Some may find it strange that Prince William apparently decided to end his
relationship with Kate Middleton after a meeting attended by his father and
his grandparents. In a sense, though, any such gathering would have been not
only constitutionally proper but a legal necessity.
Since the Royal Marriages Act 1772, the monarch of the day has had the right
to veto the marriage plans of other members of the Royal Family (if they are
under the age of 25, which William still is) or to refer them to the Privy
Council and ultimately Parliament (if the person involved is older).
Not that this has made for smoother royal relationships. For most of the past
250 years, the rules of the game in royal romances (at least for princes)
has been (1) start off with actresses, (2) marry foreigners.
The Royal Marriages Act was a response to the unsuitable partners selected by
two of George III’s brothers — William, Duke of Gloucester, and Henry, Duke
of Cumberland. The former, having already been cited for adultery with Lord
Grosvenor’s wife, secretly wed Anne Houghton, who had a dubious father and a
risqué reputation herself — she was dismissed by one society commentator of
the day as “The Duke of Grafton’s Mrs Houghton, the Duke of Dorset’s Mrs
Houghton, everyone’s Mrs Houghton”.
The Duke of Cumberland, meanwhile, had illicitly married Maria Waldegrave,
once the wife of Lord Waldegrave, a fact that only emerged five years after
the event itself when she became pregnant and the Duke felt obliged to
confess to the King that he was married to the woman.
George III was not much impressed, hence his insistence on legislation. He had
himself been obliged to break up with Sarah Lennox, the first love of his
life, upon assuming the throne, so that he could wed the far more suitable
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, with whom he had 15 children. The union
appears to have been a happy one as there is no record of George III playing
around (but he may have been distracted by his various bouts of outright
madness).
If only the sons within that set had been as disciplined by duty. The man who
would be Prince of Wales, then Prince Regent, then George IV, was an epic
philanderer. He started off by living in sin with an actress, Mrs Perdita
Robinson, moved on to Lady Melbourne (Lord Melbourne was a little peeved)
and then secretly married Mrs Maria Fitzherbert — a liaison that was
unlawful twice over as it broke not only the Royal Marriages Act but also
the Act of Settlement (the lady was a Roman Catholic).
He eventually agreed to ditch her in return for the House of Commons paying
off his debts (the sum of £650,000, absolutely vast in those days). As part
of the bargain he wed Caroline of Brunswick, a disastrous relationship,
which had the virtue that it produced a daughter (who predeceased him in
1817) and the vice that although they lived apart after a year of marriage
she sought to attend his coronation ceremony and had to be barred by having
the doors slammed in her face.
His brother, the Duke of Clarence and future William IV, maintained similar
standards. He spent 20 years living with an actress, Dorothea Bland (better
known by her stage name Mrs Jordan), a jolly but wholly improper arrangement
that involved no less than ten illegitimate children (the descendents of
whom include the late Oliver Reed and David Cameron). When it became clear
that he might become king, though, he was convinced that he needed to behave
more acceptably. This he did by marrying Princess Adelaide of
Saxe-Meiningen, a mere 27 years his junior.
Queen Victoria, by contrast, knew her responsibilities. She appears to have
fallen in love with her Prince Albert from the moment that she met him at
the age of 15 and they were married five years later. This was,
nevertheless, a brief respite before the familiar pattern of royal romantic
relationships resumed its course.
Indeed, Edward VII, must have been determined to make up for lost time. His
mother never forgave him for his opening concubine, an “actress” (possibly a
former prostitute) called Nellie Clifton. Albert went to admonish him in
person for this activity and in so doing, the Queen always believed
(probably mistakenly), caught the chill that killed him.
It was decided that Edward should be married off as swiftly as possible to
prevent further scandal. A shortlist of seven suitable women was drawn up
and the “lucky winner” was Alexandra of Denmark. Not that his wedding vows
seem to have influenced him greatly. He continued to work his way through
yet more actresses and plenty of other people’s wives including such
beauties as Sarah Bernhardt, Lillie Langtry and Daisy Brook (a woman with
such a loose tongue that she was labelled “babbling brook” by her London
contemporaries). One of Camilla Parker-Bowles’s ancestors, Alice Keppel, was
in there as well, as she allegedly reminded the present Prince of Wales when
they first got together.
The management of royal relationships did not improve much thereafter.
Edward’s eldest son was Prince Albert Victor or “Eddy”. In a variation on
the theme he appears to have been part of a homosexual circle while at the
University of Cambridge and remained a little ambiguous throughout his life.
He fell for Princess Alix of Hesse (who, wisely as it must have seemed at
the time, opted for the future Tsar Nicholas of Russia instead) and then
fell hopelessly in love with the beautiful but so common Sybil Erskine.
Queen Sybil was never a runner, so Eddy was instructed that he would now be
marrying May of Teck. The engagement was announced in 1891 but alas a year
later the groom-to-be died of influenza, although some have said that it was
a nasty sexual disease.
But Queen Victoria had rather set her heart on May of Teck (either that or
there was an extreme shortage of acceptable Protestant princesses). So she
was promptly reengaged to Eddy’s brother, who would become George V on the
death of his father. This rather ad hoc outcome must have worked reasonably
well as he never appears to have taken a mistress during their marriage,
which was novel of him. At some point “May” was rebranded as “Mary”.
This purple patch of monogamy did not last for long. The man who would be
Edward VIII was more akin to his grandfather than to his father. He went
through a parade of women, all of whom were married to someone else
(actresses must have been temporarily out of fashion) and showed no
inclination of finding a suitable bride. Instead, he settled on Wallis
Simpson, a twice-divorced American commoner and forfeited the crown for it.
His brother and successor, George VI, was, mercifully, more in the mould of
George V. His marriage to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later the Queen Mother,
appears to have been a model of dignified happiness. Yet, ironically, if it
had been known that he was likely to become king, the chances are that he
would have been pressed to marry a foreign princess, not a comparatively
minor local aristocrat. The Queen Mother was the first British-born consort
of a monarch since Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII’s wives, when
crowned in 1937. Her daughter, the Queen, being a woman and thus more
responsible, followed Victoria in marrying a relative whom she had loved
from a very early age. All of which makes the behaviour of the Prince of
Wales seem pretty straightforward. Not much in the way of actresses when he
was young (although there were rumours about Susan George) and then a
seemingly suitable English bride rather than a foreign princess (he might
have been better off with the old formula) before, in a reversal of the
strategy employed by so many of his predecessors, living with and marrying
his mistress at the second time of asking.
The split between Prince William and Kate Middleton therefore does seem to
follow a long-established precedent. There is almost nothing that the Prince
can do in the next few years that will be remotely as wild as the deeds of
his forefathers. The break-up is likely to hit Ms Middleton far harder. If
it is any consolation, she has been treated better than were Maria
Fitzherbert, Dorothea Bland or Sybil Erskine.
‘What’s wrong with them?’
“ How very sad having lived through the disaster of his parents' marriage
William has decided to follow his father's terrible example and rather than
seize the moment , dump poor Kate. What is wrong with the Windsors?
Trevor King, London
For heaven's sake, look at the manner of William's mother's death and the role
the press played in it. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, let alone someone I
loved. And who would marry into it after they got a taste?
Patrick Dimble, Oxford
What's the big deal?
Rene, London
He is only 24! He needs to live more, enjoy the challenge of bachelor life.
Carla, Rugeley, Staffordshire
William has got his life priorities wrong if he is going to give up on a girl
like Kate Middleton just like that.
Michael, Bath
I wonder if Harry and Chelsy are next?
Kim Righetti, Upland, California
Who are these people?
MNK, San Francisco, California
There is an error of omission in the above article:If then Prince of Wales Edward (later Duke of Windsor) had been permitted to maryy his first love, Rosemary Levenson-Gower, history would have been very different. But her mother had been widowed once, divorced twice, and was judged not acceptable as the mother-in-law of a King. When Rosemary learned of this "judgement" on her family, she withdrew her acceptance and made it clear to friends that marrying into the Royal family would be at too great a cost.
It was then that Edward set out on his path of romances with married women...and the rest, as they say, is history..................
carol , Philadelphia, PA USA
Leave then alone they are normal humane , just like every one else. how many of us broke his relation shipbefor.
Robert, Laguna Hills, California, USA
Who are you people, MNK of San Francisco, California?
If you can't be polite, begone!
Jack Dusty (RN Rtd.)
Carrigan, Weymouth, United Kingdom
well and well.
one kid of 24 years and another lass of the same age. met at university , love blossomed ( whilst they were there) and then reality came back.
why give this so much attention? is william is a royal, he is still human, kate is a commoner from chelsea anyways who knew exactly who she was dating and the possible long term effect.
net result = excellent media mileage. leave them alone , just like we leave every common kid alone !
shripad, normanton,
I think Wills is right to set his priorities right. He's only 24, for Christs' sake! He needs a LIFE and not a 'life' (for the taxpayer's viewership).
Melissa, Malaysia,
It´s a pitty they have split. They were an adorable couple!
MAria do CArmo, São PAulo,, Brasil
The poor young things. My own son went through a procession of pretty/nice/sensible/articulate and worldy females (not all had the above attributes!) before meeting and marrying the girl of his dreams - at 34. It's a well known fact that young people mature at a later age than did their parents - both HRH Prince William and Ms Middleton have a lot of living to do and they should be allowed to do it in relative privacy and in their own style - were they the only couple in the world to go their separate ways last week - I think not!!
Cheryl Hay, Ashmore, Australia
Amusing. However, it is unfair to both of them to imply that King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra didn't love each other quite deeply. As a number of those foolish enough to say something unguarded found out to their detainment.
Also we “lesser mortals” perhaps wish it were so but being a good or great Sovereign and being a good spouse aren’t strongly or even moderately connected. Nor for that matter is being a good father and being a faithful spouse - witness King Charles II.
EAG, Canada,