Letters released..reveal how Queen Victoria's loathing for her son, the future Edward VII

UK Daily Mail ^ | August 10, 2012 | Jane Ridley

[C19fan]

Perhaps no Prince of Wales in history has been less trusted — or more spied upon — than the boy everyone knew as Bertie. When he attended a military summer camp, at age 19, the future King Edward VII was surrounded by minders: two stern Grenadier officers, a colonel and a general. He even had to share a general’s quarters.

Happily, however, they had not thought to lock Bertie’s bedroom window. So, one night, the heir to the throne wriggled out, made a beeline for the camp prostitute — one Nellie Clifden — and triumphantly lost his virginity.

[C19fan]

At least Bertie's/Edward's debauchery went down well in France helping to cement the Entente Cordiale. The Princess Royal Victoria was quite a remarkable and in her youth beautiful woman. But unfortuntely her husband, liberal reformer Emperor Frederick III, died leading to her own wayward son Willie becoming German Emperor.

[submarinerswife]

save for later

[Oratam]

My Dear Palmerston,
Bertie has a pierced what?!!
Very truly yours,
VR

[DManA]

Interesting that Albert was still alive when this happened.

I don’t know why but I always had the impression that the marriage didn’t last all that long due to Albert’s early death.

[bgill]

Frumpy uptight Vickie would have had severe a case of the vapors at the antics of today’s royals.

[Sherman Logan]

Perhaps no Prince of Wales in history has been less trusted — or more spied upon — than the boy everyone knew as Bertie.

Author isn't very familiar with British history. George I, II and III each had an extremely difficult relationship with his heir. It was a long-standing family tradition.

Some other royal heirs had it worse. Frederick the Great was almost executed by his father for desertion, and Peter the Great tortured his son and heir to death.

[KarlInOhio]

I don’t know why but I always had the impression that the marriage didn’t last all that long due to Albert’s early death.

They were married for 21 years and she was a widow for 40 more. Kind of easy to forget how long she was married because she reigned so long after Albert had died.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

I think this very incident was the cause in Victoria’s eyes of Prince Albert’s early death. He traveled up to scold the Prince of Wales for his behaviour, and shortly after contracted typhoid and died, which probably didn’t do much for relations between mother and son...