Edward the Caresser: The Playboy Prince Who Became Edward VII - Hardcover

Weintraub, Stanley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684853183 ISBN 13: 9780684853185

Publisher: Free Press, 2001

Synopsis

In each of the past three centuries, a Prince of Wales has waited most of his life to become King, from George IV to Edward VII to Prince Charles. Each one disappointed his reigning parent. Each had an unhappy marriage and famous affairs. But only one single-handedly gave his name to an age: the future Edward VII, Albert Edward, eldest son of Queen Victoria.

How did such a roguish Prince become such a beloved King? The story of "Bertie" is the story of one of the first superstars in the dawning culture of celebrity. Drawing on previously unavailable, little-used or unknown diaries, letters, memoirs, and reportage from both sides of the Atlantic, acclaimed biographer Stanley Weintraub paints an unforgettable picture of the Prince and his worlds: his difficult and frustrating childhood, his introductions to gentlemanly sins at Oxford and Cambridge, his chilly arranged marriage to the pretty but dull Prin-cess Alexandra, and his constant escapes to balls, races, spas, and country houses, where he gambled, gourmandized, caroused, and whored. Husbands who hoped to advance among the gentry worked to arrange affairs between the Prince and their wives, maneuvering to situate bedrooms near his chambers. His string of "god-children" included some almost certainly his own.

Yet despite, or because of, Bertie's flaws, he was loved wherever he went. He was a natural diplomat, able to charm strangers and dance all night. When he toured the United States in 1860, he was a media sensation, and there was even talk of a marriage with President Buchanan's niece. When Victoria finally died in 1901 after decades of withdrawal from public life amid continual mourning for Albert, England relaxed and celebrated for the first time in years. Edward the Caresser presents an extraordinary picture of tragedy and farce, qualities that fit Edward perfectly for the role of modern monarch.

About this title

About the Author:

Stanley Weintraub is Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus of Arts and Humanities at Pennsylvania State University. He has written acclaimed biographies of Victoria, Prince Albert, Disraeli, Whistler, and Beardsley. He lives in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.

Review:

Kingsbridge Gazette Having written acclaimed biographies of Victoria and Albert, Weintraub turns to their son's long years as heir. This candid, scrupulously researched life goes into absorbing detail on his difficult childhood and often scandalous behavior...For any connoisseur of royal chronicles or books on the Victorian age this is an indispensable read.

The Oxford Times Riveting...A king in waiting for 60 years (this biography stops with his accession to the throne), he can perhaps be forgiven for burying boredom in the pursuit of pleasure -- sexual especially -- where so little opportunity was given him (cf. Elizabeth II and Charles) to make himself useful on the national stage. The poor chap -- too thick even to read a novel -- would ever, of course, be measured by his mother against that intellectual paragon Prince Albert, and found wanting.

Independent on Sunday Weintraub excellently conveys the sly tactics employed by the Prince to get away with as much as he could -- he did what he felt like, and when caught, made apologies that were both charming and disarming.

New Statesman Edward VII still haunts the British monarchy today. His 60 unsatisfactory years as the Prince of Wales bind all those rogue royal males together, the ones whose restlessness has proved so damaging to the crown over the past two centuries.

About this edition

• Publisher: Free Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0684853183
• ISBN 13: 9780684853185
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448