work with a will. But, watching with Victoria the minutest details of the physical, intellectual, and moral training of his children, he soon perceived, to his distress, that there was something unsatisfactory in the development of his eldest son. The Prince Royal was an extremely intelligent child; but Bertie, though he was good-humoured and gentle, seemed to display a deep-seated repugnance to every form of mental exertion. This was most regrettable, but the remedy was obvious: the parental efforts must be redoubled; instruction must be multiplied; not for a single instant must the educational pressure be allowed to relax.... In short, every possible precaution was taken, every conceivable effort was made. Yet, strange to say, the object of all this vigilance and solicitude continued to be unsatisfactory -- appeared, in fact, to be positively growing worse.... The Prince of Wales, in spite of everything, grew up into manhood without the faintest sign of "adherence to and perseverance in the plan both of studies and life" -- as one of the Royal memoranda put it -- which had been laid down with such extraordinary forethought by his father.... On his seventeenth birthday a memorandum was drawn up over the names of the Queen and the Prince informing their eldest son that he was now entering upon the period of manhood, and directing him henceforward to perform the duties of a Christian gentleman. "Life is composed of duties," said the memorandum, "and in the due, punctual and cheerful performance of them the true Christian, true soldier, and true gentleman is recognized.... A new sphere of life will open for you in which you will have to be taught what to do and what not to do, a subject requiring study more important than any in which you have hitherto been engaged." On receipt of the memorandum Bertie burst into tears.... The Prince of Wales, in particular, stood in tremendous awe of his mother. She had steadily refused to allow him the slightest participation in the business of government; and he had occupied himself in other ways. Nor could it be denied that he enjoyed himself -- out of her sight; but, in that redoubtable presence, his abounding manhood suffered a miserable eclipse. Once, at Osborne, when, owing to no fault of his, he was too late for a dinner party, he was observed standing behind a pillar and, wiping the sweat from his forehead, trying to nerve himself to go up to the Queen. When at last he did so, she gave him a stiff nod, whereupon he vanished immediately behind another pillar, and remained there until the party broke up. At the time of this incident the Prince of Wales was over fifty years of age. -Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria ... [T]here was a story 'current in the clubs' that while at the Curragh the Prince of Wales had formed a liaison with an actress and had even brought her over to Windsor. 'A searching enquiry' confirmed the story and on 16th November 1861 the Prince Consort sent his son a long agonised letter written 'with a heavy heart upon a subject which has caused me the greatest pain I have yet felt in this life.' It is a curious letter. Surely there could not be occasion for surprise that the Prince of Wales should behave as the overwhelming majority of his companions, fashionable rich young officers in a 'crack' regiment of the Guards, were behaving?... But, on the subject of sex, the Prince Consort was unbalanced. Fraud or violence would have been more easily forgiven that 'intercourse.' He was unwell, in a nervous state, and he drew a frightening picture.... The Prince of Wales was overwhelmed.... Always haunted by a sense of inadequacy and the knowledge that he was a disappointment to his parents, the Prince of Wales wrote his father a letter of misery and contrition which the Prince Consort agreed showed signs of repentance. An early marriage, he told his son, was the only hope for him.... During the previous week, on 13th November 1861, the Prince Consort had related the story to the Queen, telling her she was not to know 'the disgusting details.' The Queen recoiled in horror. '... Oh! that boy -- much as I pity him I never can or shall look at him without a shudder as you can imagine.' From 13th November onwards the Queen blamed the Prince of Wales for his father's fatal illness. [Prince Albert would live for only one month longer, succumbing to typhoid fever on December 14, 1861.] -Cecil Woodham-Smith, Queen Victoria: Her Life and Times, Volume 1, 1819-1861